3rd Generation

Reverend Joseph Rhea..........(son of Matthew Campbell Reagh II and Elizabeth McClain)

Born 1715 in Loughborne Parish, County Donegal, Ireland
Died Sept. 20, 1777 in Virginia
He was buried at Piney Creek Church, Taneytown, Maryland

He attended the University of Glasgow, graduated in 1742 with honors.
He was a Presbyterian Minister,  first preaching at a small church in Bun Cranaugh (Buncrana) near the shores of Lough Foyle.  Later he was pastor for twenty seven years at the Fahan and Inch Presbyterian Church in Fahan Parish, County Donegal, until August 16, 1769.

Married 1752 in Ireland:

Elizabeth McIlwaine..........(daughter of John McIlwaine and Margaret Scott)
Born 1732 in "Tifannan" near Londonderry, Ireland
Died Dec. 19, 1793 in Bluff City, Sullivan County, Tennessee
She was buried in Weaver Cemetery, Weaver Pike, Sullivan Co., TN

       Rev. Joseph Rhea and his wife, Elizabeth, and six of their children came to America on the ship 'George.' They left Ireland from Quigly Bay, according to a diary, which began Sept. 27, 1769 and ended on Dec. 1, 1769.  They landed at Reed Island at the mouth of the Delaware River.  For several weeks they lived with a relative in Philadelphia, PA and in the Spring of 1770 they moved on wagons to Octorarah, PA. They settled in Cumberland, Adams Co., PA. at Upper Marsh Creek Church in Gettsyburg 1770-1771.  On November 14, 1771, he purchased a nearby farm of 201 acres on the Monocacy River in Maryland and he was called in 1771 to pastor Piney Creek Church, west of Taneytown, Maryland.  By 1772 they moved there, where James, their youngest child, was born Jan. 18, 1775.  In June 1775 Rev. Rhea requested leave to travel to Virginia and in November 1775 he was in Holston Country (now eastern Tennessee) and went with troops for four weeks against the Cherokee Indians on the Little Tennessee.  He is said to have preached in 1775 under an old elm tree on land he had purchased, on the Bluff City road in Sullivan County, Tennessee; known today as the Philip Earhart farm, just inside the city limits of Bristol, Sullivan Co.  In 1776 he joined with another Presbyterian minister as one of the Chaplains in the Cherokee Campaign, under Colonel William Christian.  They were the first known ministers to preach in the territory, now known as Tennessee.  Rev. Rhea purchased about 2,000 acres of land in the Holston Country and he secured land at the mouth of Beaver Creek.  Immediately after the Cherokee Campaign, he returned to Maryland.  On April 19, 1777 he wrote a letter in Latin to his son, John, who was in General Washington's Army, telling him about selling the farm and the need to relinquish it by June 5, 1777, with plans to move his family to the wild frontier.  Five months after he wrote this letter, he contracted pneumonia and died. After the death of Rev. Rhea, his family lived for one more year at the place of John Scott in Monocacy.  In the fall of 1778, his family arrived at their new home on Beaver Creek, with many of the members of the Piney Creek Church following.

Joseph and Elizabeth had eight children:

Fourth Generation:

(I)--John Angus Rhea - (May 29, 1753-May 27, 1832) born in Langborne Parish, Londonderry, Ireland.  Immigrated to America in 1769.  Died in Sullivan Co., TN.  Buried in Blountville, Sullivan Co., TN.

       ~Educated at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.
       ~October 1780 was a member of the Patriot's Force in the Battle of King's Mountain.
       ~1785-1790 was Clerk of the Sullivan County court in proposed state of Franklin, and subsequently, North Carolina.
       ~1789 graduated from Princeton College.
       ~Member of the House of Commons of the State of North Carolina and was Delegate to the State Convention that ratified the Federal Constitution in 1789.
       ~Member of Convention of 1790 that framed Constitution of Tennessee.
       ~Delegate to the constitutional convention of Tennessee in 1796.
.      ~1796 Attorney General of Greene County, Tennessee.
.      ~1796-1797 Member of the House of Representatives, General Assembly of Tennessee.
       ~March 4, 1803 - March 3, 1815, elected as a Democrat to the Eighth and to the five succeeding Congresses.
       ~1816 appointed US Commissioner to treat with the Choctaw Nation.
       ~March 4, 1817 - March 3, 1823, elected to the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Congresses.
       ~Was actively connected with higher education in Tennessee.
       ~ During his time in Congress, he served as Chairman of the Committee of Post Offices and Post Roads, Committee of Pensions and Claims.
.       ~An author of many bills put before Congress, now preserved with 'The Rhea Papers' in the Tennessee State Library and Archives in Nashville..
       ~John retired and resided on the Joseph Rhea Jr. plantation near Blountville, Tennessee, where he died May 27, 1832.
       ~His portrait and his sword are displayed in the Tennessee State Museum in Nashville.

(II)--**Matthew Rhea IV- (April 14, 1755-Oct. 18, 1816) m. **Jannette 'Jane' Preston, daughter of John Preston and Eleanor Fairman.  Educated at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.  Matthew was a surveyor.  He also was a Revolutionary Soldier.  *(More on Matthew Rhea IV on next page).

(III)----Margaret Rhea - (born June 27, 1757, Co. Donegal,  Ireland - died June 3, 1822, Washington Co., VA) m. Sept. 28, 1780  Robert 'Colonel' Preston, Sr. (born 1750, Co. Derry, Ireland - died Dec. 16, 1833, Washington Co., VA), son of John Preston and Eleanor Fairman. Margaret and Robert are buried in Walnut Grove Cemetery, Washingto Co., VA.  They had two children:  (1)  John 'Col.'  Preston (July 8, 1781-1864) m. Margaret Brown Preston (1784-1843), daughter of Col. William Preston and Susanna Smith Preston of the Smithfield Prestons.   (2) Jane  'Jennie'  Preston (July 8, 1781 - April 24, 1863) m. April 12, 1798 Robert Preston Jr. (1772 - Sept. 9, 1858). 

(IV)----William Rhea - (born Jan. 29, 1760, Co. Donegal, Ireland - died Jan. 21, 1836, Sullivan Co., TN ) m. June 10, 1795 in Abington, Washington Co., VA, Elizabeth Breden (born June 5, 1766, Ireland - died May 31, 1835, Sullivan Co., TN), daughter of John Breden and Elizabeth Dysart.   William and Elizabeth are buried at Blountville, Sullivan Co., TN.  They had seven children: (1) Margaret Breden Rhea (b. Jan. 1, 1795)  (2) Elizabeth Rhea (b. Jan. 1, 1798)  (3) Joseph Campbell Rhea (b. Feb. 14, 1800)  (4) James Dysart Rhea (b. July 4, 1802) (5) William Rockhold Rhea (b. Aug. 29, 1804) (6) Frances Rhea (b. Feb. 1, 1808)  (7) John Rhea (b. May 31, 1810).

      William and Elizabeth lived on the old Joseph Rhea farm on Beaver Creek.  William built a large brick home known as "The Elms" in 1806.  It stands on the corner of 11 E & Sperry Road in Bristol, Virginia. On the lawn is where the Rhea-Doak Elm once stood.  The home was sold by James Dysart Rhea to John T. Earhart, husband of a cousin, and it has descended to the Philip Earhart family.  The old Earhart farm was adjacent to this farm.

(V)-----Joseph C. Rhea II - (born Oct. 24, 1762, Co. Donegal, Ireland - died Feb. 24, 1825, Sullivan Co., TN) m. March 17, 1789 in 'Brook-hall,' Abington, Washington Co., VA,  Frances Breden (born March 17, 1764, Ireland - died April 13, 1850, Sullivan Co., TN), daughter of John Breden and Elizabeth Dysart.  Joseph and Frances were buried in Weaver Cemetery, Weaver Pike, Sullivan Co., TN.   Joseph and Frances had eight children:  (1) Elizabeth Rhea (b. Dec. 28, 1789) (2) Margaret Rhea (b. Aug. 7, 1791)  (3) Samuel Rhea (b. May 3, 1795)  (4) Eleanor 'Ellen' Rhea (b. April 7, 1797) (5) Frances 'Fannie' Rhea (b. March 1, 1799)  (6) Nancy Rhea (b. June 25, 1801)  (7) Robert Preston Rhea (b. Sept. 17, 1802) (8) Sarah Rhea (b. Jan. 1, 1806).

    Joseph owned the land on Back Creek, called 'Old Ireland.'  The portion of the house that Joseph lived in was the west end built by the Grandfather of W. L. Rhea in 1800; the east end built by Robert in 1826, less than a mile from his father's home in Beaver Creek.  The log house had twelve rooms with rock chimneys, filled with fine antique cherry and walnut furniture and many heirlooms brought by the Rhea and Breden families when they came to America.  Some of the valuable documents stored in this home included Joseph Rhea's commission as Lieutenant given over the signature of John Sevier, first Governor of Tennessee in 1796 and his commission as Captain of the militia of Sullivan County, Tennessee in 1801.  Joseph was a farmer and died in 1825 after receiving a wound that would not heal, caused from a tool slipping and cutting his leg.  'Old Ireland' was also home to his brother John Rhea who remained unmarried and died here in 1832.

(VI)----Elizabeth 'Bettie'  Rhea - (Jan. 1, 1767, Co. Donegal, Ireland - died March 13, 1821, Sullivan Co., TN) m. Robert 'Major' Rhea (born 1784, Kennecalley Farm, Fahan, Ireland - died Aug. 23, 1841, Sullivan Co., TN), son of William Rhea and Elizabeth Lockhart.  Elizabeth and Robert are buried at Weavers Meeting House, Sullivan Co., TN.  Elizabeth came to America in 1769 with her parents and brothers.  Elizabeth and Robert had four children:  (1) Sarah 'Sallie' Rhea (b. about 1805) (2) Joseph R. Rhea (b. Nov. 17, 1805)  (3) Elizabeth M. Rhea (b. 1807) (4) John Rhea (b. 1810).

(VII)---Samuel Rhea - (born Jan. 1, 1769, Maryland - died Dec. 11, 1848, Sullivan Co., TN) m. Sept. 24, 1801 Nancy Breden (born 1776 - died Sept. 7, 1846), daughter of John Breden and Elizabeth Dysart.  Samuel was the first of the children to be born in America.  Samuel and Nancy are buried in Blountville Cemetery, Sullivan Co., TN.  Samuel and Nancy had eight children: (1) Margaret P. Rhea (b. 1789) (2) Samuel Rhea (b. May 3, 1795)  (3) Elizabeth 'Betsy' Rhea (b. 1803)  (4) John Nancy Rhea (b. April 24, 1805) (5) Fannie B. Rhea (b. 1809, Sullivan Co., TN - died 1891, Sullivan Co., TN, buried Blountville, Sullivan Co., TN)  *Fannie is listed in the 1850 census as living with nephew John N., his family and her mother Nancy in part of the old homestead house.  She never married. (6) Ellen Rhea (b. about 1810) (7) Joseph S. Rhea (b. 1812) (8) Jane Rhea (b. 1813). 

      Samuel was a farmer and raised a large family of eight children.  In Samel's home, 20 persons signed a covenant that established the Blountville Presbyterian Church on Sept. 20, 1820.  The first church was built in 1823 on Graveyard Hill, with Samuel being one of the church elders.  Samuel lived on a farm on Muddy Creek, 3 1/2 miles SW of Blountville and it's been said that he moved into it in 1824.  The house had been built by David Looney, one of the two magistrates of the "Watauga Association," within 50 yards of the Looney Fort.
 

(VIII)--James Rhea - (b. Jan. 18, 1775, Taneytown, Frederick Co., MD - d. March 23, 1855, Sullivan Co., TN) m. Elizabeth 'Betsy' Snapp (b. 1795, Sullivan Co., TN - d. 1882, Blountville, Sullivan Co., TN)  James and Elizabeth are buried in Blountville Cemetery, Sullivan Co., TN.  James and Elizabeth had seven children:  (1) Margaret Rhea (b. 1815)  (2) John Quintas Rhea (b. 1818) (3) James Rhea, Jr. (b. 1820) (4) Elizabeth Rhea (b. about 1823, Sullivan Co., TN)  (5) Frances 'Fannie' Rhea (b. 1826) (6) Samuel Rhea (b. 1829) (7) Theodoric Bland Rhea (b. June 21, 1833).

      In 1779 James was about three or four years old when his mother's family moved to the Holston Valley by his oldest brother, John.  James owned land on Beaver Creek, about five or six miles below where his father first located.  After several years of living on the farm, he moved to Blountville and began working in the mercantile business, never to return to his farm as his home.  He had a flouring mill called 'Rhea's Mill.'  He owned property in town just east of the Court House, with his store being just in front of his residence.  He loved to read, especially in Latin and Greek, teaching it to his children and grandchildren.