History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/George W. Ruddick
GEORGE W. RUDDICK was born in Thompson, Sullivan County, New York, May 11, 1835. He worked on his father's farm until fourteen, when he spent two years at an academy in Kingsville, Ohio, supplementing this with a similar course of instruction at Monticello, New York. At eighteen he began the study of law graduating from the Albany Law School in 1856. He then came to Iowa, locating at Waverly which became his permanent home. In 1857 Mr. Ruddick was elected Prosecuting Attorney for Bremer County, holding the office until the adoption of the new Constitution. In 1859 he was elected Representative in the House of the Eighth General Assembly for the district composed of the counties of Chickasaw and Bremer, serving in the regular session of 1860 and the war session of 1861. He was elected county judge in 1862, serving two years; in 1867 he was elected circuit judge and two years later was chosen District Judge of the Twelfth District, serving from 1870 to 1892. At one time he received strong support for Judge of the Supreme Court, as he always ranked high as a jurist.