Among the successful farmers and stock-raisers of Bloomington townshipi s Charles T. Rhodes, who owns and operates two hundred and fortyacres o n section 28. He was born in Muscatine county, Iowa, near thevillage o f Letts, August 14, 1868, a son of Jacob and
Jane E. Rhodes, an account of whose lives appears elsewhere in thiswor k.
Our subject was reared upon the home farm and attended the districtsch ools in the acquirement of an education. His entire life has beendevot ed to farming and stock-raising and for many years he operated ahalf s ection of land in Bloomington township. He grows
the usual crops and also raises a good grade of live stock, from thesa le of which he derives a gratifying addition to his income.
Mr. Rhodes was married December 16, 1890, at Chariton, Iowa, to MissLo rena Bathe, of Tuskeega, Bloomington township, this county. Herbirth o ccurred on the 21st of November, 1868, and she is a daughterof George R . and Margaret Ann (McDonald) Bathe, the latter born inMadison county, O hio, February 2, 1844. A sketch of her grandfather,the late Malay McDo nald, appears elsewhere in this work. Mrs. Bathedied in 1890 when fort y-six years of age. A sketch of the life of Mr.Bathe is given on anoth er page of this volume.
Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes reside upon the old homestead of her grandfather,M alay McDonald. To their union have been born two children. FayeLucile w as born September 30, 1891. After completing the course inthe high sch ool at Lamoni in 1910, she attended Graceland
College for four years and Des Moines College for one year. Shespecial ized in music, studying under Miss Wicks of Graceland Collegeand Miss E dith Usry of Des Moines College. For nine years she hastaught music an d now has a studio at Lamoni and a class of
nineteen pupils in that city and its vicinity. She is the director oft he choir of the Methodist church at Lamoni and for a number of yearswa s pianist for the Coliseum orchestra. Leighton Lewis, whose birthoccur red on the 7th of August, 1893, is a sophomore at the State
College at Ames. On May 1, 1915, he won the Shirley Allen cup in hiss ociety, the Beardshear Literary Society, of which he is treasurer.He h as made several trips with the college Glee Club, of which he isa memb er, and his monologues add much to the effectiveness of theprograms gi ven by that organization. He is a graduate of the Lamonihigh school of t he class of 1912 and for two and a half years tookspecial Avork in ora tory at Graceland College. He won first place anda medal in oratory in a c ontest in which nine schools com- j)eted andhas recently won a medal i n oratory at Ames.
Mr. Rhodes is a stanch republican and has been a delegate to variousco ngressional and state conventions of his party. He is now servinghis s econd term as clerk of Bloomington township, his ability andconscienti ousness in the discharge of his duties having gained
him reelection. Fraternally he belongs to the Knights of Pythias ofLam oni. His wife and children take an active part in the work of theMetho dist Episcopal church and he can be counted upon to furthermovements f or the moral advancement of his community. He holds
the sincere respect, the confidence and the goodwill of those who knowh im, as his life has been guided by honorable principles.
