Thomas Washington Rhodes. I enjoy all the research I do on all the people I share on Tombs stone Tuesday. I was so impressed with Thomas Rhodes. He is someone, I would have loved to have met. Thomas was born 10 Aug. 1811 to Adam (1777-1845) & Catherine Besecker (1778-1861) Rhodes. They were early pioneers of Northampton Co. The surname was originally spelled ROTH and is present-day spelled RHODES. He was a carpenter and lived and apprenticed under George Keller. He went into the millwright business and owned several lumber mills in Pa and NJ.
I wanted a better understanding of what a Millwright really did, (A millwright is a craftsman or tradesman who installs, dismantles, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. As the name suggests, the original function of a millwright was the construction of flour mills, sawmills, paper mills and fulling mills powered by water or wind, mostly of wood with a limited number of metal parts. Since both of these structures originated from antiquity, millwrighting could be considered, arguably, as one of the oldest engineering trades and the forerunner of the modern mechanical engineer.)
He retires from the Millwright business and becomes what I would consider a contractor and builds, Stroudsburg Bank, the Woolen Mills, and the Lutheran Church. He becomes a director of the bank and the mill. He married for the first time 14 Jan 1836 Mary Ann Heller (1818-1853) they have children; Sydenham, Charles, Marion, Ellen Edward, George & Martha. His second wife Catherine Keller (1822-1904) he marries on 5 July 1853. Their children; George, Martha, Stewart, Erwin, Mary, Jennie, Emma, Millard. He becomes the manager of the Monroe Mutual Fire Insurance Company, he and his family are members of the Lutheran church of Stroudsburg. He dies 25 Jan 1891. I know this is Tombstone Tuesday but Thomas tombstone is missing. I am pretty sure he is buried next to his first wife at the
Keller Church Cemetery, Cherry Valley, Stroud Twp. http://www.pa-roots.org/data/read.php?574,335323
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