Coming Full Circle

Hello! I am Lisa, Kathy's co-worker and guest blogger for this week.

I was not born in Medina County. I was born in Lake County, Ohio. My mother was born in Cuyahoga County and her father and grandmother were born in Sandusky County. Yet, I was given a wonderful surprise when I found out I had ancestor's who lived in Medina County before me.

My husband and I moved to Medina County in 1990 and I began doing family research in 1999. I was lucky enough to inherit a box of family heirlooms which included a stack of letters written to my great grandmother (on my mother's side), Sopha RHOADES SOLETHER. One of the letters was written by Sopha's 1st cousin, Ella RHOADES PUMPHREY.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that Sopha's father, my great, great grandfather, Gideon RHOADES lived in Medina County, Ohio, in 1856  and some of his siblings (and possibly him) sang on the steps of Medina's Old Court House during the "Fremont [Presidential] Campaign" in 1856!

But wait...there's more!


Along with the letter, Ella had included an ancestor chart for Sopha's father, grandfather and great grandfather.

This just fueled my desire to find out who lived here, where they lived, what they did and when did they leave?

I was lucky enough to have found a great deal of information on the RHOADES family when they lived in Sandusky County. The R.B. Hayes Library, in Fremont, Ohio, even had a box of photographs in a special collection.

Original photograph kept at the RB Hayes Library, Fremont, Ohio
 in the T.P. Hurd Collection

This is Elias RHOADES, Sr. and his wife Phebe (SAFFORD) RHOADES. These are my great, great, great grandparents.


They moved to Guilford Township, Medina County, Ohio around 1836. This is a photo taken in 1848, according to a note one of their daughters attached to it.



I also found a letter written by Elias' mother, Mary RHOADES, in regards to her widow's pension. It is dated 1837 and mentions Elias who is living in Guilford.

Elias is listed in the 1840 and 1850 U.S. Census in Guilford where he was a farmer. By 1860, Elias and Phebe are found listed in the U.S. Census in Clyde, Sandusky, Ohio, where they both died.

"The History of Medina County and Ohio", page 235

Elias' brother, Jesse RHOADES, came to Guilford before him. In "The History of Medina County and Ohio", Jesse is said to have moved to Guilford in 1830 and brought along H.G.Blake. Kathy did a Blog on H.G. Blake about a year ago. Mr. Blake was a very prominent resident in Medina and it's kind of cool that one of my relatives brought him here.


The Medina County land records show Jesse purchasing land in Guilford in the years 1831, 1832 (with his brother-in-law, James Harkness), 1835 & 1837.  I haven't been able to find any land records in connection with Elias, but I have a feeling he might have lived on one of these parcels of land.

According to the ancestral chart drawn up by cousin Ella, Elias and Phebe had 10 children. The oldest, Thomas, died in 1818. The 1850 census shows the couple having 8 children in the household and a possible son listed right below them.

The next child on the chart is Margaret. She married Abijah I. Wright, 18 November 1849 in Medina County. Margaret died in about 1852.



Elias, Jr. is the next child. According the 1850 U.S. Census, Elias, along with his brother Samuel, was a Daguerreotypist. A daguerreotype is an early type of photography. I have to wonder if he or Samuel took the photograph of their parent's that is shown above. By 1860, Elias is a farmer in Green Creek, Sandusky County, Ohio.

Original at RBHayes Library, T.P. Hurd Collection 

Then there is Jesse, most likely named after his uncle. He is not listed with the family in 1850. However, he did marry Lucinda HARRIS, 22 January 1847 in Medina County. I was unable to find him in the 1850 U.S. Census, but he shows up in the 1860 census in Hudson, Lenawee County, Michigan where he is listed as a carpenter.





Samuel is the next child. He was born in New York in 1826. His obituary tells of his life after coming to Ohio and gives us a better idea of the time when Elias RHOADES brought his family to Guilford.

Clyde Democrat, 29 Mar 1900, pg. 1

Gideon is the next child and my great, great grandfather. Gideon was born around 1828 in New York. He is also listed in the 1850 U.S. Census with Elias and is listed as a laborer. He is still living with Elias and Phebe in 1860 in Sandusky County and is now a carpenter. He didn't live with them long, on 12 July 1860 he married my great, great grandmother, Mary McMillen. His obituary, in the Clyde Democrat on 22 August 1901, also states that he came to Medina County in 1836. 

Mary RHOADES is one of those elusive ancestors. According to the chart she was born in 1830 and died in 1864. She is listed in the 1850 census with Elias and Phebe. However, those are the only two records I have been able to find. The chart shows she was married to a FOSTER, but the only RHOADES and FOSTER marriage I can find gives the wrong birth date for Mary and happens six years after her supposed death date. She is not listed with Elias and Phebe in the 1860 census and I have not been able to find her with anyone else or on her own.

RB Hayes Library. T.P. Hurd Collection

This is Phebe RHOADES MORGAN WOLVERTON CARTER. She was born around 1833 in New York. She is listed with Elias and Phebe in the 1850 census in Guilford. Three years later she marries Henry MORGAN on 19 Jan 1853 in Medina County. Phebe then marries Samuel WOLVERTON in 1859 in Sandusky County and then Joseph CARTER in 1866 in the same place.

RB Hayes Library. T.P. Hurd collection

James RHOADES was born around 1835 in New York. He must have been just a baby when the family moved to Guilford. This is cousin Ella's father and one of the "young folk" who sang on the court house steps. In 1860 he is with his parents and is employed as a clerk and by 1870 he has become a minister.

R.B. Hayes Library. T.P. Hurd Collection

Mariah RHOADES was the first of this family to be born in Ohio and most likely in Guilford in 1838. Mariah married Thaddeus Polk (T.P.) HURD in 1869. It is from his collection I was fortunate enough to find and make copies of all these photographs. 

Her brother, Charles, was also born in Medina County around 1840. Charles died young at the age of 21 in Sandusky County, Ohio. 

Another brother, Henry, who shows up on the 1850 census as being 2 years old, was also born in Medina County. He is not listed on the 1860 census with the RHOADES family and I have been unable to find any information on him. 

Elias, Sr. and Jesse RHOADES were not the only ones from their family to travel to Medina County. Their sister, Irene, married Solomon RHOADES (a possible cousin) and came with Elias' family in 1836. In 1850, they are listed in the census in Guilford surrounded by their children in nearby households. By 1854, Solomon and Irene and all of their children have moved to Outagamie County, Wisconsin where many of their descendants still live.

"Thirteen Wisconsin Families" John R. Rennert

"The History of Medina County and Ohio"

Polly, another sister to Elias & Jesse, married a James HARKNESS and traveled to Guilford Township in 1822. Polly died in 1833 and is buried in the Mound Hill Cemetery in Seville, next to her mother Mary. It seems that Polly was the first of my RHOADES ancestor's to come to Medina County. 

My RHOADES ancestors were here from 1822 to around 1858, almost 40 years. They lived on land that I have walked across and seen sites that I have seen. It may have taken 132 years but this line has come full circle. 

Thank you to Kathy Petras for allowing me to be her guest Blogger!  If there are any RHOADES still here in Medina County that may have some of the same ancestors, leave me a comment! 

Sources:

          Perrin, William Henry, History of Medina County and Ohio, containing a history of the state of Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time...(Chicago, Illinois; J. H., Baskin & Battey, 1881), 235 & 468.

     1840 U.S. Census, Medina County, Ohio, population schedule, Guilford Township, p. 214, line 12, Elias Rhoades; NARA micropublication M704, roll 412. 

   

     1850 U.S. Census, Medina County, Ohio, population schedule, Guilford Township, p. 292, dwelling 292, family 531, Elias Rhoades, Sr. household; NARA micropublication M432. 

     1860 U.S. Census, Lenawee County, Michigan, population schedule, Hudson, ED 150, dwelling 1197, family 1120, Jesse Rhoades household; NARA micropublication M653, roll 551.

     Medina County Record of deeds, 1818-1871; index to deeds 1790-1923, Medina County Recorders Office; volumes F, G, K, M & N; digital images, FamilySearch.org. 

     "Ohio County Marriages, 1789-2013," digital images, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, FamilySearch.org; Ohio County Courthouses.