RHODE ANCESTRY

The Rhode family was not spawned from Ellis Island, or nurtured in the factories or board rooms of this great country. The first member of the family that we have definite record of came to Charleston Harbor, South Carolina in Revolutionary times. He was an immigrant from Winegrode Thurington in Germany. His first name was John and his last name was possibly spelled Rod, maybe with an umlaut over the "o." There are many branches of the Rhode family descended from John and Mary Rhode. There is an extensive web-site including all the various branches at roberttrhode.org maintained primarily by Dr. Robert T. Rhode and Ann Carr. In a 1959 study Ellis Rhode paid tribute to the Rhode ancestors: "To the memory of the early Rhode Pioneers, who trekked westward with their ox teams to conquer the wilderness and raise their families, we, their descendants pay tribute. The pioneer spirit and determination of our ancestors to succeed has been passed on to succeeding Rhode generations. The John Rhode descendants are universally good citizens, industrious, prosperous and religious as befits our pioneer ancestors. There is every reason for each of us to be proud of our heritage." For our purposes, we will include only that part of the family that was directly connected to the Rhode farm house located in west central Indiana on the Warren-Benton county line between Pine Creek and the Branch.

This is our story... Click on Story Written by Rhoda Watson (Simmons/Rhode) rhodawatson68@yahoo.com