Four more children were born to Jonathan and Dorothy Gray Rhode.
They raised their family on this farm on the Warren-Benton county line. My
grandfather, Charles Seymour Rhode, born in l872, was the only surviving
son. They had another baby boy, Arthur, who died in infancy. Jonathan was
almost blind by the time Charles was 14 years old, so this young man must have
had a lot of the responsibility for the farming. His sisters were: Rebecca
Arvilla, Sarah Esther, Mary Jane, Martha Kate, and Lillis May. Here is a picture
from 1906 of Jonathan and Dorothy's children.
All of the girls made rather unfortunate marriages and
Jonathan was heard to say, "The Devil owed me a debt and he paid me back in
sons-in-law." My grandfather, Charlie, told me about that comment with a
chuckle. I never knew any of those husbands as they were all dead by the time
I came along, but I knew all of the daughters. They were my old "aunties," and
they all called me "Rodee Lou" much to my
disdain.
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