About the History of the Rhode Family

	About the History of the Rhode Family
photo of Robert T. Rhode by Thomas R. Haid		photo of Ann Miller Carr and husband, Dave

From the desk of Dr. Robert T. Rhode: When Ellis G. Rhode typed his history of the Rhode family in 1959, he could not have dreamed that it would one day become available to anyone having access to a computer. His accomplishment, however, was far more miraculous than mine. He spent years compiling extensive lists of names and dates. (See a photograph of Ellis and Fern Rhode below.) All I did was scan Ellis's chronicles, edit them, add a few details, and upload them to the Internet. Ann Miller Carr and I independently of one another had been working on Ellis's history in preparation for posting it to the Internet. Ann has offered so much assistance that she has become a co-author of the Rhode Family Website. Don Babcock, Musette Butler, Jack Camenga, Jeff Cheney, Ron Eberly, Beverly Rhode Graves, Hal Hatcher, Mark Kellam, Shelly Leigh, David Martin, Howard McCord, Alan Oliver, Raymond Reaburn, William Root, Elsie Jane Smith, and Linda Stevens have contributed many names, dates, and documents to round out Ellis's work.

Ann and I hope that descendants of the families named in this history will find their ancestors and will help us to update and correct the information in Ellis's typescript. As meticulous as Ellis was, he made a few errors. In turn, when I scanned his document, I lost not only spacing but also dates, numbers, and portions of words. I tried to restore all of the information correctly, but I would be dreaming to think that I made no mistakes.

Ann and I have made every attempt to follow the genealogists' rule of thumb to omit information on anyone born in the past eighty years. If you find information on this website that you want removed, be sure to contact me at case65@earthlink.net at your earliest convenience.

If you can prove to Ann's satisfaction and mine that you are a legitimate genealogist working on the history of any of the families mentioned on this website, then we may share additional information with you. Contact me at case65@earthlink.net. Also, see my website at http://www.nku.edu/~rhode. I cannot always respond to email as rapidly as I would like, but I will make a concerted effort to reply in a timely fashion, especially to those messages that offer updates to Ellis's remarkable history.

We refer to St. George's Parish, South Carolina, as being in Dorchester County, but we recognize that Dorchester was formed from Berkeley County in 1898, Berkeley from Colleton County in 1882, and Colleton from Charleston County in 1798.

Through help and inspiration from the contributors named above, we continue to make important discoveries. Ann has found a map showing land of a William Rhode adjacent to the plantation of John Rhode in Dorchester County, South Carolina. The age of the document makes it unlikely that this William is John's son. Could it be John's father?

In July of 2004, we unearthed records showing that John moved to what is now Warren County, Ohio, in 1806, barely three years after Ohio became a state. The Rhodes were pioneers in Ohio long before they were pioneers again in Indiana. The Rhodes, Lewises, Cobbs, and Easterlings bought land on both sides of Cesar's Creek (the original spelling). Although the stream was dammed to form a reservoir in the early 1970s, much of the land of these related Quaker families is not under water. Many of these Friends attended monthly meeting in Waynesville, and the building wherein they met is still standing and still serving as a Quaker facility. The cemetery beside the Cesar's Creek meeting house is in a remote corner of the county but is maintained. The meeting house itself has been moved a few miles to Pioneer Village.

John Rhode bought land in Warren County, Indiana, in 1826. He sent sons ahead to clear the farm, and he moved to Indiana in 1828. He then sold his acreage in Ohio. Despite Ellis's account that John and his family made a circuitous trek from South Carolina, to Lake Erie, to Seymour in Indiana, and so on, we believe that deeds and Quaker records will verify that he traveled from South Carolina directly to Cesar's Creek and that, after twenty-two years in Warren County, Ohio, he moved to Warren County, Indiana.

I have tax receipts proving that John's sons did not sell land in Indiana before traveling to Arkansas. They retained their Hoosier farms throughout their ill-fated Arkansas experiment.

While we have much more to learn, we are delighted to have discovered this much in the past few months.

Members of the extended Rhode family served on both sides of the conflict known as the Civil War (1861-65). In 2001, I acquired records from the National Archives and the South Carolina Department of Archives and History to tell the story of seven relatives who were called to duty.

Born in Center Township, Pennsylvania, Samuel Phillip McCormick, a carpenter, enlisted as a private on the 4th or 5th of September in 1861 in Company A of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry. (See Chapter Five: Samuel was married to Harriet Rhode; Joseph; Jonathan; John.) The previous August, Congress had made President Abraham Lincoln almost a military dictator. Sam responded to Lincoln's call for 500,000 volunteers by becoming a bugler for Captain Rector's horsemen. Five or six days before Sam enrolled at Sidney, Iowa, for a three-year term, he had celebrated his 29th birthday. He stood five feet six and a half inches tall and had hazel eyes, a light complexion, and dark hair. Over a year later, Sam was absent from roll call in November and December of 1862. He had fallen into the hands of the Confederates. Having been ill since early December, Sam suffered so greatly in prison that, on January 19, 1863, his captors released him to the Marine Hospital in St. Louis. On March 10, 1863, he was discharged from the Union military for "chronic diarrhoea [as the word was spelled back then] with probable ulceration of the colon and rectum, emaciation, weakness, & exhaustion." Sam returned home a physically broken man. He passed away on the 1st of September 1906.

On December 18, 1861, in St. George, South Carolina, Thomas Jefferson Murray enlisted, and, on the 7th of January, he was mustered in as a First Lieutenant in Company C of the 24th South Carolina Infantry. (See Chapter Two: Thomas Jefferson Murray; Mary; John.) A member of the South Carolina legislature, Thomas helped to form the company in which he enrolled. Thomas was only five months younger than was Sam McCormick. Records show that Thomas was paid $525 for his service from the 7th of January through the 30th of June in 1862. A legislator from the first state to secede from the Union, Thomas probably felt alarm when Union forces during 1862 managed to take enough forts to control the North Carolina coastline. In late summer, Thomas contracted typhoid fever, and, on September 6, 1862, he died.

Thomas's older brother Joseph J. Murray was a physician. (See Chapter Two: Joseph J. Murray; Mary; John.) With a fair complexion, black hair, and hazel eyes, Joseph stood five feet nine inches tall. He resided at Orangeburg, South Carolina. He joined Hatch's Regiment of Coast Rangers, known as Co. F & S of the 23rd South Carolina Infantry. Born in 1824, Joseph turned 40 years of age in the next-to-the-last year of the war. He was appointed to service in the Confederate Army on June 1, 1862. By 1863, Dr. Murray was listed among the officers of Evans's Brigade. On February 6, 1863, he was promoted from the rank of Assistant Surgeon to Surgeon. On the 1st of July of that year, Joseph requested forage for his three privately owned horses. The daily allowance for his steeds was nine pounds of corn, nine pounds of hay, nine pounds of oats, and five pounds of fodder. By the 1st of September, Joseph had managed to increase the daily allotment to twelve pounds each of corn, oats, and hay and ten pounds of fodder.

The record of Dr. Murray's requisitions provides insight into the life of a Confederate surgeon. On the 14th of November 1863, Joseph asked for a hospital tent: "There being but one on hand, and that in such a dilapidated condition as to be unfit to protect the sick." His request was received at Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. On the 19th of December in that same year, Dr. Murray requested a pair of shoes. On the 31st, Joseph, then at Sullivan's Island, called for another hospital tent. He stated, "There is only one on hand and that is not sufficient." On the 17th of May 1864, Joseph requested three quires of writing paper, saying, "The paper is needed for making out Requisitions and other necessary papers connected with the Hospital." On June 24th at Petersburg, Virginia, Joseph called for one oven and lid, one frying pan, two cast-iron pots weighing forty-one pounds, and one tea kettle. He justified these requests with the fact that " . . . the hospital connected with this Regt is without the necessary cooking utensils." On July 16th, Joseph asked for three more quires of paper: "A scanty supply being furnished through the regular channel, it not being sufficient for the use of Medical Dept." This request was received in the field. On November 11th, Joseph wanted five pounds of nails, and, on the 20th of that month, he needed an army tent, "required for the Steward and Nurses of this Regiment." On the same day, he put in a request for a mess pan and a camp kettle.

Dr. Murray invoiced acids, various kinds of sulfur, morphine, olive oil, various kinds of camphor, potassium nitrates, opiates, quinine, cupping glasses, pocket cases, teeth extracting forceps, candles, nutmegs, tea, whiskey, bed sacks, blankets, pillow ticks, cotton batting, red flannel, assorted corks, screws, ink, steel pens, writing paper, envelopes, pencils, vials, spatulas, and bottles.

On the 2nd of April in 1865, Joseph was captured. He was taken to the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C. Sometime between the 11th and the 13th of May, he arrived at Johnson's Island, the Union prison located at Sandusky Bay, Ohio. On June 23rd, he took the Oath of Allegiance to the United States and was released. He lived into his mid-70s.

Caleb B. Rhode enlisted as a private in Company C of the 25th Infantry Regiment of Iowa. (See Chapter Two: Caleb B. Rhode; Thomas; John.) His unit fell under the command of the 2nd Brigade, the 1st Division, the 15th Corps. Born in 1834, Caleb was 28 years old when he was mustered into service on August 15th in 1862. Although he was born in Warren County, Indiana, his family had moved to Iowa. He enlisted in Salem for a period of three years. He was a farmer. He stood five feet nine and a half inches tall. He had dark hair and a dark complexion. His eyes were gray. While helping John A. McClernand and William Tecumseh Sherman to take Arkansas Post on January 11th, 1863, Caleb received a musket ball through his left arm at the shoulder and a shell in his right leg. He struggled to hold onto life. In February, he was sent up river to Memphis, where he was admitted to General Hospital Number Three. On February 24th (One record says it was February 23rd.) he passed away. His effects included a cap, a flannel sack coat, a pair of trousers, two pairs of flannel drawers, two cotton shirts, a pair of shoes, three pairs of socks, two blankets, and a needle case.

On the day that Caleb was mustered in, Daniel M. Fenton, from Caleb's birthplace of Warren County, Indiana, enrolled for service as a fifer in Company G of the 100th Regiment of Indiana Infantry. (See below: Daniel M. Fenton's daughter Magnolia "Nolia" Somerset married Joseph T. "Tom" Cobb; their daughter, Kosie Ruby, married Seymour Alfred Rhode.) The 32-year-old Daniel was mustered in on September 27, 1862, at Indianapolis, whereupon he was paid a $25 bounty. Daniel stood five feet six inches tall. He had a fair complexion with light hair and blue eyes. He was a farmer. At Grand Junction, Tennessee, in February of 1863, he suffered from the privations of a cold winter in the field. Fifers played music to march the armies toward battle and helped to clear the field of the wounded and dead after battle. Daniel saw more than he wanted to see of the terror of warfare, and, physically, he broke down. For the rest of his life, he complained of chronic diarrhoea and rheumatism from the exposure he suffered in Tennessee. His medical record indicates that he had jaundice and disease of the liver. Periodically throughout the years after the Civil War, he applied for pension increases, and he received a few. He came to be called "Uncle Daniel" by the townspeople of Pine Village, Indiana, and he was admired by all. He lived to be 84. His daughter (my great grandmother) named Magnolia "Nolia" Somerset Fenton was born in 1863 while her father was serving in the war.

John Simmons Murray, the oldest brother of Dr. Joseph J. Murray and Legislator Thomas Jefferson Murray, was born on the 6th of January in 1819. (See Chapter Two: John Simmons Murray; Mary; John.) On December 12, 1863, he expressed his intention to enroll. He turned 45 years of age shortly after his enlistment at Cheraw on January 1, 1864. Another record suggests that he enlisted at Green Pond on his birthday. He became a private in Company D of the 5th Regiment of the South Carolina Cavalry. On July 11, 1864, he was admitted to the C. S. A. General Hospital in Charlottesville, Virginia, for chronic diarrhoea. From August 4, 1864, he was on sick furlough for sixty days. His horse died at Lynchburg, Virginia, on September 12, 1864, shortly after John's return to duty. John passed away on the 7th of November in 1882.

Samuel Rhode of Warren County, Indiana, was a farmer only 17 years and 9 months old when he enlisted at Lafayette, Indiana, as a private in Company G of the 150th Indiana Infantry. (See Chapter Two: Samuel Rhode; Caleb; Jonathan; John.) It was the 13th of February in 1865 during the final months of the conflict. Samuel was a first cousin to Harriet Rhode, who was married to Sam McCormick. Samuel Rhode stood five feet seven and a half inches tall. Like other Rhodes, he had black hair, a dark complexion, and blue eyes. Since Samuel was under age, his father, Caleb, had to give his consent for Samuel to serve. From March 13th until May of 1865, Samuel was sick at Indianapolis. By order of the War Department on May 3rd or 4th, he was discharged. One record indicates that he was discharged on the 9th. Samuel was paid $39.09 by a money order from the War Department for clothing expenses, and he was entitled to his bounty. Samuel is buried in Quaker Cemetery between Pine Village and Attica, Indiana. Every year, a new flag is placed by his grave in honor of his service in the Civil War.

I am including here a little information on the Fenton family of Pine Village, Indiana. Magnolia "Nolia" Somerset Fenton married Joseph T. "Tom" Cobb and is, therefore, mentioned in Chapter 3 of Ellis G. Rhode's history. Robert C. Metsker has been helping me to discover information on the Fentons.

Magnolia's parents were Daniel "Uncle Daniel" M. Fenton, who was born on September 7, 1830, and who died in 1914, and Emma Barker Fenton, who was born on 26 February 1835 and who died on 15 October 1913. (See photographs of Daniel and Emma Fenton below. Daniel's legs were amputed because of diabetes, not from wounds received in the Civil War.) As mentioned above, Daniel served in Company G of the 100th Indiana Volunteers during the Civil War. Emma was from Ross County, Ohio.

1. Charles "Charlie" Wesley Fenton, who was born in 1856 and who died in 1922. He was married to Olive Catherine Metsker, who died on October 21, 1904. A free-thinking farmer, Charlie was beloved by children. His first daughter, Ruth, was born on August 24th, 1882, and died on the Fourth of July in 1896. His daughter Lena Fenton Rhode married Claire Rhode and is mentioned in Chapter 3 of Ellis G. Rhode's history. (See a photograph of Charlie Fenton below.)

2. Thomas "Tommy" Eleazer Fenton, who was the blacksmith who invented the specially weighted shoe that kept Dan Patch from "interfering" (that is, scratching the back of his front leg with his hind hoof) and who thus transformed Patch into a champion—arguably one of the greatest racing horses of all time and the first sports celebrity. (See a photograph of Tommy Fenton below.) Tommy's child by his first wife was Myrtle "Myrtie" Fenton, who married Clarence Thurman. Tommy's three children by his second wife were:

a. Samuel C. Fenton, who was born on 23 March 1877 and who died on 12 January 1921. Samuel C. Fenton was an outstanding cornetist, the first chair in Pryor's Band. He married Bessie Ogborn, daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Levi Ogborn. Samuel and Bessie's daughter was Dorothy Fenton, a pianist. (See a photograph of Samuel C. Fenton below.)

b. Pearl Fenton, who was born on 16 August 1883 and who died on 29 March 1970. Pearl married Arthur H. Clark, who was born on 20 October 1881 and who died on 9 October 1966. (See a photograph of Pearl Fenton below.)

Pete Thurman, one of Myrtie Fenton Thurman's sons, married Louise Wagner, who was a sister of Margaret Wagner, who married (1st) Charles "Charley" or "Cobbie" Albert Cobb and who married (2nd) Doc Goddard, the veterinarian. Margaret is mentioned in Chapter 3 of Ellis G. Rhode's history.

3. James "Jimmie" Fenton, whose wife's first name was Ida. (See a photograph of Jimmie and Ida with their great nephew Joseph Curtis Rhode below.)

4. Magnolia "Nolia" Somerset Fenton Cobb, who was born in 1863 and who died in 1922. Magnolia was an accomplished photographer. (See a photograph of Magnolia in Chapter 3 of Ellis G. Rhode's history.)

5. Sarah "Sattie" E. Fenton, who was born in 1875 and was close in age to her niece, Kosie Ruby Cobb Rhode, daughter of Magnolia and Tom Cobb. Sattie and Kosie were fast friends. (See a photograph of Sattie Fenton below.)