James Carnell Rushing
(1908-
Brother Rushing was born April 25, 1908 in Camden, Tennessee. His father, Clay Rushing, was a Past Master of Camden 179 in 1909 and his zeal for masonry clearly impacted our own PM Rushing.
As a boy, James went to school in a one-room country school before attending high school in Camden.
His career was spent in dry goods beginning at Harris, Davis & Co. of Nashville and then S.H. Kress Co. in Memphis. Kress was a rapidly growing company and would eventually have downtown stores all across the country. In 1933, Rushing was hired by Rice-Stix Co. which was another major national chain and he worked for them for at least two decades.
Rushing joined the local Methodist congregation when he came to Waco and was a member of the Karem Shrine and the Waco York Rite Bodies. During his year in the East, the lodge rooms were year-round air conditioned for the first time, something for which the brethren were grateful to Rushing for many years.