A well improved and valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 36, Pioneer township, annually pays tribute in golden harvests to the care and labor which is bestowed upon it by Charles E. Rhoads, a progressive and enterprising farmer and stock-raiser. The property is situated within three and a half miles of Mechanicsville and in its neat and thrifty appearance indicates the supervision of a practical and up-to-date owner.
His birth occurred on the farm where he now resides, his natal day being January 23, 1864. He obtained his education in the common schools and remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority. Following his marriage he purchased and located upon eighty acres of his present place and gave his attention to its further cultivation and improvement. He has since erected a large, attractive and modern residence, two good barns, a double corn crib, a machine house and in fact all necessary outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock. He uses the latest improved machinery to facilitate the work of the fields and in connection with the tilling of the soil devotes considerable attention to the raising and feeding of high grade stock. He fattens about two carloads of hogs and one carload of cattle annually and also buys steers for feeding purposes. The boundaries of his farm have been extended to include a quarter section of land by the additional purchase of a tract of eighty acres. He is a stockholder in the Mechanicsville Telephone Company and has long been numbered among the substantial, respected and representative citizens of his native county.
On the 18th of March, 1894, in Linn township, Mr. Rhoads was united in marriage to Miss Ida Statler, a native of this county and a daughter of Christopher Statler. Her brother, G. C. Statler, is mentioned on another page of this work. Unto our subject and his wife have been born three sons, namely: Forest, Frank and Howard.
Mr. Rhoads has always been a stanch republican in politics but has never sought nor desired office as a reward for his party fealty. The cause of education, however, has ever found in him a stanch advocate and supporter. Both he and his wife have spent their entire lives in Cedar county and enjoy an extensive acquaintance within its borders. A successful agriculturist, an exemplary citizen and a man of high moral standards, he has won the respect of all who have come in contact with him.
