The Rhoads Family

Through all the ancestry research I've done, most of it has been with surnames other than my own. The name I write day by day has yet to come up on a gravestone in all of my searching; and my life. I had never previously visited a grave of a Rhoads ancestor. While in Frame Cemetery we not only saw many Rhoads' but a J. Rhoads. I believe his name was James, but it was somewhat startling to see what could have been my name on a gravestone.

We had made it about half way there when I realized that I'd forgotten my camera. Both of them. So, I relied on my BlackBerry to take the photos, they're not half bad, but I would have been more comfortable and more photo oriented if I would have had my DSLR. Or even a point and shoot. But, I made it work with what I had. There aren't many photos but these are what I have.

Back to the ancestry at hand...

My great-grandparents are Loy Rhoads (b. 28 Jan 1906, Meeker, Ohio - d. Jul 1975, Enon, Ohio) and Floreine Spain  (b. 31 Mar 1904, Mingo, Ohio - d. 16 Dec 1993, Monroe, Michigan). They were married 19 Jun 1926 in Covington, Kentucky. The two of them are buried in Enon, Ohio. I have yet to visit their memorial, or those of the many other ancestors buried in the Dayton area.

Floreine's family is traced in my previous blog post on The Spain Family.

Loy's sister Lucy is buried in Frame Cemetery, Meeker, Ohio. She died in a tragic accident when her oven exploded, leaving three children.

She is buried next to her stepmother, Caddie Creviston Rhoads. Caddie married Homer Rhoads 18 Jun 1933, after the death of his first wife.

Loy's parents are Homer D Rhoads (b. 23 July 1884, Meeker, Ohio - d. 9 June 1967, Meeker, Ohio) and Della May Ducatt (b. 5 Dec 1886, Meeker, Ohio - d. 25 Nov 1931, Meeker, Ohio).

They were married 10 Jun 1905 in Marion, Ohio. A century later, on what would have been their 104th anniversary, my son was born, June 10.  I find that interesting, though the dates are sure to repeat throughout all these lives and events I have tracked.

The two of them are buried together in Frame Cemetery, Meeker, Ohio.

Next to them are two matching grave stones for children Clay and Ruth. They are siblings of Homer's, children of Absalom Perry Rhoads and Eliza Cathrine Wood. Clay was born 28 Sept 1889 and died 14 Jan 1907. Ruth was born 9 Sept 1894 and died in 1895.

Della May's parents are Anthony J Ducatt (b. 30 Apr 1850, Ohio - d. 19 Sept 1934, Meeker, Ohio) and Minerva Jane Guthery (b. 5 Aug 1852, Marsailes, Ohio - d. 27 Sept 1934, Meeker, Ohio). The two of them were married 14 Oct 1871. They, too, are buried in Frame Cemetery.

Early on in my research I noticed that Homer had a rough 4 years. In 1931, he lost his mother, father, and wife. He remarried in 1933, then in 1934 he lost his first father and mother in-law, both in September of that year. The following year, his daughter Lucy died. When looking at dates it seems easy to skip over the timeline of the events, but I think you get a better idea of what life was like for your ancestors when you link the events to each other.

Anthony Ducatt's parents were Anthony Wayne Ducatt, born about 1853 in Michigan, and Margaret, born in Michigan. I don't have much on them.

Minerva's parents are William Guthery (b. 16 May 1817, Ohio - d. 20 Mar 1863, Ohio) and Lucinda Manville Cleveland (b. 15 Oct 1819, New York - d. 4 Aug 1879, Ohio). The two of them are buried in Guthery Cemetery, a bit south west of Meeker, near LaRue, Ohio.

 William's side.

                                                       Lucinda's side.
















Lucinda is said to be a direct descendant of Governor William Bradford of the Mayflower, whose son William (also her ancestor) was Major and Deputy-Governor of the Plymouth Colony.

Her family also includes a line to President Grover Cleveland, together they are related through Moses Cleveland, whose descendant founded Cleveland, Ohio.

Lucinda's parents are Silas Hall Cleveland (b. 22 Nov 1795 - d. 23 Apr 1875, Norton, Ohio) and Betsy Briggs (b. 2 May 1792). I attempted to find Silas' grave at Wyatt Cemetery, but it appears the cemetery isn't accessible. The plots are on what looks like private land, or an easement to the cemetery but I wasn't going to intrude.

William's parents are Joseph Guthery (b. 29 Mar 1790, USA - d. 5 Feb 1856, Ohio) and Hannah Dever (b. 18 Jan 1796, Kentucky - d. 7 Mar 1864, Ohio). They are also buried in Guthery Cemetery. They have two monuments, an original and what looks like a newer one for each.

Hannah's parents are John Dever (b. about 1766, Virginia - d. 10 Nov 1827, Ohio) and Hannah Cubberly (b. 25 June 1763 - d. 1834). They are buried in Dever Historical Cemetery in Lucasville, Ohio. This is on my list of places to get to.

Joseph's parents are John Guthery (b. 14 Apr 1744, Greene County Pennsylvania - d. 1 Jun 1823, Piketon, Ohio) and Lydia Baldwin (b. 16 Feb 1755, Greene County, Pennsylvania - d. 14 July 1816, Piketon, Ohio) They are buried together in Mound Cemetery, Piketon, Ohio. John's marker is at the top of a large burial mound. I have previously visited their memorial.

The Guthery line continues from there, but I will go back to where we left off in the Rhoads line, with Homer's parents; Absalom Perry Rhoads (b. 1843, Marion County, Ohio - d. 1931 Meeker, Ohio) and Eliza Catharine Wood (b. 21 June 1858, Ohio - d. 14 Jan 1931, Ohio) who were married 30 Nov 1877. They are buried behind Homer and Della May in Frame Cemetery.

Eliza Catharine's parents are Hampton Wood (b. 1814, New Jersey - d. 8 May 1889, Ohio) and Susannah Marsh (b. 25 Apr 1823 - d. 26 Apr 1878, Ohio).

Susannah's parents are Mahlon Marsh (d. 14 Mar 1852, Meeker, Ohio) and Mary A. Yeazell        (b. 19 Jun 1796, Virginia - d. 7 Mar 1858, Meeker, Ohio).

Hampton's parents are Isaac Wood and Sarah.

Back in the Rhoads line again, Absalom Perry's parents are George P. Rhoads (b. 1 Feb 1810, Ohio - d. 20 Jan 1884, Ohio) and Drussilla Yoakum (b. 4 Jan 1819, Meeker, Ohio - d. 25 July 1896). They are buried together in Frame Cemetery.

Drusilla's parents are Absolum Yoakum (b. 1794, West Virginia - d. 1877) and Rachel Hall. They are buried in Yoakam Cemetery. This is a small family cemetery on the top of a hill next to Dry Lane Road. It is both small and old, with an old wooden fence surrounding it. The grounds aren't maintained, as there are lots of weeds growing up around the memorials. To get to it you have to climb up the small hill through the weeds, though it's not too hard to access.

This is Rachel's stone, what's left to be read.

 And this is Absalom's.

The Yoakam line continues from there, Michael and Drussilla are Absalom's parents, and I don't know anything about Rachel's.

George's parents are James Rhoads (b. 17 Apr 1783 - d. 5 May 1845, Ohio) and Nancy Susannah McKelvy (b. 2 July 1781, Pennsylvania - d. 2 Apr 1850, Ohio).  I don't have much information on them.

There are always missing links and data in the process of ancestry research. I hope to find the answers I'm looking for as I casually search the internet and cemeteries on my way to things I already expect to find.

Thanks for reading!

The Spain Family

Last January, I made a trip to North Lewisburg, Ohio to (hopefully) discover more about my ancestors.
This area was home to the Spain line of my family, along with many other maiden names.

I'd done some ancestry research and found whom I was related to and their vitals, including their burial locations. Then, I started searching more linearly, rather than laterally, and found some interesting facts.

There is a creek that runs relatively west-east into and through Lewisburg, named Spain creek. Further research in The History of Champaign County the Spain family is credited with being some of the first inhabitants. They have a strong heritage here, hence the name of the creek.


There is a covered bridge here. I can imagine the horses and carriages now.

 

 

To read the inscription on the Historical Marker, click the photo. Use the back button when finished to return.

I love how the wooden floor is wearing through the blacktop, making its age more apparent.

The bridge is located on Inskeep-Cratty road. Mary Inskeep married Joshua Spain, so we are attached to that family line as well.

Maple Grove Cemetery holds many, many a Spain. As well as other large groups of family names; Inskeep, Townsend, Bishop, Holycross.

I have a land map showing ownership of Joshua and Sylvester Spain, the land surrounding the north-east boundaries of the cemetery. Thus, the following shots are looking out across what used to be family land:

A scan of the map, highlighted areas are land of family members I am aware of. Again, clicking will open a larger image.

In Maple Grove (also once referred to as Spain Cemetery) I had a hard time reading the older stones, especially because it was quite cold out and I grew impatient. However, I did find Thomas and wife Evea. There is a story about Thomas bringing the church bell from Urbana to North Lewisburg by wagon, ringing it as he came near. More can be read about this here, towards the bottom of the webpage. Thomas was the brother of my 6th great grandfather.

 

Anyhow, back to the direct lineage way of things that I've used for other ancestral lines in this blog. 

The name Spain, and the origination in Champaign County, Ohio comes from my grandfather's mother, Floreine Spain (b. 31 Mar 1904, Mingo, Ohio - d. 16 Dec 1993, Monroe, Michigan). She and my great grandfather are buried in Enon, Ohio, where they made their last home together.  

Floreine was a writer, our family has many works of hers stored away somewhere. I would like to someday see about publishing these either through a company or online, but that is an idea for another day. I haven't read them in full yet myself.

Floreine's parents are Frederick Josephus Spain (b. 24 July 1870 Mingo, Ohio - d. 10 Nov 1939 Marion, Ohio) and Manta Ann Medaris (b. 3 Sep 1882, Jamestown, Ohio - d. 16 Mar 1976, Enon, Ohio). I did not find their memorial in Maple Grove when I visited, though it is there, and another contributor at findagrave.com has uploaded photographs of their memorial. Manta was Fred's second wife, the first being Blanche Callahan. Their daughter was named Geneva Spain.

My grandfather remembers his grandmother Manta, as a very proper woman. When younger, he was helping her move when he discovered a very elaborate dress in a box. He asked her what it was and her reply was it was her burial gown and to box it back up. She was no where near expecting death at that point, but was prepared just the same. 

Another story passed down about Manta relates to Floreine. My great grandmother had 4 children. The last of which was my grandfather. Floreine was 36 when she had my grandfather, and her mother told her she was too old to be having children and shouldn't even be sleeping with her husband at her age. She allegedly chastised my great grandmother throughout her life for much of what she did.

Manta's parents are Gideon Medaris (b. 14 Dec 1852 - d. 14 Mar 1927, Yakima, Washington) and Elona Hord (b. 14 Nov 1857, Addison, Ohio - d. 17 Oct 1920, Yakima, Washington). I will have more on the Medaris family later, I don't have photos of their graves yet. 

Fred's parents are Sylvester Spain (b. 25 Aug 1837, Champaign County, Ohio - d. 18 June 1909) and Abigail Downs (b. 24 Feb 1838, Champaign County, Ohio - d. 9 Jan 1920 North Lewisburg, Ohio). They are buried together in Maple Grove Cemetery.

This is the backside of their memorial, I assume these are relatives as well but am unsure how they're related at this moment.

I don't know much about Abbie's parents, I have that her dad's name began with an A and he was born in either Ohio or Pennsylvania. For her mother I have a Jasmine A. Therus/Thomas born in Ohio...but I am not very clear on this.

Sylvester's parents are Joshua Spain (b. 16 Feb 1811, Virginia - d. 30 Sep 1877, Ohio) who was married 8 Jan 1835 to Sylvester's mother, Mary Inskeep (b. 24 Oct 1814 - d. 5 Apr 1865). The two of them are buried in Butcher Cemetery in North Lewisburg, Ohio.

Below is the sign for the cemetery:

Mary Inskeep's parents are Job Inskeep (b. 18 Dec 1778, Virginia - d. 29 May 1856, Ohio) and Patience Monroe Bishop (b. 29 Nov 1784, Virginia - d. 8 Mar 1864, Ohio). They are buried at Graham Farm Cemetery in Logan County, Ohio, near North Lewisburg. The cemetery is a small fenced in plot at the beginning of a driveway, near Township Highway 147. Most of the stones are very old, and there are only a few of them. 

The cemetery:

And Job's stone:

Job's parents are James Inskeep and Hope Collins, though I have no dates or locations for the two of them as of now. James' father is John Inskeep, born 1701 in Stadeley Green, Staffordshire, England.

Patience Monroe Bishop's parents are Jonathan Bishop (b. 7 Sep 1739, New Jersey - d. between 1816 and 17 Jun 1817) and Patience Munrow (b. 9 Mar 1742, New Jersey - d. 29 Mar 1828, Virginia).

Back in the Spain line, Joshua's Parents are Stephen Spain (b. 1781, Virginia - d. 11 Apr 1847, Ohio) and Martha (no data on her). I have that Stephen is buried in Maple Grove, but don't recall a photo of his memorial.

Stephen's parents are Joshua Spain (b. 1759, Virginia - d. 9 Dec 1840, Ohio) and Elizabeth Eppes (b. 1764, Virginia - d. 3 Feb 1844, Ohio). Joshua is listed on findagrave.com at Maple Grove Cemetery, but I did not find his memorial while visiting last January. I will be making another trip in warmer weather to find those I missed. 

Joshua Spain's father was John Spain (b. 1720, Virginia - d. 1798, Virginia) and I do not have a name for his mother. The line continues from there, in Virginia and eventually leads to Thomas Spain (b. 12 Aug 1620, Lincolnshire, England - d. Virginia).

I am missing quite a few memorials in the direct line of my ancestors, and hope to get that sorted out as I work through the data online and in visiting the cemeteries.

I very much enjoyed visiting North Lewisburg and will be returning. I feel a connection here, one I get when visiting ancestral land. There is always more research to do, so off I go...

Spain Creek Bridge, again, to leave you with.