Dr. James Russell Boldridge (1885-1983) was born at Brown's Store in Culpeper County, Virginia to Dr. James Barbour Boldridge and Laura Henry Boldridge. He graduated from the Medical College of Virginia in 1909 and then served an internship at Retreat for the Sick Hospital. He began a general practice in 1910 covering parts of Culpeper, Rappahannock, and Fauquier Counties. At the time he began his practice there were four doctors in the town of Culpeper and eight more in the county. Though it was a rural area the poor road conditions made it necessary to have a doctor in each community. During World War I he served on the draft board for Culpeper County. Boldridge continued to practice until he was 90 years old.
Boldridge married Annie Marie Hess, a registered nurse, in 1912. They had four sons James Russell Jr., William Franklin, Edward Barbour, and John Henry. In addition to his medical practice Boldridge owned "Homeland," a 344 acre farm located in Rixeyville, Virginia which he purchased in 1918. Boldridge died in 1983 at the age of 97.
From the guide to the James Russell Boldridge papers, 1869-1978, (Special Collections and Archives, Tompkins-McCaw Library)
