George Anderson Rakestraw was bon on November 7, 1824 in Lexington, Georgia to Robert and Martha (Smith) Rakestraw.  He was educated at Covington, Georgia and Emory College at Oxford.   On Dec 9, 1848, he married Diana Rebecca Kirksey (1832-1890), the daughter of Isaac and Mary B. (Connally) Kirksey.  In the early 1850s, they moved to Texas and settled in Anderson County were George worked as a teacher.  In 1858 he was made President of Fairfield Academy, a position he held until his admittance to the bar in 1860.

When the Civil War broke out, he enlistedunder Capt. William Peck at Fairfield in Freestone County, TX on August 1861.  He served in Company G, 19th Texas Brigade under Col. Broxton, commanding officer.  George was wounded nine times, four times within one minute.  He participated in the battles of Raymond, Mississippi, Missionary Ridge, Port Hudson, Chickamauga, Dug Gap, Resaca, New Hope Church, Atlanta (two battles), Spring Hill, Tennessee, and Franklin Carnage.

After the end of the war, George Rakestraw returned to his farm in Navarro County, Texas.  He resided there until his death on January 4, 1912.  George and Diana are buried in the Grape Creek Cemetery in Navarro County, Texas.