Los Angeles County
Biographies
JUDSON RANDOLPH RUSH
RUSH, JUDSON RANDOLPH, Attorney-at-Law, Los Angeles, Cal., was born in Green County, Pa., March 9, 1865, the son of John L. S. Rush and Dorcas (Parcell) Rush. He married Elizabeth V. Atwood, April 6, 1898, at Los Angeles. Attorney Rush’s family on the father’s side is one of the oldest in Pennsylvania, dating back five generations. The first of the Rushes came from Europe, and immediately settled in the Indian country. He himself was a noted Indian fighter, and the names of his descendants of the next two or three generations frequently appear in the annals of Indian warfare. The family was very faithful to the old Rush homestead, and Attorney Rush himself was born in the same house as his grandfather.
Mr. Rush received his common school education in Iowa. In 1881 he went to Santa Ana, Cal. The cowboy’s life appealed to him, and he punched cows for the next three years, particularly on the great Chino ranch and over the Mojave desert. He lived the life of the typical young westerner. He spent much time in the mountains hunting. In 1886 he removed to Pasadena and went into the dairy business with his father.
He was a pioneer in the oil industry and worked on the first well in the Fullerton district. He took an active part in the development of the field and made himself thoroughly familiar with the industry which has now become such an important one in California.
His next venture was in meat markets in Monrovia and El Monte, which he ran successfully for three years and then sold out. While in it he became interested in the life and politics of the community and was elected justice of the peace at El Monte. He served from 1890 until 1892.
It was while he was justice of the peace that his mind first turned to the law, and he determined to become a member of the legal profession. He studied and read the law, under his own guidance, and successfully passed the bar examination in 1893. He then removed to Los Angeles, and a few months later was appointed one of the deputy district attorneys. He served in this capacity until Jan. 7, 1895. Le Compte Davis was a deputy district attorney during the same term and on the expiration of the term the two entered upon a partnership. They began practice the afternoon of the day they stepped out of office, and within two hours were trying their first case. They had their quarters in the old Rogers building, which is now the site of the new Hall of Records. Frank R. Willis was a member of the firm for six years, the combination then being known as Davis, Rush & Willis. When Attorney Willis was elected to the Superior Court judgeship, he withdrew from the partnership.
The firm of which Attorney Rush is a member has been retained in many of the noted cases that have come before the courts of Southern California. Its practice has been steady and the work along all lines of the law. The firm has handled many Oregon and Washington cases, as well as those originating in California. In 1908, the year William H. Taft, with his magnificent political organization, was elected United States President, Mr. Rush accepted the Democratic nomination for Congress in the Seventh California district. His opponent was James D. MacLachlan, a Republican who had been in Washington for many years. Despite the fact that it was a Republican year, and Mr. Rush had only thirty days to make his campaign, he ran far ahead of his own ticket. He was defeated, but by a greatly reduced majority.
Attorney Rush is a member of the Los Angeles Bar Association. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Shriner, and a member of the Benevolent and Protective order of Elks. He is also a member of the Gamut Club.
Transcribed 5-6-10
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 405, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2010 Marilyn R. Pankey.
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