| Notes |
- BURIAL: Mr. McKinley Rhodes, Sr.
BURIAL: Mr. McKinley Rhodes Sr., 85, passed away at Sabine Medical
Center on May 29.
BURIAL: Surviving relatives include wife, Mrs. Mary Rhodes of Many;two
sons, Mr. McKinley Rhodes Jr. of Sugarland, Tex., and Mr. Ronald
Enos Rhodes of New Ulm, Tex.; one sister, Mrs. Cleo Dowden of
Longstreet, La.; one brother, Mr. H. A. Rhodes of Houston, Tex.;
seven grandchildren; ten great grandchildren; and a host of
nieces and nephews.
BURIAL: Mr. Rhodes was born March 1, 1909, to C. N. and MattieRhodes in
Vowells Mills, La.
BURIAL: Mr. Rhodes married Mary Sailor on March 21, 1933, inHouston,
Tex.
BURIAL: Services were held at First United Methodist Church in Many,
with interment in Bellwood Cemetery, on June 1, at 10 a.m.
Officiating were Rev. Hulen Warren.
BURIAL: Visitation for Mr. Rhodes was at Warren Meadows Funeral Homein
Many.
BIOGRAPHY: LOUISIANA'SKISATCHIE HILLS
BIOGRAPHY: THE RHODESFAMILY
BIOGRAPHY: Mr. McKinley Rhodes, "The old Rhodes place wasby Simmons Creek the first one west of the Work Center. There's abridge and big trees. When we first moved there I must have been 10,12 years old and that Simon's Creek had deep holes in it. We swam lookfish, but we couldn't dive and find the bottoms. Louisiana Long LeafLumber Co. worked out of the Fisher and they went down across our oldfarm and cut out all that timber in that part of the country. I wishyou had some pictures of those trees the way they used to be. They cutall that virgin pine timber and then all that sand started washing in.It filled up all the creeks. Threes no deep holes now.
On our Rhodes family, way back, there were seven boys andtwo girls that came into this Kisatcchie part of the country, aboutfour generations back. My great great grandfather, William WadeRhodes, was killed in the Battle of Mansfield and I can't find hisgrave. I've hunted and I have it on paper as I'm trying to run afamily tree. I know where my great grand mother is buried, I found hergrave. It's at Vowells Mill.
My dad's name was Christopher Newton Rhodes and my mother'sname was Mattie Elizabeth Jones and she was from Livingston, Parish, Idon't know how they ever met.My daddy and mother are buried atBellwood. We went to Provencal school where I finished high school in1929. Then I went to Beaumont to Business School. There I studiedradio and I was a radio operator on oil tankers. I met my wife in PortArthur. We got married in Houston, and lived there forty years. In1970 we came to Toledo Bend Lake and have been retired here eversince.
My grandfather was Newton Messer Rhodes. Messer must havebeen a family name somewhere, because his wife was buried right thereby him and I don't remember her name, but the marker said " wife of M.Newton Rhodes." You see a lot of that in the cemeteries. My son's wifedied a couple of years ago and nobody knew where she came from so heelected to put " wife of Mc Kinley Rhodes, Jr." She was from Atlanta.
We had a grist mill on the farm, but it was gasoline drivennot a water mill. I can show you some old water mills west of there.There's part of one left on Mill Creek. I guess that's the reason theynamed it Mill Creek."
We said, "We were told it was the Dowden place. That waswithin a mile of where we went to the Bludworth Cemetery where S.E.A.Dowden was buried and that's supposed to be Andrew's father. He was agrandfather of Mrs. Stanley."
Mr. Rhodes, "I knew the old Andrew Dowden place. Thatwas within a mile of where we were raised although I was born atVowells Mill. There we bought a farm on Middle Creek. Andrew Dowdendidn't have any children. I don't know where he's buried; I wasn't inthe area when he passed away. His wife, Nettie Dowden, was a goodfriend of my mother. They were neighbors for a long time, all mygrowing up time. He was a cattleman and a sheepman, and farmed alittle bit.
I know one time
Andrew Dowden rode over to our house and we had two dogs that my Dadwas proud of. Andrew said,
"I just caught your dog killing my sheep, "After while we saw a dogcoming from that direction and my dad looked at his teeth and he hadwool in his teeth. Andrew said "I'd like to kill him." And my daddytold him " Take him away from the house where my kids can't hear thegunshot" and he got rid of the dog. You don't keep a dog that killssheep, you can't straighten them out. I'll tell you another story onAndrew. He used to butcher a beef and peddle the meat to the people atFisher Logging Camp and to those at the Locust Hill Turpentine Camp.I butchered a goat and took some of it to my brother's wife. Mybrother wouldn't eat goat meat so I told his wife to tell my brotherthat Andrew Dowden had come by and I bought a piece of beef. Mybrother ate the goat meat and enjoyed it, he didn't know thedifference.
When we lived at Vowells Mill it used to be a community. My daddy andthis other boy's daddy had a convict crew building a road down therethrough Vowells Mill. That convict crew made a lasting impression onme, because some of them were carrying a ball and chain. They hadguards out there with shotguns across their saddles and a couple ofdogs. They camped on the creek.
My daddy and this other boy's daddy were shooting dynamite to blowstumps. This other boy got one of those camps and in the school houseat Vowells Mill when the teacher left the room he put that cap on thewood heater with the shake out powder on it. He started to his seatpretty urgent with the teacher coming, and blew it up. He didn't havenear as much hand as I have left.
Did you ever have anyone tell you about the MurrellGang and the old Murrell Trail. It's just south of Bellwood. I knowabout a mile of it, but I'm just going by what the old timers told us.It worked back south of Bellwood and went on east. Locust Hill wasabout where his operation was. That's just south of Bellwood and therewas money buried over there everywhere. People have dug up thatcountry, but I don't know what they found. My uncle spent a life timedigging and he died a pauper. They never did get my dad too muchenthused about it.
The history of this land is No Mans' Land and the El Camino Real.Have you all seen this old house across the lake. Used to be aslave-trading set-up. I'm sure that had a connection with those oldtrails that went through here. They brought the slave up the river andsold them. That's the history they told to us. To get a picture ofthat old place go across the bridge. The first road to the right isPendleron Harbor. Most likely they will have a guardhouse. Stop thereand find out.
We crossed the bridge and found the security house. A guard told usto go to the road sign and follow on around to the old slave house.It's the Gaines House and it looks like and old, old house with an oldtin roof and just the logs. We were told it was being restored.
BIOGRAPHY: Owen-BoltonCemetery
BIOGRAPHY: Mr. And Mrs. Edward Dowden took us to the Owen BoltonCemetery. Mrs. Dowden, "I can tell you when we found that Boltongraveyard. We went over where ha plane crashed, that was when we cameby that old graveyard. I didn't have any fence around it. Still it hadtombstones and I can remember the Bolton name, but I don't rememberthe rest of them."
Mr. Dowden, " Another thing, our oldest son's wife's forebears wereOwens and Boltons, this was some of her background, right here. Thepeople buried in this cemetery were some of Dorothy's ancestors.
Her great grandparents were Mary Jane Bolton who married Cicero Owen.He fought in the Civil War. Their daughter Lorena Owen marriedBenjamin Franklin Gandy, and these were her grandparents. Their sonMac Gandy married Rosa Anna Montgomery and Minerva Rebecca WeldonMontgomery.
McKinley, Sr. Rhodes
Given Name . . . . . . McKinley, Sr.
Birth Surname. . . . . Rhodes
Married Surname. . . . (Not Given)
Birth Date . . . . . . 3/1/1909
Death Date . . . . . . 5/29/1994
Approximate Age. . . . 85
Residence. . . . . . . Many, La.
Place of Birth . . . . (Not Given)
Place of Death . . . . Many, La.
Spouse . . . . . . . . McKinley, Mary Sailor
Father . . . . . . . . Rhodes, C.N., Sr.
Father's Birthplace. . La.
Mother . . . . . . . . Jones, Mattie E.
Mother's Birthplace. . La.
Cemetery . . . . . . . Bellwood
Next of Kin. . . . . . (Not Given)
Doctor . . . . . . . . Sabine Medical Center
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1909 - 1994 (85 years)
