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From: Title: History of Richland County, Ohio, from 1808 to 1908: Also Biographical Sketches of Prominent Citizens of the County, Abraham J. Baughman
Author: Abraham J. Baughman
Publisher: S. J. Clarke Pub. Co., 1908. Page 806-807

The present home farm of David Rhodes in Jackson township was also the place of his birth, which occurred January 3, 1849, so that he has throughout a long period been identified with the agricultural interests of Richland county. He is the fourth in order of birth in a family of five children, who.se parents were Henry and Rachel (Stoner) Rhodes, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in Lancaster county, in 1808, and the latter in York county, that state. They were reared and married in the Keystone state and the year 1831 witnessed their arrival in Richland county, Ohio, the family home being established on a tract of land whereon no clearing had been made. The father at once cleared a.space large enough to erect a log house and in this the family took up their abode. He then cleared the balance of the land and placed it under the plow, in due course of time harvesting rich crops as a reward for the care and labor which he bestowed upon it. The children of the family, five in number, are as follows: Henry P., who resides in Richland county and is mentioned on another page of this work; Mrs. Elizabeth Bloom, a resident of Michigan; Mrs. Sarah Paul, of Indiana; David, of this review; and Mrs. Melvina Arinold, also of Jackson township. Both the father and mother are now deceased, the former having passed away in March, 1896, in his eighty-eighth year, while the latter died in October, 1888, when she had reached the age of seventy-five, for her natal day was October 15, 1813.

David Rhodes, the immediate subject of this review, was reared to the duties of the home farm, early becoming familiar with the labors of plowing. planting and harvesting. He is today the owner of one hundred and eighty acres of land, divided into two farms, sixty acres of which constitute a part of the father's old home place. He has here two sets of buildings and in 1891 erected a good barn thirty-eight by sixty-six feet, with a shed thirty-two feet long, and on the farm which he reiits stands a good brick residence. For a long period he was actively connected with agricultural pursuits and while he still retains his home on his farm he leaves the active labor to others, merely giving supervision to the work.

Mr. Rhodes was married in 1886 to Miss Izora Artz, who was born in Richland county, a daughter of Henry and Hannah (Holtz) Artz. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes was bleseec'

While Mr. Rhodes is in hearty sympathy with the principles of democracy he largely votes an independent ticket. His fraternal relations are with the Knights of Pythias at Shelby. Mr. Rhodes was given a start in life by the inheritance of sixty acres of land from his father's estate, but it has been through his own energy, careful management and well directed labors that he has extended the boundaries of hi.s place to its present acreage, so that he deserves much credit for what ho has, accomplished. In his younger years he spent a busy and active life, so that today he can enjoy the fruits of his former toil in ease and comfort, being surrounded by a host of warm friends, who esteem him highly for his own moral worth.