Roderick A. Bethune, MD was the second of four known children (3 boys & 1 girl) of John Bethune and his wife Frances Moore Shaw. He was born in Sumter County, S. C. on the family plantation (Sylvan Retreat), Bradleyville (predecessor to Mayesville), Sumter Co. & then the Bethunes were at Plowdens Mill. He attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia where he graduated in 1854, and he took a trip out west in 1855. He met and married (25 Nov. 1857) his first cousin, Miss Margaret Elizabeth Mayes (her mother, Henrietta Warner Shaw and Roderick's mom, Frances Moore Shaw, were sisters).
CSA Military Service: He joined the Confederate army during the Civil War, and his principal battles were in Virginia. He was discharged in 1864 and then entered the medical department where he remained until the cessation of hostilities.
In 1866 he removed to Bullock County, Alabama and practiced medicine there until 1872 (the 1870 census indicates his residence as Union Springs, Bullock, Alabama). He emigrated to Arkansas. The 1880 census has him at Bearhouse, Ashley, Arkansas & says that his father was from Scotland. He practiced in Arkansas until his death in 1895 (shortly after a visit to his birth county...Sumter County, S. C.).
He and Margaret were the parents of eight children: John P., Samuel James, Roderick Alexander (died Oct. 1865 @ age 4), David Shaw, Lilly Belle, Roderick Augustus, Henrietta F, and Margaret "Maggie" May. The [Sumter] Watchman and Southron, 6 March 1895, notes his sudden death ("last week") at his home in Snyder in Ashley County, Arkansas.
CSA Military Service: He joined the Confederate army during the Civil War, and his principal battles were in Virginia. He was discharged in 1864 and then entered the medical department where he remained until the cessation of hostilities.
In 1866 he removed to Bullock County, Alabama and practiced medicine there until 1872 (the 1870 census indicates his residence as Union Springs, Bullock, Alabama). He emigrated to Arkansas. The 1880 census has him at Bearhouse, Ashley, Arkansas & says that his father was from Scotland. He practiced in Arkansas until his death in 1895 (shortly after a visit to his birth county...Sumter County, S. C.).
He and Margaret were the parents of eight children: John P., Samuel James, Roderick Alexander (died Oct. 1865 @ age 4), David Shaw, Lilly Belle, Roderick Augustus, Henrietta F, and Margaret "Maggie" May. The [Sumter] Watchman and Southron, 6 March 1895, notes his sudden death ("last week") at his home in Snyder in Ashley County, Arkansas.
Roderick A. Bethune, MD was the second of four known children (3 boys & 1 girl) of John Bethune and his wife Frances Moore Shaw. He was born in Sumter County, S. C. on the family plantation (Sylvan Retreat), Bradleyville (predecessor to Mayesville), Sumter Co. & then the Bethunes were at Plowdens Mill. He attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia where he graduated in 1854, and he took a trip out west in 1855. He met and married (25 Nov. 1857) his first cousin, Miss Margaret Elizabeth Mayes (her mother, Henrietta Warner Shaw and Roderick's mom, Frances Moore Shaw, were sisters).
CSA Military Service: He joined the Confederate army during the Civil War, and his principal battles were in Virginia. He was discharged in 1864 and then entered the medical department where he remained until the cessation of hostilities.
In 1866 he removed to Bullock County, Alabama and practiced medicine there until 1872 (the 1870 census indicates his residence as Union Springs, Bullock, Alabama). He emigrated to Arkansas. The 1880 census has him at Bearhouse, Ashley, Arkansas & says that his father was from Scotland. He practiced in Arkansas until his death in 1895 (shortly after a visit to his birth county...Sumter County, S. C.).
He and Margaret were the parents of eight children: John P., Samuel James, Roderick Alexander (died Oct. 1865 @ age 4), David Shaw, Lilly Belle, Roderick Augustus, Henrietta F, and Margaret "Maggie" May. The [Sumter] Watchman and Southron, 6 March 1895, notes his sudden death ("last week") at his home in Snyder in Ashley County, Arkansas.
CSA Military Service: He joined the Confederate army during the Civil War, and his principal battles were in Virginia. He was discharged in 1864 and then entered the medical department where he remained until the cessation of hostilities.
In 1866 he removed to Bullock County, Alabama and practiced medicine there until 1872 (the 1870 census indicates his residence as Union Springs, Bullock, Alabama). He emigrated to Arkansas. The 1880 census has him at Bearhouse, Ashley, Arkansas & says that his father was from Scotland. He practiced in Arkansas until his death in 1895 (shortly after a visit to his birth county...Sumter County, S. C.).
He and Margaret were the parents of eight children: John P., Samuel James, Roderick Alexander (died Oct. 1865 @ age 4), David Shaw, Lilly Belle, Roderick Augustus, Henrietta F, and Margaret "Maggie" May. The [Sumter] Watchman and Southron, 6 March 1895, notes his sudden death ("last week") at his home in Snyder in Ashley County, Arkansas.
