| Notes |
- Henry Rhoads / Rhodes of Sommerset County, PA
Henry RHOADS d: April 07, 1774 in Ursina, Bedford Co., now Somerset Co., Buried at Rhoads Cemetery, Fact 1: Also known as Henry Senior Fact 2: Henry probably lived in Maryland and then settled in an area of Cumberland Co., PA which then became Turkeyfoot Twp., Bedford Co. and is now in modern time known as Somerset County. Fact 3: Perhaps he is buried in the Rhoads Cemetery, near Brooks Tunnel of B & O Railroad, Turkeyfoot Twnshp, Bedford Co. PA, now Somerset County. Fact 4: Will recorded in Will Book 1, page 5, at the Bedford County Court House, is dated January 28, 1774. Fact 5: Henry was a faithful member of the German Baptist Brethern Church, meetings were held at his Grist Mill until 1771 when his son Henry Jr. built the meetinghouse.
Fact 6: He served as Supervisor of Brothers Valley Twp and was granted several tracts of land as early as 1762. On July 7, 1762, a warrant was issued to Henry Rhoads by the William Penn family Warrant #58 for 200 acres on the East side of Dunning Creek in Cumberland Co., also Warrant #74 for 50 acres of land in Antrim Twp. Cumberland Co which was dated May 3, 1763. Then on May 18, 1763 Warrant #80 was issued for 50 acres also in Antrim Twp., located adjacent to Rev. George Adam Martin. Finally on February 13, 1773 Henry Rhoads received Warrant #24 for 150 acres of land in Turkeyfoot Twp., Bedford County.
On September 13, 1773 two land warrants to Henry Rhoads Sr. (this Henry) and Samuel Evewalt verify the names of Henry's children. The Evewalt deed dated July 23, 1775 conveyed his part to George Funk and Catharine Rhoads, widow of Henry Rhoads and to Henry, Jacob, Gabriel, John, Joseph, and Daniel Rhoads, Michael Sells and his wife Barbara, Frederick Sipe (Sever) and his wife Catherine, and John Swisher and his wife Susanna, heirs of Henry Rhoads, deceased. One would assume, based on his Will, that these are daughters of Henry and Katherina Rhoads.
In 1770 Morgan Edwards' book Materials Toward a History of the American Baptists a list of members of the Stonycreek Brethern Church for 1762 is given, listing George Adam Martin and Henry Roth (Rhoads) first in a list of seventeen members.
From Family Search: Although little is known for certain of Henry's early life, he is thought to have been born Heinrich Rhoedt in Mannheim, Baden, Germany, then part of the Electoral Palatinate (Kurpfalz). He immigrated, likely with his father and wife Katharina, arriving in Pennsylvania around 1737.
Henry first settled with his father and wife near Trappe, Pennsylvania, where he attended the local Lutheran congregation (what became Old Trappe). However, in the 1740's, he left the church to pursue religious life at the Ephrata Cloister with Conrad Beissel and George Adam Martin, both of whom were leading members of the German Baptist Brethren (Dunkards). His father died there.
He and his wife had a large family. In 1748, they moved to Frederick County, Maryland. There, they joined the local Brethren church under the leadership of Daniel Leatherman, but became disaffected, as Leatherman rejected the Sabbatarian beliefs Henry had picked up from Beissel and Martin and continued to hold.
In the early 1760's, Henry and his family moved with some of George Adam Martin's congregation to modern-day Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after gaining significant amounts of land there. Here, he built a mill. He was elected to be a minister by his local congregation in 1768, and began hosting Seventh-Day German Baptist Brethren services at his mill until, largely due to the efforts of his son, Henry Rhoads, Jr., a meetinghouse was built around 1770 to accommodate the congregation. Known as Stony Creek German Baptist Church, it was ministered by George Adam Martin himself during Henry's final years. Henry was also involved in local affairs, serving as a Supervisor for Brothersvalley Township.
Henry's will is dated January 28, 1774, and his death was announced by Ephrata in 1774. He died in modern-day Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and is thought to have been buried in the Rhoads Cemetery, which is located where he was living at the time, although documentation is lacking and there is no original marker.
Spouse:
Elisabeth Reinhardt (____ - 1775)*
Note: His grave is unmarked.
Burial:
Rhoads Cemetery
Black Township
Somerset County
Pennsylvania, USA
Find A Grave Memorial# 45473916
.
|
Rainham Builders
1717 - 1774 (57 years)
