Chapter 4

JOSEPH RHODE (JONATHAN JOHN) (1819-1886)

HIS LIFE AND TIMES

ANCESTORS AND BIRTH

Joseph Rhode's grandfather was John Rhode, who came to America sometime about 1776 to 1780, and settled in South Carolina, where he married Mary Lewis. John Rhode left South Carolina about 1814 along with three of his sons, Thomas, Seymour and Caleb, settling in Ohio until about 1820, when the whole family moved to Indiana. Two other sons, William and Jonathan, had left South Carolina about 1810.

Joseph Rhode's father was Jonathan Rhode, and his mother was Mary Harriet (Anderson) Rhode, who, according to family tradition, was a first cousin to William Starke Rosecrans, one of the Union Generals of the Civil War. Joseph Rhode was the fifth child of eight children: Hester, Daniel, Allice, John, Joseph, Hannah, Caleb and Seymour. Joseph Rhode was born in 1819 in Ohio; this was about a year before the Rhode clan loaded up their wagons and moved farther west to Indiana.

JOSEPH RHODE MARRIES ELIZABETH GRAY

Joseph Rhode married Elizabeth Gray in Indiana on 11 July 1839. Her father was John Gray, who was a soldier in the War of 1812. Her grandfather was William Gray, an Englishman who immigrated to South Carolina about 1761. William Gray fought in the Revolutionary War.* He was killed in the Battle of Kings Mountain, fought at Charlotte, North Carolina, 7 October 1780. The battle pitted 1100 British soldiers against 1000 American backwoodsmen. The British losses were 200 killed and 664 taken prisoner. The American losses were 28 killed and 60 wounded. (See Chapter 6 of the History of the Gray Family.)

*Lineage Book Vol. 75, page 3, of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Mrs. Calla Wattles Fenton, descendant of William Rhode, Serial Number 74009.

TREK TO THE OZARKS*

About a year after his marriage to Elizabeth Gray, Joseph Rhode, along with his parents, his four brothers and two sisters with their husbands, trekked in 1840 to the Ozarks in northern Arkansas. Farming in the hilly country of the Ozarks did not prove successful. Joseph and his brothers however, had exciting tales to tell their descendants in the years to come of their prowess and success in bear hunting.

Two children, Mary and Harriet, were born to Joseph and his wife Elizabeth in Arkansas. In the summer of 1843 the whole Rhode tribe left the Ozarks to return to Indiana, except Joseph's older brother Daniel, who remained in the Ozarks and then moved to Iowa in 1847. A short time before leaving the Ozarks Joseph's mother had passed away (1843).

*See the detailed story of the Ozark trip in the life of Jonathan Rhode in Chapter 2.

GRUBBING OUT NEW FARMS IN INDIANA

When the Rhode clan returned to Indiana, they rejoined the four brothers of their father, Jonathan. These brothers, William, Thomas, Seymour and Caleb, with their families, had been busy in the meantime grubbing out and improving their farms. Soon after his return to Indiana from the Ozarks, Jonathan Rhode, the father of Joseph, passed away on 23 November 1845. Joseph and each of his brothers and sisters' husbands purchased timber land and started to grub out farms again from the white oak forests. At that time the land was poorly drained; there were many ponds and sloughs which caused malaria. Nearly every family had the "ager" (ague) from time to time.

DANIEL RHODE SETTLES IN IOWA IN 1847*

"Joseph's oldest brother, Daniel, had remained in the Ozarks of Arkansas for about two years and then in 1847 trekked to southwest Iowa, which was afterwards called Fremont County (organized in 1849). Daniel Rhode first located near Big Springs at the edge of the bluff north of Hamburg where the Odd Fellows Park is located. This was before the Oberlin Colony had located in Civil Bend in October 1848. Daniel Rhode then filed claims to a large tract of land a few miles west of what is now the town of Tabor. On his way to Iowa he drove a hundred head of steers and sold them to the Mormons, who were enroute to their new location in Utah, now Salt Lake City. The cost to Daniel Rhode was about $8 a head; he sold them at $80 to $100 per yoke."

*Quoted from "Reminiscences" published in the Tabor Beacon for January 1939.

JOSEPH RHODE AND BROTHER JOHN TREK TO IOWA IN 1851

Joseph and John Rhode had heard from their brother Daniel of the great opportunities in western Iowa. The spirit of adventure and lure of good land to be homesteaded farther west seized them. So they sold their farms in Indiana and started for the West. Both brothers of course took along their families; with Joseph was his wife, Elizabeth, and their four small children: Mary, 10 years of age; Harriet 9; Dora 5; and Martha 1, the last two having been born in Indiana.

Of this trip Rev. Jacobs writes:

"This was in the days before there were any railroads. They had two large covered wagons, each drawn by four yoke of oxen, which the brothers drove. They were followed by two horse wagons, driven by their wives. Household goods and farming tools were loaded in the wagons. They also had along ten cows. It took over two months to make the journey of six hundred miles from Indiana to western Iowa. There were few if any bridges; the streams had to be forded or ferried. Illinois and Iowa were sparsely settled at that time, and they would travel for days without seeing a house."

[Hal Hatcher provided the following item entitled "Rhode Family Has Been Here 76 Years" from the Tabor Beacon News for 18 August 1927.]

"Sunday August 14th marked the 76th anniversary of the arrival of the families of John and Joseph Rhode.

"These men and their families left their homes in Indiana on May 10, 1851. They sent their stock cattle on ahead and came themselves with two wagons each, a freighter drawn by four yoke of oxen and a covered wagon drawn by a team of horses.

"1851 was a very wet year, and as there were no bridges they had to go to the head waters of many of the streams, and at night when camp was made they could often see the camping place of the night before.

"Of the family who were living at that time only three are now living. Mrs. Elizabeth Eccleston of Los Angeles, daughter of John Rhode; Mrs. Harriet McCormick of Tabor, and Mrs. Martha Loveland of Riverside, California.

"Mrs. McCormick has lived in this county continuously since 1851. J. C. Rhode and Walter Rhode are the only immediate descendants of John Rhode now living in Fremont County, and S. T. Rhode of Randolph, Mrs. McCormick and R. P. Rhode are the only Joseph Rhode descendants. These men settled the farms now owned by Walter Rhode and Mrs. Will Johnson."

[In 2005, Jack Camenga provided photographs of Harriett (sic) Rhode McCormick and S. P. McCormick (above). At this point, we return to Ellis G. Rhode's manuscript.]

SETTLING IN IOWA

In midsummer of 1851 Joseph and John Rhode with their families arrived in Fremont County, near what is now the town of Tabor, in western Iowa, where they were greeted by their older brother, Daniel, who was waiting for them. John Rhode bought a timber claim from John Hughes for $600. Joseph entered land from the government for $1.25 per acre, the amount asked during that early period; and, as they were among the first settlers, they had their choice of land. It is interesting to note that they did not choose the broad flat prairie land of the river bottoms but settled on rolling land partially timbered. The reason for choosing the rolling timbered land was that they needed timber for buildings and fences, as well as the protection from winter storms that such a location afforded. No doubt these were good reasons at that time for such a choice. However, in later years the bottom lands were more valuable.

PIONEER DAYS IN IOWA

The early days of 1851 in Iowa were pioneer days. Joseph Rhode was now thirty-two years of age. His life so far had been spent in the front ranks of agricultural pioneering as it advanced westward—first in Ohio, then in Indiana, then in the Ozarks in Arkansas, then back to Indiana, and then to the far West, as western Iowa was called at that time. This last settlement in Iowa was to be his permanent home.

After Joseph Rhode had selected his land, there was much to be done before winter set in. First, he had to construct corrals for the cows, horses and oxen. Next, a log cabin to house his family had to be built. The three brothers worked together on their cabins, as their farms adjoined. The log cabin had one room only. The fireplace was made of logs and mud. Some of the land had to be made ready for the crops that were to be planted the coming spring.

Roving bands of Indians were often troublesome. While the Indians had been removed to reservations in nearby Kansas and Nebraska, they often came over to the Iowa side of the Missouri River to hunt and trap. One day when Joseph Rhode had been out hunting, he returned home to find the Indians looting his granary and insisting that his wife Elizabeth give them her store of bacon and hens. Martha (Rhode) Loveland, a daughter, writes:*

"I so well remember the incident about those Indians being so very cross and ugly to our dear little mother, who was alone with Seym and me, who were not yet of school age (about 1854-1856). They just walked in and did not even knock. You know they can be so very quiet and pussyfooted when they want to be.

"That time they asked for meat, and mother went to her cupboard and brought out a large platter of boiled meat, of course it being for our family dinner, when they would all come home hungry. But no, they pointed to the smokehouse and ordered her out there; so she took a box and stood on it and started to take down a side of bacon, but they shook their heads angrily and said 'big meat,' so of course she began to hand down hams and shoulders.

"But just then dear Daddy (Joseph Rhode) appeared on the scene with his gun, and were the Indians surprised? and were we glad. He told them to drop the hams and shoulders, and then he pointed down the road and said 'Puc-a-chee,' which in the Indian language meant 'beat it,' and believe me, they did as they were commanded.

"I well remember how I was very much afraid the Indians would leave some of their papooses, as they were strapped on boards and leaned against the logs in the woodpile; but they took them and went off on the run, much to our great joy.

"Father was always kind and generous with the Indians, but he would not tolerate such acts as taking advantage of a frail little woman, for dear mother never weighed a hundred pounds. Yes, those were sure rich pioneer days."

*Letter to Ellis G. Rhode, 1935.

[Dr. Rhode notes that Martha Loveland's narrative affords insight into her culturally influenced perceptions of native Americans.]

GAME ABUNDANT

Wild game in the early days was plentiful; wild turkeys, geese, ducks, prairie chickens, quail and cottontail rabbits abounded. Deer provided venison for the table and buckskin for garments. On Thanksgiving Day wild turkey was roasted for the family dinner. Coon, mink, muskrat, and skunk provided useful furs for caps and mittens. The Missouri River was only ten miles to the west, and fish were easily and often caught for the family table.

In July 1856 Dorothy (Gray) Rhode, wife of Jont Rhode (Seymour John) wrote from Hamburg, Iowa, to her parents in Indiana.*

(See the fascinating letter in Chapter 2, wherein Ann Miller Carr has quoted the entire letter from a typescript copy made by Elsie Jane Smith. Search for "els," Dorothy's misspelling of "else.")

*Copy of letter furnished by Guy Rhode of Ranchester, Wyoming, to Ellis G. Rhode.

Much of the family larder was supplied by the hunting skill of Joseph Rhode with his muzzle-loading rifle and shotgun. When sons Seym and Charles were old enough to handle guns* they spent much of their spare time providing game for the family needs. In 1870-1880 there were still buffalo on the plains of nearby Nebraska and Kansas; Seym and Charles made trips to hunt these animals. Every family had a supply of tanned buffalo hides that were useful for overcoats and bed coverings in the winters.

*Charles H. Rhode's old muzzle-loading shotgun was in the possession of Ellis G. Rhode.

THE THREE BROTHERS PROSPER

The three brothers, Joseph, John and Daniel, became large landowners and were prominent and prosperous citizens of Fremont County. Each lived in log cabins for a number of years, later building large residences to house their large families. The rural school that their children attended was known as the "Rhode School," as for years most of the scholars came from the three Rhode families.

JOSEPH RHODE BUILDS NEW MANSION

For eight years Joseph Rhode and his family lived in the old log cabin, until there were eight children in the family. In 1859 he finished building the finest mansion in all of Fremont County. People came from miles around to see this stately and commodious two and a half story house. It was built of wood native to the local area, much of it being black walnut and oak. The interior was all finished in black walnut. The sills in the foundation were hand hewn from oak and walnut logs. Sam McCormick, who was by trade a carpenter and who later married Joseph's daughter Harriet, helped build the new house.

Moving into the big new house was a great event in the lives of the Joseph Rhode family after living so many years in the cramped quarters and primitive accommodations of the old log cabin. This house was a landmark in Fremont County and was in constant use for 85 years. (In 1946 it was sold for $4OO and torn down for the black walnut and oak lumber used in its construction.)

Joseph's wife, Elizabeth, lived to enjoy the new home for only four years. It was a deep satisfaction to her, however, that at last her family had adequate room and the conveniences that the new mansion afforded after a lifetime of keeping house and caring for her family in the rude log shelters of the frontier.

THE CHILDREN BORN TO JOSEPH RHODE AND WIFE ELIZABETH

Mary, born in 1841, and Harriet, born in 1842, were born in the Ozarks in Arkansas; Dora, born 1846, John Wesley, born 1848 (died in infancy), and Martha, born 1850, were all born in Indiana. The following were born in the log cabin on the Rhode homestead near Tabor, Iowa: Seymour, born 1852; Esther, born 1854; and Sarah, born 1857. The last two children, Charles, born 1860, and Elizabeth, born 1863, were both born in the new house on the Rhode farm. All except John Wesley, who died in infancy, lived to marry, and all raised families of their own, except Elizabeth, who married but had no children.

[Hal Hatcher provided the following biographical sketches of Daniel T. Rhode and Seymore (sic) T. Rhode. Mark Kellam identified the sketches as appearing in A Biographical History of Fremont and Mills Counties, Iowa, published in Chicago by Lewis in 1901.]

Daniel T. Rhode

Among the agriculturists and stock-dealers of Green township who successfully carry on the business to which they give their attention is numbered, Mr. Rhode, whose name introduces this record. He was born in Warren County, Indiana, December 18, 1838. His father, John Rhode, was a native of Ohio, born in the western part of that state in 1817. When a boy he went to Indiana and afterward to Arkansas, where he remained for four years, after which he returned to the old home in the Hoosier state. He was of German lineage, for the great-grandfather of our subject came to the new world from Germany.

The grandparents of our subject were Jonathan and Harriet (Rosencrans) Rhode. The latter died in Arkansas about 1842, and the grandfather subsequently returned to Indiana, where his death occurred about 1845, having reached an advanced age when called to the home beyond. They reared five sons and two daughters, who have families. Two uncles and two aunts of our subject lived and died in Indiana, while John, Daniel and Joe Rhode all came to Iowa, John and Joseph having arrived in the state in 1851, while Daniel preceded them, having removed from Arkansas to Iowa in 1847. He was among the early settlers in the vicinity of Hamburg and before 1851he came to Fremont county and filed claims to a large tract of land, thus becoming the owner of eighteen hundred acres. He was one of the wealthy men in the country for his time. He entered nearly all the land at one dollar and a quarter per acre and took an active part in reclaiming the primitive prairie for purposes of civilization, his improvement of his property promoting the general prosperity as well as his individual success. On coming from Arkansas he drove one hundred head of steers to Iowa, where he sold them to the Mormons who were en route to Utah. The purchase price was about eight dollars per head and he sold them at from eighty to one hundred dollars per yoke, thus realizing a handsome profit. The Rhode brothers were prominently known in Fremont county as leading business men and the name has been inseparably connected with the history of this portion of the state. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Polly Cobb and was born in Lawrence county, Indiana, in which state she gave her hand in marriage to John Rhode.

Our subject was their first child and at the time of his birth the father was but twenty-one years of age. In their family were four children, the second being Elizabeth, the wife of Josiah Eggleston, who is living at Puget Sound, Washington, and has three children. Hannah is the wife of Mr. Buffington, a farmer of Nebraska, living in the Niobrara river country. Her first husband was Mr. Tarpening and she has three children. The fourth member of the Rhode family was a son who died in infancy. The mother died in Indiana, about 1825, and the father was again married, in Lawrence county, that state, his second union being with Miss Martha Scott, by whom he had eight children, five sons and three daughters. The eldest, Joseph, died at the age of fifteen years, and with the exception of two others all were married.

Great changes have come since John Rhode and his brother Joseph traveled to Iowa in the true emigrant style, with two large covered wagons, each drawn by four yoke of oxen, and two horse wagons, while each of the brothers also had five cows. As they crossed Illinois in the spring their wagons often got stuck in the mud, at which times they would double the teams and thus extricate the wagons. They were two months in making the journey and arrived in Fremont county in July or August. The two brothers located near their brother, Daniel, and the father of our subject paid six hundred dollars to John Hughes for his timber claim. He secured timber land, which everybody considered the most desirable, the prairies being regarded as comparatively worthless, as there was not timber to fence them. Then, too, on the prairies it was so cold and bleak that the settlers feared that they might freeze to death. Several of the pioneers did die upon those broad open stretches of country. About six years before his death, John Rhode buried his second wife. He passed away about 1896, upon the farm where he located in 1852, living then in a log cabin. About 1857, however, he had erected the present large frame house. At one time he was the owner of eight hundred acres of land and at his death he was still in possession of three hundred acres having given the remainder to his children, to whom he either donated land or money.

Daniel T. Rhode, whose name begins this record, was reared upon his father's farm. He was thirteen years of age when he came to Iowa, and here he remained until the 1st of May, 1859. He was of the number who started for Pike's Peak, on the discovery of gold there, but after spending one summer in that country he returned home. While en route he saw a number of buffaloes and killed three in one place. He remained with his parents until the spring of 1862, when he returned Pike's Peak, Colorado, remaining for eighteen months, during which time he worked on the stage route, building log houses and barns. He then went to Idaho, where he engaged in mining gold for three months, and then returned with ten thousand dollars of the precious metal. In one day he secured gold to the value of fifteen hundred and twelve dollars, having in one pan eighty-two dollars. This fortunate find came to him just at the right moment, for he and his partner were almost destitute of funds when they discovered the mine, in what was known as Stinking Water Gulch. They accidentally discovered the gold by digging at the side of a boulder, and Mr. Rhode still has in his possession nuggets which he found and which are worth from fifty to one hundred and twenty-seven dollars.

When twenty-nine years of age, on the 21st of March, 1868, Mr. Rhode was united in marriage to Miss Sarah C. Taliaferro, who was born in Missouri, a daughter of James and Catherine (Holland) Taliaferro, the former a native of Missouri and of French ancestry, while the latter was a native of Ohio. Unto our subject and his wife have been born eleven children, three of whom died in childhood. The others are Dora, the wife of Charles Delaney, by whom she has two children; Clara May, who is the wife of George Plank, and has two children, both of whom are now in Oregon; Wilbert, who died at the age of twenty-six years; Alonzo, who is a farmer of this neighborhood and has a wife and one son; Maggie, the wife of Alonzo Kempton, also a resident farmer of Green township; Curtis, a young man of twenty-one now in Oregon; Albert, who died at the age of fourteen years; Pearl, Richard and Daniel, aged respectively, seventeen, fourteen and nine years; and Ruby, who died at the age of four years.

Mr. Rhode is six feet in height and weighs two hundred and fifty-three pounds, and we seldom meet a man of greater strength or endurance. Of strong domestic tastes, his greatest enjoyment comes to him through his associations of home. He is today the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of land, of which one hundred and fifty is timber. He also has ten acres and a good residence in Tabor. He has recently purchased two thousand acres in Kansas, upon which he has placed his son Alonzo. He carries on general farming and in addition successfully follows stock-raising, keeping on hand twenty-four horses, while annually he feeds and sells one hundred head of shorthorn cattle. He has the most of his land seeded down and has grown from six to seven thousand bushels of corn in a year. His fine timber is largely black walnut. Fine modern improvements may be seen on his place, including his mammoth barn, which is forty by seventy-two feet, with sixteen-foot posts. It is all built of hewed frame timbers from his woods and has an eight-foot basement. Everything about the place is neat and thrifty and up to date.

In his political views Mr. Rhode is a Republican, having supported the party since casting his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln. He has served as school director and road commissioner, but has never been an aspirant for office, preferring to devote his time and energies to his business affairs, in which he has met with creditable success.

Seymore T. Rhode

The history of Randolph would be incomplete without the mention of Seymore T. Rhode, who is a representative of an honored pioneer family and is one of the most prominent and influential business men of the town, being the senior member of the firm of S. T. Rhode & Company. His birth occurred on the 23rd of June, 1852, in the county which is still his home, his parents being Joseph and Elizabeth (Gray) Rhode, both of whom were natives of Warren county, Indiana, in which place they were reared and married. The paternal grandfather, Jonathan Rhode, was born in Ohio and was of German descent, his father having come from Germany to America. He located first in South Carolina, where he served under General Marion in the commissary department in the Revolution. He was a farmer, operating his plantation by the aid of the slaves that he owned, but becoming disgusted with the slave traffic he disposed of his interets in the south and went to Ohio.

Jonathan Rhode, the grandfather of our subject was reared to agricultural pursuits in the Buckeye state, and at an early period in the development of Indiana he became a resident of that state, where he carried on farming. He married and became the father of seven children, namely: Daniel A.; Elsa, the wife of William Cobb; and John, both of whom were agriculturists; Joseph, the father of our subject; Hannah, the wife of R. McCord; Caleb and Seymour. The parents were both members of the Society of Friends, and the kindly spirit so characteristic of that sect was exemplified in their lives.

Joseph Rhode, the father of our object, was married in Indiana and there began farming and subsequently he and his family accompanied his father's family on their removal to northwest Arkansas, in 1840. A few years later, however, they returned to Indiana and in 1851 they came to Fremont county, Iowa, where Joseph Rhode entered land from the government, developing and improving the farm upon which he remained throughout the remainder of his days. He became an extensive agriculturist and stock-raiser and dealer, being one of the leaders in this line of business in the community.

In politics he was a stalwart Republican and was recognized as one of the leaders of the party in his portion of the state, his influence being used with telling effect in support of the principles in which he believed. He took a deep interest in the war, but ill health prevented him from going to the front. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, frequently called him to public office and he was chosen to represent Fremont county in the state legislature. He also served as a member of the county board for a number of years and filled many minor offices, exercising his official prerogatives in support of every measure which he believed would contribute to the general good. He was instrumental in securing the passage of the act for an assessment upon vacant lands owned by speculators. Of strong mentality, he viewed each question that came up for consideration, not only from the standpoint of to-day but of the future as well, desiring that all his official acts should prove of not only immediate good, but of continued benefit. He was liberal, charitable, enterprising and public-spirited, and his life, in purpose and in act, commanded the confidence and genuine regard of all with whom he was associated. He died January 17, 1886, and the community thereby lost one of its most valued citizens, his neighbors a faithful friend and his family a considerate father. His wife had passed away many years before, her death occurring in 1863. She was a daughter of John Gray, who settled in Lawrence county, Indiana, in the pioneer days. His father was killed at the battle of King's Mountain in the Revolutionary war. The Gray family is of Scotch-Irish descent, and John Gray died in Lawrence county, leaving ten children, namely: William, Jacob, Lidia, Dorothea, Wesley, Ephraim, James, Mrs. Elizabeth Rhode and Hamilton.

Unto Joseph and Elizabeth (Gray) Rhode were born ten children: Mary, who became the wife of L. O. Baker and died in 1880; Harriet, the wife of S. P. McCormick; Dorothea S., who became Mrs. Reed and died in 1882; John, who died in childhood; Mrs. Martha F. Loveland; Seymore T., of this review; Mrs. Esther R. Hurst; Sarah, who is the widow of Dr. William Matthews, and is living in Colorado; Charles H., of Cass county, Iowa; and Elizabeth A. of California. After the death of his first wife, Joseph Rhode, the father of our subject, married Mrs. West, a widow and a daughter of Deacon Kinney, of Ohio. Their children were Edith, who became the wife of A. A. Failing and Mrs. Lucy Stevens. Their mother having passed away, Mr. Rhode married Mrs. Snow, a widow, and a daughter of D. M. Paul, of Thurman, Iowa. Two children graced this marriage, Guy and Ray, who are living on the old homestead with their mother. [In 2005, Jack Camenga provided a photograph of Edith and A. A. Failing. Jack also supplied a photo depicting Sarah Rhode Matthews, identified as "Gammie" at the far left, and Joseph Rhode Matthews, second from the right (below). Jack provided a picture of Sarah with her grandchildren (below). Further, he offered a photo of Joseph Rhode Matthews (below).]