John (Rhoads) Rhodes (abt. 1712 - abt. 1764)

Born about 1712 in Zurich, Bern, Switzerland

Descendants

Died about 11 Aug 1764 at about age 52 in Shenandoah, Page County, Colony of Virginia

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Biography

John and several members of his family were killed by Native Americans in a massacre near Luray, Virginia.

He was a Mennonite preacher

• Fact: Also Known As Rev. Hans Rhodes
• Fact: Burial (Aug 1764) White House, Page, Virginia, United States
• Fact: Memorial (31 August 1924) Hope Farm, "To Rev. John Rhodes (Mennonite) his wife and 6 children massacred here by Indians
• Fact: http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility Rev.
• Fact: unknown John was was a Mennonite minister.
• Fact: unknown were killed by Indians at their home.
• Fact: unknown Elizabeth who was about 12, picked up
• Fact: unknown baby Esther and ran to brother Joseph's
• Fact: unknown at Ida. Michael was captured and escaped and returned home to Joseph's.
• Fact: "The Rhodes Massacre" John and 8 menbers of his family were killed by Indians
• Fact: Religion Mennonite
• Fact: unknown He, his wife, 3 sons and 2 daughters
• Fact: http://familysearch.org/v1/LifeSketch Reverend John Roads, a Mennonite minister, who along with his wife, Catherine and seven children were were among the first pioneers in Massanutten in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia in the early 1700's. For more than 20 years, the settlers lived in peace with the native Indians, but as the white population grew, the Indians became more hostile and aggressive.

John was a Mennonite minister who, along with his wife and six of his children, was massacred by the Indians in the Shenandoah Valley in Aug, 1764, at his home, later known as "Fort Rhodes" or "Hope Farm." Eight Indians and one white man came down over the Massanutten Mountains and biding their time, stealthily crept up on the Rhodes family home on the banks of the south branch of the Shenandoah and murdered the father, mother, and one son in or near the house. Two sons were working in a nearby cornfield near the river and hearing the great commotion, one of them climbed up into a pear tree to see what was going on. He was spied by the Indians and shot. The other boy attempted to escape across the river, but was followed and killed in the water, the place being called "Blood Ford" to this day. In the meantime, Elizabeth, one of the older daughters had picked up the baby, Esther, and escaped with her to the barn and through it to a field and thence to the river which she crossed to the safety of the neighboring home of the Stauffer family. The Indians took as captives two boys and two girls of the Rhodes family and led them up over the mountain west of the home where they killed all but Michael, whom they took away with them and kept prisoner for three years when he was permitted to return home. He later married Ann Strickler, a daughter of Benjamin Strickler. Elizabeth Roads, the heroine, married Jacob Gouchenour, while the baby, Esther, grew up and married Dr. Jacob Kaufman. The motive of this raid was evidently robbery as it was thought that the Rev. Roads had money hidden in his home. In August, 1924, on the 160th anniversary of this massacre, about five hundred people, many of them descendants of the Roads children who had been spared, met at "Hope Farm" the present name of the old Roads home and unveiled a monument to the memory of those who had been so ruthlessly and cruelly killed. The name of this family is correctly spelled "Rhodes." (SEE "SOURCES") Burial: White House Family Graveyard White House Page County Virginia, USA

Sources

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 08 March 2022, 01:21), entry for Rev. John Rhodes (PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:LZ81-WP4 ); contributed by various users.
• Find A Grave Memorial# 19512754

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Pedigree Resource File," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:SP1S-CRD : accessed 2017-03-12), entry for Hans John /Rhodes/.
• HISTORY OF THE DESCENDANTS OF JACOB GOCHENOUR, Robert Lee Evans [3512 North Third Street; Arlington, VA 22201], 1977, Carr Publishing Company, Inc., Boyce, VA 22620, p. 11