Griffith Rutherford was born in Ireland in approximately 1721. He settled in Rowan County, where he worked as a surveyor before serving as a captain in the state militia during the French and Indian War. During the American Revolution he enlisted as a colonel before being promoted to the rank of brigadier general in 1776. He led an group of armed volunteers, in what became known as Rutherford's Expedition, against the Cherokee Middle Towns in western North Carolina and present-day eastern Tennessee, razing thirty six American Indian villages. He later led American troops at several battles in the southern theater, including the Battle of Brier Creek, the Battle of Ramsour's Mill, the Battle of Camden, and the Battle of Raft Swamp. He later served on the North Carolina Council of State and amassed large tracts of land in eastern Tennessee. He died in Sumner County, Tennessee on August 10, 1805.