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JOHN T. RHODES , of Rhodes & Brother, contractors and builders, was born January 14, 1831, near Frederick City, Frederick county, Maryland; came with an elder brother to Springfield, Illinois, in February, 1855. Having learned the carpenter trade of his father before coming West, and being an expert workman, he commanded the highest wages. His brother George, partner in the firm, was born in Frederick County, also, in September, 1833, learned the trade there, and came to Springfield in 1856. They both worked as journeymen until the fall of 1858, then formed the present partnership, and began contracting. They have actively engaged in the building business since, and have erected a great many business blocks and dwelling houses in and about Springfield. Of late years they have confined their attention to the city contract work almost exclusively. Among the business buildings this firm has constructed, are the Springfield Watch Factory, and the Central Block, just completed this fall, on the corner of Adams and Sixth streets. They employ from twelve to eighteen mechanics, and did a business in 1880 of $35,000, and will run over $40,000 in 1881.

On April 19, 1860, John Rhodes married Eliza W. Merriweather, born in Springfield, Illinois, May 5, 1840. They have two children, William Robert, and Ellie Maria Rhodes. Mr. Rhodes has served three consecutive terms in the County Board of Supervisors; is now serving his third term as City Alderman, having been first elected in 1874, and is the only Democrat ever elected from the Sixth Ward, it being Republican by a large majority. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since the second day after his arrival in Springfield.