Obit of Dr. Rufus Elijah Fort, Sr.: Dr. Rufus Fort Dies After 10 Weeks' Illness. Dr. Rufus E. Fort, Vice-President and Medical Director of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company and noted Jersey breeder, died shortly before 2 a.m. today at a local hospital following an illness of 10 weeks. He was 68 on tuesday. Arrangements of funeral services awaited word from out-of-town relatives. Dr. Fort was a fellow in the American College of Surgeons and the American Medical Association, and was a member of the American Gynecological Association. He also held membership in the Southern Medical Association, the Tennessee Medical Association, and the Nashville Academy of Medicine. Through his activities as a farmer and cattle breeder, at his Fortland Farms, near Nashville, he had achieved national recognition as a breeder of Jerseys. Cattle of the Fortland Farms herd had been awarded as many blue ribbons in competition as perhaps any other herds in the South. His home, designed after the more commodious Southern homes, was a center of social activities for many years, and was often the scene of interesting gatherings. Shortly after his graduation from Vanderbilt Medical Department in 1894, Dr. Fort took postgraduate work in New York, and from 1897 to 1903 was chief surgeon of the Nashville General Hospital. He also served as chief surgeon of the Tennessee Central Railway from 1902 to 1920. He was also among the founders of the Protestant Hospital in 1919, and for several years served as chairman of the executive committee of that institution. Dr. Fort was a member of the old Hermitage Club, which he served as President several times, a member of the Belle Meade Country Club, and for years had been active in the American Jersey Cattle Club, which he had served as Director. He was one of the organizers of the National Life & Accident Insurance Company, and served that organization as Vice-President and Medical Director. He was a former Director of the Third National Bank. He was also for eight years a member of the State Board of Health, and served as a President of the Board. He had been a member of the Board of Trust of Cumberland University. During the World War he served as local chairman of the examining board. In recent years, however, he had devoted most of his time to his other business activities and had become rather inactive in medical and surgical work. He was a member of the Congregational Church. Born in Robertson County, Dr. Fort was the son of the late Col. Edwin A. Fort and Julia Garth Fort. He pursued his early education in the Robertson County Schools, but prepared himself for college at Montgomery Bell Academy, Nashville. He next entered the University of the South, at Sewanee, where he took the academic course, and later entered Vanderbilt University where he received his medical degree. In 1936 the University of the South conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Science. He was a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity, and for years was active in its affairs. In October, 1909, Dr. Fort married Miss Louise Clark of Boston, who survives him, with three sons, Rufus Fort, Jr., of Nashville, Dr. Garth E. Fort of Rochester, N.Y., and Dudley Fort of Atlanta, Ga.; two daughters, Miss Cornelia Fort and Miss Louise Fort, both of Nashville; one sister, Miss Lizzie Fort of Nashville, and five grandchildren. (Transcribed from the Nashville Banner Newspaper friday, March 22, 1940, Front page).