Rhodes, Alonzo Sr. 1855-1940 married Eldora Viroqua Hubbard 1858-1946 in Wisconsin in 1875. The following are their descendants:
Leland Eugene 1876-1960 married Clara Wild 1876-1928
Children:
Alonzo Jr. 1905-1948 married Louise Tebeaux
Children:
Maxine 1922 (Mrs. Carrol Torgerson) one child, Michael
Loretta 1938 (Mrs. Ralph Tobias) four children
Rebecca (Mrs. Harold Maeder) 1916. Edward Alonzo 1880-1962 married Thelma Henevit
Children:
William 1928 and Marian 1938 (Mrs. N. Thue) two children. Orion Elmer 1881-1957 married Frances Lang
Children:
Betty 1929 (Mrs. Donald Knisley) five children, Ruth 1931 (Mrs. Lloyd Shervheim) seven children, Eldora 1932 (Mrs. James Moulder) two children, John 1941 three children, Larry 1949.
Great-grandfather Alonzo and his wife and three small boys came to Griggs County in 1886 and settled near the present site of Sutton in Kingsley Township. They came partway from their home in Wisconsin by train and the rest of the way by wagon and oxen. Their first home was a cross between a sod shanty and a dugout. I remember Great-grandmother telling me that she burned buffalo dung and twisted straw in this "shanty.€ The three little boys rarely attended school as their help was needed at home but later on, Leland, the oldest and my Grandfather was sent to Cooperstown to school and also on to college at Mayville. To the end of his days, Grandfather Leland wrote in the most beautiful penmanship I've ever seen.
The whole lot of Rhodes men, including my Dad, Alonzo, were considered to be ''mechanically inclined." My Great Uncle Orion and his wife, Frances built "The Busy Little Farm" and "Paul Bunyan's Logging Camp" with Walt Disney perfection and showed them at Fairs and Carnivals until his death in 1957. My Dad, Alonzo Jr. built racing cars and early versions of the snowmobile. He also flew early airplanes, barnstormed, and walked wings with the well-known early aviator, Verne Roberts. At one time, when he jumped parachute, the plane cut his parachute lines and he fell 500 feet, into a plowed field. He walked away from the accident.
Great Grandfather Alonzo and his wife Eldora built a home near Lake Lida in Minnesota about 1918 where they lived the rest of their days. There, in his woodworking shop, he and his son, Leland, made all sorts of wooden things like rolling pins, footstools, etc. They were both master woodworkers and I'm sure many of their products are now considered prize antiques. Great grandmother Viroqua and her daughter-in-law, Clara, took painting lessons at the summertime Chautauquas held near Devils Lake. They both painted beautifully and even had a kiln in which to bake their china.
Great-grandmother Eldora was a descendant of the Mannings and I believe there is still a Manning Manse maintained someplace in the East as an historical landmark. One of her ancestors, a Manning, was an officer in the American Revolutionary War. The Rhodes family owned and operated a hardware store in Cooperstown for many years until it was destroyed by fire in 1927 or thereabouts. The location of the store was directly north of Lima's blacksmith shop. Alonzo Sr. lived in the home now occupied by the Ennar Olson family and the Leland Rhodes family lived in the house now owned and lived in by the Konow Knutsons. The only descendant living here at present is Maxine (Rhodes) Torgerson who owns and operates a Ladies' shop in Cooperstown.
Much of the above information was written to me by my Great Aunt Frances Rhodes, now Mrs. Clair Coleman of Macks Creek, Missouri.
Submitted By Maxine Torgerson
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 332