Source:
Memoirs
of
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Personal and Genealogical
with Portraits
- Vol. II -
Madison, Wis.
Northwestern Historical Association
1904

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PETER F. RHOADES, of Versailles, Pa., a prominent citizen and a popular passenger conductor in the service of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, was born in Indiana county, Pa., July 25, 1852, son of Lewis and Matilda (Breniser) Rhoades, his father having been a prosperous farmer of Armstrong and Indiana counties, but resided the greater part of his career in the latter county.  Mr. Rhoades was educated in the splendid schools of his native county, and when nineteen years of age began railroading, which vocation he has since successfully followed.  He has served in all capacities in the transportation department of both the Pan Handle and the Baltimore & Ohio railroad companies, and for the past twenty-three years has been with the Baltimore & Ohio, seventeen years of that time in his present position of passenger conductor.  He was married, in May, 1875, at Pittsburg, to Susan, daughter of Zachariah and Melvina (Wakefield) Taylor, of Indiana county, Pa., and they have four children, viz.: Erda N., wife of B. L. Holt, of McKeesport; Mabel B., Louis T. and Alice M.  He has been closely connected with the municipal affairs of Versailles, having served as a member of the council for six years, and for four years was president of that body.  He is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar and a thirty-second degree Mason, and also a member of the Mystic Shrine.  He is also a leading member of the Order of Railroad Conductors, the republican party and of the Lutheran church.  He has made his home in Versailles for the past sixteen years, and is one of the substantial and highly-respected citizens of that borough. Source:  Memoirs of Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania - Vol. II - Publ. Northwestern Hist. Assn. - 1904 - Page 286

SYLVESTER E. RHOADES, a prominent and enterprising farmer of Mifflin township, and a life-long resident of Allegheny county, is the only child of John K. and Margaret (McClure) Rhoades.  The Rhoades family is one of the old Pennsylvania families.  Frederick Rhoades, the grandfather of Sylvester, was a native of Lancaster county and was a son of Casper Rhoades, one of the pioneers of that county.  After the death of Casper Rhoades, his widow removed to Allegheny county and there Frederick was reared to manhood, spent his life as a farmer and died, in 1868, in his sixty-third year. John K. Rhoades, Sylvester's father, was a native of Mifflin township.  He also was a farmer, and died, in 1893, at the age of sixty-five.  With the exception of three years in Westmoreland county, his entire life was passed in the township where he was born.  His wife's father, Andrew McClure, was one of the old settlers of Mifflin township.  Sylvester E. Rhoades was born July 10, 1853.  He was reared and educated in Mifflin township.  He owns a fine farm of 160 acres, upon which he has lived since 1866.  He was married, in 1877, to Miss Maria B., a daughter of John and Jane (Moore) Wilock, also residents of Mifflin township, and they have three children living.  They are: John K., Jeannette M. and Margaret B. Mr. Rhoades is a republican in politics and a member of the Presbyterian church. Source:  Memoirs of Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania - Vol. II - Publ. Northwestern Hist. Assn. - 1904 - Page 522