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Minnie
(Younkin) Rhoads |
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James and Minnie Rhoads |
Minnie Elizabeth (Younkin) Rhoads was born on June 22, 1871, in Casselman, Somerset County, PA, the daughter of Josiah and Rachel (Phillippi) Younkin.
Her father died when Minnie was about five years old, and she grew up with a "significant other" step-father figure, Jack Hobson and later a full stepfather John Wilkins.
Minnie eloped to Cumberland, Allegany County, MD, to marry sweetheart James Rhoads (1867-1931), the son of Jonathan and Delilah (Weimer) Rhoads of Rockwood, Somerset County.
The couple is seen here in the wedding photo. The family name also has been spelled "Rhodes."
The Rhoadses produced three children -- Lillian Younkin, Alice Eno and James Quentin Rhoads.
Because her father had died when she was such a young age, Minnie apparently did not speak much about him to her children. At Minnie's own death years later, when asked the names of Minnie's parents, one of the daughters did not know the father's name, but correctly cited the mother's.
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Daughters Lillian and Alice Rhoads |
At some point in the late 1880s or early 1890s, James and Minnie made the decision to move west. Becoming pioneers of Nebraska , they settled near the town of Hardy, where their daughter Alice was born in September 1893.
But by 1898, just a few years later, the family moved back to Somerset County. James went on to serve on the Casselman School Board along with Minnie's uncle, Charles Younkin. His day job was as a sawmill laborer.
In 1910, the family moved to Yale, near Deerfield, Portage County, OH, where they stayed the remaining years of their lives.
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Obituary, 1931 |
When the federal census was taken in 1920, the family dwelled on a farm along the Deerfield Yale Road in Deerfield. Living under their roof were their son James Quentin Rhoads, married daughter and son in law, Lillian and Alfred Younkin -- temporarily back from Washington State -- and the Younkins' infant son Leland.
James was afflicted with kidney failure and his health declined, forcing him to quit work in July 1931. Five months later, on Dec. 1, 1931 he went into a coma. He died the next day at the age of 64.
Minnie outlived her husband by six years. She suffered a stroke at age 67 in Atwater, Portage County, and died two weeks later, on Dec. 29, 1938. She and James are buried at the Atwater Cemetery, as are their daughter Alice and her husband, Clarence Eno.
In 1992, the Rhoades' wedding photograph was published on the front page of the Younkin Family News Bulletin, submitted by one of their offspring in California.
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Above: railroad depot in Atwater. Below: One of Minnie's quilts displayed by great-granddaughter, Diana Younkin Egan, and Diana's cousin Merrill Younkin, at the 1998 Younkin Reunion-West in Salem, OR. Click for larger version of the image. |
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~ Daughter Lillian (Rhodes) Younkin ~
Daughter Lillian Rhodes married a cousin, Alfred Arthur Younkin, the adopted son of Charles and Sarah (Artest) Younkin. See their biography for more.
~ Daughter Alice (Rhodes) Eno ~
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Alice Eno |
Daughter Alice (Rhodes) Eno (1893-1965) was born in September 1893 in Hardy, NE. As a young girl, she relocated to her parents' home community of Somerset County, PA.
She married Clarence Eno (1894-1967), the foster child of John H. and Laura Grate.
They resided in Atwater, Portage County, OH circa 1938. The couple were longtime farmers and attended the Atwater Methodist Church, said the Ravenna (OH) Record-Courier.
The Enos had three sons -- Harold Eno, Paul Eno and Charles Franklin Eno.
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Obituary, 1965 |
Later in life, in about 1963, they moved to Gainesville, Alachua County, FL, with an address of 610 NW 36th Terrace.
Alice passed away at age 71 in a Gainesville hospital on March 1, 1965, "following several months illness," said a newspaper. An obituary was printed in the Tampa Tribune.
Clarence outlived Alice by two years. He died in Gainesville on March 20, 1967, with his remains returned to Ohio for burial at Atwater Cemetery.
Son Harold Eno (1915-1959) was born in 1915 in Atwater. He served in World War II. After the war's end, Harold returned to Ohio and secured employment as an electrician with Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Akron. He was a member of the Charity lodge of the Masons and the Stark Consistory of Canton. On the first of November 1948, he was involved in an accident and was hospitalized after his vehicle collided head-on with another on Route 18, a half mile from Tallmadge Circle. He survived and lived for another 11 years. After enduring what the Akron Beacon Journal called "a long illness," he was admitted to Robinson Memorial Hospital in Ravenna and died at the age of 44 on April 10, 1959. Burial was in Atwater Cemetery, with Rev. Clarence Bowers preaching the funeral sermon and the Masons providing their own special services.
Son Charles Franklin Eno (1920-2007) was born on May 21, 1920. He served as an officer in the 10th Mountain Division during World War II. After the war's end, in 1948, at the age of 28, he married 31-year-old Fern Imler (1917-2009). Fern was the daughter of Guy R. and Mabel Ann (Ford) Imler and a native of Van Wert County, OH. They produced two sons -- Charles F. Eno Jr. and Mark Imler Eno. A graduate of Ohio State University, Fern had served as an Army nurse during the war with the 140th General Hospital in England. In 1950, Charles and Fern moved to Gainesville, Alachua County, FL, where he was a professor and later head of soil sciences at the University of Florida, until retirement in about 1989. Fern "was a former member of the Gainesville Golf & Country Club, Gainesville Women's Club and University United Methodist Church, where she served as a Sunday school teacher," said a newspaper. She " served in numerous other organizations throughout her life, always willing to help others." Charles passed away on June 6, 2007. Fern survived him by two years. She joined him in eternity on July 29, 2009. They rest side by side in Florida National Cemetery.
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Grandson Charles Franklin Eno Jr. ( ? -living) is married and the father of three -- Margaret Anne "Margie" Eno and twins Charles William "Billy" Eno and Kathryn Diane Eno. Billy dwelled in Austin, TX and provided valuable content circa 2003 for this biography.
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Grandson Mark Imler Eno (1959-2020) was born on Oct. 21, 1959 in Gainesville, FL. As a young man, he relocated to Phoenix and spent the rest of his years there. He receive a master's degree from Phoenix University. At the age of 27, on Aug. 1, 1987, he was united in wedlock with Christine Eno ( ? -living), with the nuptials occurring in Toms River, NJ. Their union endured for 32 years until ended by death. The couple bore three daughters, Jennifer Eno, Kiersten Eno and Corinne Eno. During his career, Mark spent a dozen years as a signal officer with the Army National Guard. After leaving the military, he was employed as a computer systems engineer with Honeywell and then as a senior principal systems engineer with Raytheon. For a number of years, he commuted to work every day to Tucson. In his spare time, he liked to camp, stargaze and swim as well as watch Star Trek and drive his Corvette. Sadly, at the age of 60, Mark passed away in Phoenix on March 8, 2020.
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Eno graves, Florida National Cemetery |
~ Son James Quentin Rhodes ~
Son James Quentin Rhodes (1904- ? ) was born in about 1904 in Somerset County, PA. As a boy he migrated to Ohio with his parents and grew up in Deerfield, Portage County.
James relocated again in young manhood to Washington State, where his sister Lillian Younkin and husband Alfred had established a home and fruit orchard in Wenatchee, Chelan County.
He was joined in matrimony with Louise (1909- ? ), a native of Wisconsin.
Federal census records show the couple living in Wenatchee in 1935 and in Sonora, King County, WA in 1940. There, he earned a living as an automobile mechanic.
Circa 1965, James continued to make a home in Seattle. Did he pass away on Feb. 19, 1967?
Copyright © 2000, 2003, 2005-2006, 2010, 2020 Mark A. Miner