The Rhodes Family Exhibit May 10, 2007

James Harrison Rhodes (1836-1890) was the patriarch of this branch of the Rhodes family tree. He was a teacher, a lawyer and the editor of a Cleveland, Ohio, newspaper. Sound business practices, good contacts and timely investments made him a wealthy man. Adelaide Maria Robbins Rhodes (1841-1918), known to her friends as "Addie," came to Daytona Beach to live with her brother Lyman H. Robbins in 1893 after the death of her husband. Addie was known to be "a lovely lady" and was well thought of in the community. Lyman was also well connected and had accompanied former President Ulysses S. Grant (18th President) on a round the world tour. Lyman had originally purchased the home known as "The Abbey" at 426 S. Beach Street in 1891, but sold it to Addie in 1898 and purchased another home for himself just three doors to the north. Addie was the daughter of a prominent Ohio cheese merchant and attended Hiram where she was to meet her husband James. Harrison Garfield Rhodes (1871-1929) was, like his father before him, known to his friends as "Hal." He attended public school in Cleveland and attended Adelbert College for his freshman year. He transferred as a sophomore to Harvard from whence he graduated in 1893. He was a successful playwright and prolific author and worked as a managing editor for two of his friends and college classmates [Herbert Stone and George Kimball] who had established two magazines, 'The Chap Book' and 'The House Beautiful.' He traveled widely both in the U.S. and throughout Europe as both an author and a literary agent for Stone and Kimball and counted among his friends some of the most prominent authors of his time. Margaret Rhodes (1875-1959) arrived with her mother in Daytona in 1893. She was both well read and educated and frequently traveled in the American West and abroad. When traveling abroad she and Harrison frequently traveled with family friend and fellow author Julia Constance Fletcher who also wrote under the pseudonym of George Fleming. Although not as prolific as her older brother, Margaret was also an author. She edited and published two of Harrison's unfinished works, and contributed several articles to various magazines and books. Letters and other documents indicate that Margaret had many suitors on several continents but she never married.