DARKE COUNTY OHIO - BIOS: RHODES, ABRAHAM (published 1900)
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A Biographical History of Darke County Ohio, published in
Chicago by the Lewis Publishing Company, 1900. p. 602-603

                         ABRAHAM RHOADES

     Among the wealthy and influential citizens of Darke county,
Ohio, is found the subject of this review, Abraham Rhoades, a
retired farmer living at his pleasant rural home on section 4,
Greenville township.  He was born in Perry township, Montgomery
county, Ohio, eight miles west of Dayton, February 8, 1832.  His
father was Jacob Rhoades, a native of Bedford county,
Pennsylvania, who, when seven years old, moved with his parents
to Mongtomery county, Ohio.  Grandfather Rhoades, also named
Jacob, and also a native of Pennsylvania, on coming to Ohio
settled on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, located six
miles west of Dayton, where he developed his land and passed the
rest of his life.  On becoming of age the younger Jacob Rhoades
entered eighty acres of land in that county, married there and
settled down to farming, and in Montgomery county spent his life
and died, his age at death being seventy-six years.  He was a
Christian man, a member of the Lutheran church, and was highly
respected in the community in which he lived.  His first wife,
whose maiden mane was Barbara Souders, was a native of Montgomery
county and a daughter of Peter Souders, who was of Pennsylvania
birth and Scotch descent, his father having been born in
Scotland.  Mrs. Barbara Rhoades died at the age of forty-five
years, she bore her husband eleven children.  By his second wife
Mr. Rhoades had five children.  Abraham was the third-born in the
first family.  His brothers are: John, deceased; Noah, a resident
of Montgomery county, Ohio; Jacob, deceased; Peter, of Mongtomery
county; Jonas, deceased; and Hiram, of Darke county.  His sister
are as follows: Katie, the wife of Robert Surber, of Darke
county; Barbara, deceased; Malinda, the wife of Henry Smith, of
Darke county.  The members of the family by the second marriage
are: Margaret, the wife of John Tompson, deceased; David,
deceased; Henry, of Montgomery county; Amanda, the wife of
Jefferson Lamon, of Montgomery county; and Daniel, deceased.
     Abraham Rhoades was reared to man's estate in his native
county, with very limited opportunities for obtaining an
education.  Indeed, it may be said that the whole of his
education has been obtained in the board school of experience.
In 1854 he came to Darke county, making the journey on foot,
carrying an ax and an old carpet-bag, which contained his earthly
possessions.  Arrived here, he began cutting cordwood, and from
this small beginning laid the foundation of his present fortune.
He soon bought one hundred acres of land, only two acres of which
were cleared, and in the purchase of this property he went in
debt eleven hundred dollars.  By faithful, honest toil he
transformed this piece of wild land into a well-cultivated farm,
with a comfortable and attractive home and other good buildings
thereon, and not only paid off the debt that he had contracted
but also bought adjoining land, seventy-two acres, which he has
likewise brought under cultivation.  His life has been one of
constant endeavor.  A hard worker and a good manager, he has
made his own success.
     Mr. Rhoades was married in 1856 to Mary Pitzenberger, a
native of Montgomery county, Ohio, who came to Darke county in
1850.  She departed this life June 24, 1894.  Her children are as
follows: Jacob, who married Mary Lynn and now resides in Indiana;
Matilda, the wife of Crist Appenzeller; Elizabeth, the wife of
William Pitsenberger, of Columbus, Ohio; Stephen, who married
Clara Stephens; and Curtis, who married Charity Mong.  Mr.
Rhoades has given to each of his children six thousand dollars,
and comfortably settled them in life, at the same time retaining
for himself an abundance of this world's goods.  In addition to
his farm above referred to, he has valuable property in
Greenville and stock in the First National Bank at that place.
     He gives his support, politically, to the Republican party.