Biographies R
Solomon J. Rhoads
Solomon J. Rhoads, M.D., was born near Greenville, Muhlenberg County, Ky., July 23, 1834. His father, Henry Rhoads, was born in the same county, and his father, Solomon Rhoads, was born near Reading, Pa. The father of our subject was a German and a surgeon in the Colonial army during the Revolutionary War, and spent his last days near Reading, Pa. Solomon Rhoads removed from Pennsylvania to the Northwest Territory previous to the year 1800 and resided for a time in what is now Massac County. At that time this country was a wilderness filled by Indians and wild beasts. It is not known how long he remained here, but his wife died during that time, after which he went to Kentucky and was one of the pioneers of Muhlenberg County, that State. He was a relative of Daniel Boone and like him was a great hunter and fond of the chase. His brothers, Henry and David, settled in the same county about the same time, the former being the first representative in the Kentucky Legislature from that county.
The grandfather of our subject secured a tract of timber land nine miles east of the present site of Greenville, upon which he erected a substantial hewed-log house, in which he lived until the day of his death. For the chimneys of this house he burned the first brick ever made in Muhlenberg County, and soon after the chimneys were completed occurred the famous earthquakes in 1811, which destroyed New Madrid, and cracked his chimneys from top to bottom, but did not cause them to fall, and they are standing to the present day. The maiden name of his wife was Rachel Johnson, who was of Scotch ancestry and was born in North Carolina. She died in Muhlenberg County, Ky., in 1860.
Henry Rhoads, the father of Solomon J., was reared in his native county, and was a natural mechanic, who could make a good barrel or take a hide, tan it and make it into boots and shoes. He married in Ohio and settled in Muhlenberg County, near Greenville, on a tract of timber land given him by his father, from which he cut down a poplar tree, which supplied him with enough puncheon timber to build a house. He afterward built a substantial, hewed-log house, and still later erected a frame dwelling in which he lived until his death, in 1884. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Morton. She was born in Ohio County, Ky., and was the daughter of Thomas and Garner (Ashby) Morton. She still survives, at the age of eighty-four, having reared three children, Solomon J., Merton G. and Cynthia.
Solomon J. Rhoads received his early education at Greenville, and his advanced education at Bethel College, Russellville, Ky., after which he taught school two terms, and later turned his attention to the study of medicine, with Dr. William H. Yost, of Greenville. He commenced practice at Sacramento, Ky., in 1860, and in 1861 graduated from the St. Louis Medical College. He remained in Kentucky until 1864, when he came to Illinois and remained until the close of the war. He then returned to Kentucky and practiced at South Carrollton until 1883, at which time he returned to Illinois, located at Metropolis, and has been here in practice ever since. He has erected a commodious brick house and has paid considerable attention to horticulture.
Mr. Rhoads was married in 1866 to Priscilla A. Jagoe, who was born in Munhlenberg County, Ky., and is a daughter of William and Miranda (Rush) Jagoe, of Kentucky. Our subject and his wife have four children: Miriam, William H., Edwin G. and Kittie Clyde. Mr. Rhoads is a member of the Southern Illinois Medical Association, and also of the Kentucky State Medical Association. He is a member of Metropolis Lodge No. 91, A.F. & A.M., and is also a member of the Regular Baptist Church. His amiable companion is an active worker in the Methodist Church, of which she has been a member for a number of years.
Source: The Biographical Review of Johnson, Massac, Pope and Hardin Counties Illinois. Chicago: Biographical, 1893. Pages 383-384.
Updated July 9, 2018