From: "Lynn in the Revolution", by Howard Kendall
Sanderson, Part II, Published in 1909, by W. B. Clarke Company, Boston, page
218-221.
JESSE RHODES,-son of Ignatius and Sarah (Merriam) Rhodes, was born May
24,1759; married by Rev. Mr. Roby, November 16,1783, to Love
Newhall, daughter of Allen and sister of Daniel A. B. and Charles;
children, Jesse, Loue , Salley, Betsy, Huldah, Allen. He died January
3. 1891. He was a deacon of the old First Church, and lived on Boston
Street. The old house, torn down / ! about the year 1884, stood a little back
from the corner of Boston Street, on
the easterly side of Cedar. The land
was formerly the old Witt place, but in the course of years came into
the ha& of Mr. Rhodes. It was one of the oldest houses in town, and
had the long sloping roof. Its timbers were of oak, and it was built in a
most substantial manner:
His military record is given as follows: Private, Captain Addison
Richardson's company, Colonel Wade's regiment; entered service July
19, 1780, three months, eleven days; regiment detached from Essex
County militia; travel 240 miles home; also private, Captain Simeon
Brown's company, Colonel Jacob Gerrish's regiment of guards; service,
April 9 to July 3, 1778, three months, two days; also July 3 to July
14 same year; rolls dated at Winter Hill.-Mass. Rolls.
JOHN
RHODES,-son of Hezekiah and Abigail, was born January27, 1753,
and died in the army in 1776.
JOHN RHODES,- son of Ignatius and Sarah (Merrian) Rhodes, was born
August 6, 1750; married by Rev. Mr. Treadwell, December, 11, 1777,
to Lydia Farrington; children, Joseph, Sarah, Ezra, Elizabeth. He
lived in Breed's End according to Pratt, and died June 10, 1826, aged
seventy-seven. His wife, Lydia, died April 15, 1815.
He was in Captain Rufus Mansfield's company, and responded to the
alarm of April 19, 1779. Buried in the old Western Ground, with marker
and stone at his grave.
JOSIAH
RHODES,--son of John and Hannah Rhodes, was born in Lynn,
July 45, 1738. A Josiah, Jr., and Rebecca Tarbox were married by
Rev. Mr. Roby, April 6, 1781; children, John, Rebecca, Lydia, and
Betsey. Josiah was buried in the old Western Burial Ground, October
28, 1834. In the list of burials no age is given, it simply being
stated that he was "very old." The following is given from a sketch by Mr.
B. F. Newhall, of Saugus: "For many
years there have stood by the river in
East Saugus old mills. In 1796 the manufacture of chocolate was
begun in them, and continued very successfully for a long time. In
1805 or 1806 the premises were leased to Amariah Childs, then one of
the most prominent men in the town. During the War of 1812 the mill
was overwhelmed with orders and the price of chocolate rose to a very
high figure. One of the most amusing things connected with this old
chocolate manufacture was the pretended art or skill indispensable to
a successful issue. This was believed to be a secret possessed by only
here and there an individual. Even the persons who carried on the
manufacture did not pretend to any knowledge of the art. It seemed
to be a general concession by the public that the science of manufacture
was known to but few. The grand magician of that early day was
Josiah Rhodes, nicknamed 'Slim Cesar.' He exercised the most
unlimited control over the whole establishment. So arbitrary was he
in the exercise of his pretended skill that scarcely any one dared to look
at the chocolate in process of manufacture. The roaster and stirring
kettle were objects forbidden by him to be examined by the ignorant
world. I well remember with what veneration I used to look upon this
aged, cadaverous veteran. The smoke of the roaster could be seen
curling up over the fire, but none had the courage in his presence to
smell the forbidden odor. Occasionally a small, mysterious, white
powder, from a clean piece of white paper, would be cast into the roaster
or the kettle, in a mysterious and magical manner, completely blinding
the eyes of the uninitiated. Such was the dignity and haughtiness
attendant upon the exercise of his skill, that he rarely ever smiled or
spoke when thus engaged. Even his employers scarcely dared to ask a
question. Men who labored years under him never dared to raise a
pretence of knowing anything. Such were the mysteries of the trade
in olden times."
The Pension Office gives the following Revolutionary record : Private,
Captain Daniel Galeucia's company, 1775, three months; private, Captain
Cox's company, 1778, two months; private, Captain Buffinton's
company, Colonel Jacob Gerrish's regiment, 1778, three months; private,
Captain Ebenezer Richardson's company, Colonel Wade's regiment, July or August,
1780, three months. Allowed a pension from August 14,1832.
SAMUEL
RHODES,-probably son of John and Hannah (Rhodes) Rhodes,
was born in Saugus, July 13, 1753. He was in the company of Captain David Parker on the 19th of April, 1775. On October 14, 1777, he
enlisted in Captain North's company, and entered the northern army.
On April 30, 1780, he was in camp near Morristown, in a regiment
under Colonel Iienry Jackson. He was married by Rev. Mr. Roby
September 12, 1781, to Hannah Shillaber, and had children,-Hannah,
Sarah, Lydia, Polly Rebecca, Jane, and Content. He lived on the
road then called " Back Lane," now known as Winter Street, between
East Saugus and Saugus Centre. The street was appropriately named,
for the old people were accustomed to say that the snow did not melt
there until July. He lived there until about 1800, when he removed
to Danvers, where he died in 1816.
THOMAS
RHODES,-son of Ignatius and Sarah (Merriam) Rhodes, as born
in Lynn, February 13, 1747; married by Rev. Mr. Treadwell, April
23, 1778, to Anna Ireson, daughter of John and Azuha Ireson, born
May 25, 1754. He was a private in
Captain Rufus Mansfield's 4th Lynn
company which marched on the alarm
of April 19, 1775; two days' service
at that time, but may have seen further service. His homestead after the
Revolution was on Western Avenue, in the house now just
across the tracks of the Boston & Maine Railroad, on the left toward
Breed's Square. He built the house over a hundred years ago, and died
there, February 9, 1838. His wife died September 42, 1815, and both
are buried in the old Western Burial Ground, where a marker and stone
have been erected to his memory. His children were Thomas, John,
Anna, William, Edward, and Sally. His grand-daughter, bliss Hitchings,
who occupies the house (1904), remembers him well. He was a man of considerable education, and one whose
advice was often
sought in matters of importance. He was a farmer, and a constant
attendant at the Old Tunnel Meeting-house. His farm extended
from South Street to Walden and Summer. The old musket which
he probably carried on the day of the Lexington alarm is still preserved
in the house in which he lived. In personal appearance he was
a man of medium height, of light complexion, was smooth-shaven, and
had white hair. In his last days he broke his hip, and from that time
his health gradually failed. In his mill he mentioned his land and
buildings, and his pew in the Orthodox Meeting-house, which he
valued at forty dollars.
WILLIAM
RHODES,-son of Ignatius and Sarah (Merriam) Rhodes, was
born August 10, 1752, and may have been the William who married
Eunice Hutchinson, August 29, 1775, and had the following children:
William, Richard, Joel, Jesse, John, and Thomas.
He was a private in Captain Rufus Mansfield's 4th Lynn company
which marched on the alarm of April 19,1775; service, two days.
