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From: Jackie King <>
Subject: [MDSTMARY] More on Rhodes relationships
Date: Fri, 01 Jun 2007 14:20:15 -0500


List -
Following up on my previous question about William RHODES and his
marriage and death locations, here is the problem - and the results of
several months of research that Karen Caldwell and I have been doing

As I said before there seems to be a basic problem with the William
RHODES -Mildred argument. According to Washington, D.C. marriage
records, William RHODES married Malinda (also seen as Mildred in at
least one record) BURCH 19 Oct 1814 in Washington, D.C. This of course
doesn't rule out a prior marriage to another Mildred but so far I have
been unable to come up with it.

But in researching the William problem, here is the time line we have
come up with and some of the various relationships - and it gets more
interesting all the time.

William RHODES, son of Abraham RHODES and Mary Priscilla GOUGH, was born
sometime after 1765 but before 1777 probably in St. Mary's County,
Maryland. He is mentioned in his father's will of 1797 and was
co-executor with his brother, Benedict. (That much I believe is accepted
by most researchers). There is also fairly common agreement that at
least some of the RHODES family was in the area of Washington at the
turn of the century. The only William I can find in the city's early
records is the William RHODES who became the proprietor of the noted
"Rhode's Tavern"

It all fits nicely. According to the Records of the Columbia Historical
Society, Washington, D.C., Rhodes became the proprietor first of the
"Little Hotel". "The first entry that occurs, after a lapse of little
more than a year, is on Jan. 4, 1799 from when Abraham Rhodes died is
when William Rhodes announced through the columns of the Centinel of
Liberty and Georgetown Advertiser, that he had taken the Little Hotel in
the City of Washington." Later, he takes operation of what became the
Rhodes Tavern - "As nearly as can now be ascertained, Mr. Rhodes
continued to be the proprietor of the Little Hotel until sometime in the
year 1801, when he took possession of the property at the northeast
corner of Fifteenth and F Streets, which became known as Rhodes' Hotel.
In a deed dated September 10, 1801, the corner property is referred to
as "the house by the aforesaid Bennet FENWICK and now in the occupancy
of William RHODES." Later William was to leave the Rhodes Tavern and
become the proprietor of the Lovell Hotel.

William Warner in his book "At Peace With All Their Neighbors: Catholics
& Catholicism in the National Capital, 1783-1860" p. 136 says William of
Rhodes Tavern shortly after 1800 marries a "Sally SEMMES", daughter of
Joseph SEMMES, who eventually takes over the Rhodes Tavern.

A William eventually marries Malinda, the daughter of Captain Benjamin
BURCH. After that I lose William. I note that several researchers say he
died 1817 in Bardstown, Nelson Co., Ky but as of yet I have been unable
to find any record of that.

There is one other piece of information that fits nicely with all this.
There is a Hillary RHODES born in Washington who is attributed by many
to William. Hillary is a name often found in the RHODES line. I've been
able to follow this Hillary's life through the military and his marriage
to his death in 1860. Census and other information would put Hillary's
birth at about 1802. Little can be found of him during his youth. The
first real record of Hillary exists in an alumni book of Norwich
University that notes his presence in 1820 as Hillary Rhodes, US Navy.
Norwich was just beginning what would become the nation's first ROTC
corps and exactly what the Navy designation means and whether Hillary
was a student or an instructor is yet to be determined. Norwich lost
most of its records of the time period and while they can confirm he was
there, they are unsure in which capacity.

Also in 1820 Hillary was commissioned as a midshipman in the U.S. Navy.
His naval career began with the U.S.S. Constellation and through various
communications and Congressional records it can be followed through 1855
when as a Lieutenant he was forced from the service along with about 200
other officers by a naval efficiency board.

In 1834, Hillary married Marion Stuart CARTER, a member of the prominent
Virginia CARTER family and a descendant of the well-known Robert "King"
CARTER. Four children were born to the Rhodes' family. It was not until
the fourth child, William, (yes, another William Rhodes) born about
1841, that Hillary finally had a male heir.

While there is much in documentation, there are holes to be plugged. I
need the definitive document showing the William of the Little Hotel is
Abraham's William. I also need to find William's records of William's wife.

As for the William born in 1800 in Washington - I am uncertain whether
to place him as the son of William or as a son of Benedict born to an
unknown first wife. Either one fits, but I have reason to believe that
he was in fact the son of Benedict and an unknown wife.

It's theory and a bit of speculation built around a lot of facts - but
as we gather more and more documents, it stands up better and better.

I consider this William a key to understanding the rest of the Rhodes
family.

Jackie King

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