Abraham Rhodes was born on October 10, 1838, in Pennsylvania to Solomon and Rebecca Rhodes. His father was a farmer who owned $2,080 of real estate and $600 of personal property by 1860. He grew up and attended school in North Beaver, Pennsylvania.
He enlisted in the Union army in June 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Battery B of the 1st Pennsylvania Light Artillery. The battery took part in the Seven Days Battles, the Second Battle of Manassas, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Chancellorsville, the Battle of Gettysburg, and the Overland Campaign. He mustered out on June 9, 1864.
He returned to North Beaver after leaving the army, and he earned a living as a carpenter. He married Samantha Elder around 1869, and they had three children: Rena, born around 1871; Elder, born around 1873; and John, born around 1875. They moved to Mahonington, Pennsylvania, in the 1870s, and by 1900, they were living in New Castle, Pennsylvania. He applied for a federal pension in June 1890 and eventually received one. He attended veterans’ reunions in the 1890s. He died of pneumonia in New Castle on March 18, 1927.
Image: Abraham Rhodes (New Castle News, 19 March 1927)