Samuel Rhodes, gunsmith?

Introduction

The Whiskers listed the blacksmith Samuel Rhoads as a gunsmith in their 1983 booklet, but not in their 1991 and 2017 books. This seems to suggest their opinion on the matter may have evolved. This project intentionally includes individuals who may have been incorrectly identified as a gunsmith, to promote additional investigation.

L. Dietle
camouflage

Chronology

Circa 1774-1784: If his age is recorded in the correct age group in the 1800 census of Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, then Samuel Rhoads was born circa 1774 to 1784. This projected birth timeframe is difficult to reconcile with the Samuel Rhoads household having a child in the 10 to 16 age group in the 1800 census, unless the child was from someone else's family, or Samuel Rhoades started his family very young. This mystery may be impossible to solve.

1790: I did not find Samuel Rhoads in the Bedford County section of the book "Heads of Families First Census of the United States: 1790 State of Pennsylvania" (46 MB).

1798: In the 1798 list of Stony Creek taxables in the 1884 book "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania", an individual named Samuel Rhoads is identified as a blacksmith.

An individual named Samuel Rhoads is identified as a blacksmith in this transcript of the 1798 list of Stony Creek taxables.

1800: The following image is a composite made from two different pages of the The 1800 manuscript census records of Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The table is from the Stonycreek Township section of the census. The Samuel Roads household has one male and one female in the 16 to 26 age group, one male in the 10 to 16 age group, and three males and one female in the up to ten age group.

A Samuel Roads household is listed in the Stonycreek Township portion of the 1800 census.

1802: In the 1802 tax list of Somerset Township Samuel Rhoods is identified as a blacksmith with one house, one lot, $1.00 quit rent, and two horses. Regarding Somerset Township, the 1884 book "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania" states, This township was formed in the early part of 1796 from Quemahoning and Milford. Its territory has since been considerably reduced by he formation of other districts... Based on this township origination history (if correct), Somerset Township did not include any part of 1798 Stony Creek Township. Taken together, the above information suggests that Samuel Rhodes moved from Stony Creek Township to Somerset Township between 1798 and 1802.

1807: The 1983 booklet "Gunsmiths and Gunmakers of Bedford and Somerset Counties Pennsylvania 1770-1900" reports that Samuel Rhodes was a gunsmith and blacksmith in Somerset in 1807. The authors of the 1983 booklet did not include this individual in their 1991 book "Gunsmiths of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, or in their 2017 book "Gunsmiths of Somerset County, Pennsylvania".

1807: The following reference to Samuel Rhodes is from the Borough of Somerset section of the 1884 book "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties, Pennsylvania" and is from a transcript of the 1807 borough tax assessment:

A Samuel Rhodes is listed in a transcript of the 1807 tax assessment of the borough of Somerset, Pennsylvania.

1810: I did not find Samuel Rhodes in a transcript of the 1810 census of Somerset County, Pennsylvania or in the Somerset Borough or Somerset Township sections of the 1810 manuscript census records of Somerset County.

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