05/22/2026
Barrington Ambrose Rucker â Son of O. C. Rucker, Died from Wounds Sustained in Battle in Belgium
In honor of Memorial Day this Monday, we would like to recognize Barrington Ambrose Rucker, who gave the ultimate sacrifice during World War I.
The Bedford Museum and Genealogical Library expresses its deepest gratitude for the countless men and women who have served and sacrificed throughout our nationâs history. So many brave individuals went into battle knowing they might never return home, yet they answered the call to defend the freedoms we enjoy today.
This Memorial Day, we remember and honor their courage, service, and sacrifice.
âThose who have long enjoyed such privileges as we enjoy forget in time that men have died to win them.â
~Franklin D. Roosevelt
Barrington Ambrose Rucker
Barrington Ambrose Rucker was born to O.C. Rucker and Juanita Rucker on October 17, 1893, in Bedford County, Virginia.
In the 1900 census the Ruckerâs lived in Liberty, Bedford County, Virginia at the Union Cooperative School right outside of town. O. C. Rucker was the President of the School which operated as a private preparatory school for young ladies. The household appeared as follows:
O. C. Rucker, 40, Boarder
Juanita M. Rucker, 36, Wife
Margaret Rucker, 9, Daughter
Ben A. Rucker, 7, Son
O. C. Rucker, Jr., 5, Son
Anthony B. Rucker, Son, 1 month
By the 1910 census the family lived on Longwood Avenue in Liberty, Bedford, Virginia. O. C. Rucker was a lawyer with a general practice firm. Benjamin (also known as Barrington) was 16 years old when the census record was taken.
The following article from The Bedford Bulletin Newspaper â dated Thursday, March 6, 1919 â Page 1 gives detailed information about Barrington A. Ruckersâ military service and the circumstances surrounding his death.
Issues Memorial Number
âThe February number of the Vanderbilt Alumus, the journal gotten out by Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., is issued as a memorial number for the graduates and students of that school who lost their lives in the great world war. Among the men so listed appears the name of Barrington Ambrose Rucker, son of Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Rucker, of Bedford, who was a student at Vanderbilt when the war broke out. More than two years before America entered the struggle he enlisted in a Canadian unit, and was killed in the fall of 1915. The Alumus contains an excellent portrait of the young man and the following notice of his death:
âKilled in action December 5, 1915, at Etaples, France, the result of wounds received in action on the Western front on November 5, 1915. He is buried at Etaples Military Cemetery, number of grave F269: Regimental number, 54235; 18th Battalion; private in the Canadian Army. According to our information, Private Rucker was the first Vanderbilt man to give his life in this war. He enlisted in the Canadian Army in February, 1915.
âBarrington Ambrose Rucker was born October 17, 1893, making him twenty-two years of age at the time of his death. He was the son of O. C. and Juanita M. Rucker of Bedford, Va. He attended the Randolph-Macon Academy, of Virginia, and entered Vanderbilt in 1914.
âHe served as a stretcher bearer with the rank of private in the 18th Regiment, Medical Corps. He was mortally wounded while doing volunteer relief work on the battle line in Flanders. It is understood that this relief was necessary for men who were in distress. It was a dangerous task, and when volunteers were called for young Rucker was one of those to answer the call.
âWhile at Vanderbilt he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.â
