Peg .... I have been working on William and Hillary for some time now as well as Hillary's brother William. There really is no doubt that Hillary H. is the son of William (son of Abraham) and that he had a sibling William. But let me answer some of your questions. If there was a relationship between Benedict Fenwick and William Rhodes it was probably through William's first wife and mother of Hillary and William, Ann Simms (widow of Thomas Clark). There are a number of references to Hillary and his brother William being in Washington after Benedict Rhodes is settled in Kentucky. One would be the listing of the chldren on the Washington Tontine and also on the subscriptions for the Washington memorial and college. With the exception of the one reference to Hillary being "from Kentucky" all of his service records and his burial certificate list his birth as in either Washington D.C. or the District of Columbia. (Personally I believe he was actually born in Georgetown and not Washington but either way D.C. would be correct). His burial certificate, lists his date of birth as 12 Dec 1801. I think I can explain the Kentucky reference. From the evidence I have it would appear Hillary's father died sometime in 1818. If other trees are to be believed (I still can't locate the paperwork) he probably died in Nelson County, KY, possibly visiting his relatives. His wife Mildred Burch Rhodes (second wife) was probably with him which would explain the Mildred Rhodes who appears on the consent for marriage for Robert Rhodes in 1818. It is the only Mildred I can come up with for that consent. The children were probably traveling with their parents - we know from another letter of Mother Mary Rhodes that Hillary had indeed visited Kentucky several times. He was at the Norwich Academy (their records) before enlisting May 1920 as a Midshipman with the U.S. Navy. It is at about the time he was sent to Norwich for schooling that the KY reference is made and from what I can see it would appear to me that his step-mother may have still been in Kentucky. She went back to Washington to settle her late husband's estate, (sale in 1819) and we can find her there for a number of years signing various documents including her mother's request for a pension from her father's service in both the Revolution and the War of 1812. A lawsuit shows that in 1821 Mildred endorsed a check made out to her late husband's estate in lieu of her other step-son William who had been made the executor of the estate. That lawsuit is the last reference made to William who I cannot find ever mentioned in Washington D.C. again. We also know from a letter from Mother Mary Rhodes that Hillary was her godson and he spent most of his time in Washington D.C. as she makes reference to the fact that surely it has changed greatly since she has been there. The fact that William who most place as the son of Benedict makes great pains to list his Washington D.C. birth, which by the way would coincide with the time frame of Hillary's brother, on his tombstone has always been of great conjecture. But most people have pointed to the priests description and the later land division as proof. However, I believe the priest may have been using the generic term "children" when describing the children living with Benedict - and the land division certainly leaves doubt. The deed of partition reads - "William Rhodes and wife died several years ago in the County of Marion and State of Kentucky said and possessed of a tract of land of two hundred and fifty five acres situated on Hardin's Creek in Marion Co., Ky, the same that was inherited by them of Benedict Rhodes in the year 1859." It doesn't say inherited from his father, it only says the land was left to him by Benedict......but it does go on to make the relationship of William and his wife Harriett to their children very clear .... "Whereas the said William Rhodes and wife at their death left the following named children, his heirs at law (to wit) B. C. Rhodes, F. L. Rhodes, Ellen A. Rhodes, Mary C. Rhodes, wife of Dr. N. Leake, Harriett E. Rhodes, wife of Austin Howard, William T. Rhodes and Emily V. Rhodes which are all the children left by the deceased at their death." Given that in the tax rolls for much of that land, Hillary is first located on it next to Benedict - and then you find William next to Benedict but no Hillary- it lends further credence as to a relationship. In following Hillary's naval postings, the only time he is to be found in Kentucky is when he is on leave from the Navy or during the time period when he would have been studying for his Lieutenant's exam. (In that time period I have discovered leaves of two to three years were not uncommon). The more documents I find, the more I am convinced that William who finally ended up in Kentucky was the son of William Rhodes of Washington D.C. and his first wife and the nephew of Benedict Rhodes. I am becoming more and more convinced that at least some of the children attributed to Benedict in the censuses were relatives and not his own children or if they were, that most of his own children died young. This is probably even more confusing, but I hope it helps explain some of my thinking. Jackie MOman254@aol.com wrote: > Jackie, > > Your question about Benedict's children is one that has bothered me as > well. None of the printed histories name his children. How could it > be that a man whose physical characteristics/demeanor are remembered, > who had the only two benches in the church - one for himself and one > for his family - and who had the only carriage in the county at one > time, has not been memorialized? > > The 1810 Washington County, Kentucky census implies that he had 2 sons > and 2 daughters under the age of 10. > > A letter written by Mother Mary in 1851 requests that one of her > little nieces, Benedicta, accompany her to from Calvary Convent to > Loretto (Loretto Annals of the Century, Anna C. Minogue, 1912, p. > 88). Rev. JJ Pike's History of St. Charles Church mentions Bennett's > grandchildren - namely W.L.T. Rhodes, Ellen Rhodes, and Victoria > Rhodes - in conjunction with the ownership of the Rev. A. Deparque house. > > These names seem to coincide with those of the deed of division > mentioning William's children. > > Bennett and a William are listed next to each other, with only one or > two exceptions, on the Marion County Tax lists 1834-1849. In the > latter year William is charged with 4 children 5-15. > > Have you considered Hillary H. as one of Benedict's children? I > dismissed him at first with the 1850 census showing he was born in > Virginia. However, Hillary Rhodes, midshipman on a journey of 3 years > on the U.S. Constellation was listed as being from Kentucky (26 Jul > 1820, American). If he was born 1802, perhaps he is Benedict's oldest > son (or second son). > > Would you please share what you have on William of D.C. What is his > relationship to Mary Ann Fenwick (probably the widow of Benedict)? > Family or Landlord? > > Peg > > > > > In a message dated 10/25/2008 11:17:56 A.M. Central Daylight Time, > lindareno@comcast.net writes: > > Jackie, > > Philip Medley, Jr. was b. 1781 and died in SMC on 8/11/1836 > married Eleanor > Neale, January 19, 1804. Eleanor Neale died in 1863 (she had been > married > first to Benoni Neale, but her maiden name was Neale as well). > > They could have been the parents of Wilford. The will of Philip > Medley > below doesn't mention any sons, but he did have a son named Charles. > > Will of Philip Medley, SMC, 8/3/1836-9/27/1836. Wife: Eleanora > Medley, all > of my personal estate during her life. Daughters: Ann Medley, > Monica > McNiell, Eleanora Medley, Mary Eliza Medley, and Martha Ann > Medley, all of > my personal estate after the death of my wife equally divided. > Exec.: > Wife, Eleanora Medley. Wit.: Leonard Neale, John F. McGerry, > Charles > Medley. (St. Mary's County, Maryland Wills 1836-1857 by Linda Reno). > > Linda > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Jackie King" <jking71@gmail.com> > To: "Linda Reno" <lindareno@comcast.net> > Cc: <mdstmary@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2008 11:31 AM > Subject: Re: [MDSTMARY] Moving William Rhodes > > > > Linda - > > > > I've always had him tentatively listed there but really can find > no reason > > to put him as the their son - plus I have another problem with > it, but > > again I lack the definitive evidence. > > > > Wilford is said to have been born about 1809- 1810 based on his > census > > records. (And the date of his first marriage in 1830 would lend > some > > credence to that.) I have that John Phillip Medley was born > about 1802 and > > while that falls in the range of his siblings, it would > certainly make > > Wilford an improbable child.. The other thing tending to make me > believe > > that Wilford probably belongs to one of the other Medleys is the > marriage > > date of his purported grandparents in 1795. > > > > I haven't done as much work on this branch of the Medley family > as I > > probably should have, but this generation has always bothered me. > > > > As I have been working up the Rhodes line and documenting them, > I keep > > finding problems with their associated lines. This is one of them. > > > > Jackie > > > > Linda Reno wrote: > >> Hi Jackie, > >> > >>> From what I see on Ancestry.com, it's claimed that Wilford > Medley was > >>> the > >> son of Philip Medley, Jr. and Eleanor Neale. Does that agree > with your > >> records? The will of Philip Medley, Jr. doesn't mention a son > named > >> Wilford. > >> > >> Linda Reno > >> > >> > >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jackie King" > <jking71@gmail.com> > >> To: "Maryland St. Mary's" <mdstmary@rootsweb.com> > >> Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2008 11:11 AM > >> Subject: [MDSTMARY] Moving William Rhodes > >> > >> > >>> List - > >>> > >>> Over the years, a lot has been made of William Rhodes' claim > to have > >>> been born in Washington D.C. and its led many of us to create > a first > >>> unknown wife for Bennett (Benedict) Rhodes to account for the > child > >>> William. > >>> > >>> I've decided to delete the unknown wife and move William to what I > >>> believe for a number of reasons are his proper parents and > that would be > >>> William Rhodes of Washington D.C and Ann Simms, making Bennett > his > >>> uncle. > >>> > >>> That leaves me with one problem - who ARE Benedict Rhodes > children? I > >>> can only prove one that survived childhood and that would be Ann > >>> Victoria who married Wilford Medley. I have read of another > alleged > >>> daughter - Nelly (probably Eleanor) who allegedly died young. > While > >>> that is very probable given her mother's name of Eleanor - I > can't prove > >>> it. And according to the censuses there should be yet another > girl in > >>> the family. > >>> > >>> There at one time should have also been at least another > couple of male > >>> children in the household. > >>> > >>> Did all of Bennet's children other than Ann die young or was > he in the > >>> habit of taking in the neighborhood and family waif's? > >>> > >>> I would appreciate any help with sorting Benedict's family or > extended > >>> "family". > >>> > >>> Jackie > >>> > >>> ------------------------------- > >>> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > >>> MDSTMARY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the > >>> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >> > >> > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > MDSTMARY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >