Rhoads, Samuel, 1711-1784

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li>09/01/1774 PA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
</ul>

RHOADS, Samuel, a Delegate from Pennsylvania; born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1711; received a limited schooling and became a carpenter and builder; member of the city council in 1741; member of the provincial assembly 1761-1764 and 1771-1774; commissioner to a conference of western Indians and the Six Nations at Lancaster, Pa., in 1761; Member of the Continental Congress in 1774; mayor of Philadelphia in 1774; founder and member of board of managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital 1751-1781; director of the Philadelphia Library; died in Philadelphia, Pa., April 7, 1784.

<p>Samuel Rhoads (1711 – April 7, 1784) was an American architect who served as the 59th mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.</p>

<p>Rhoads was born in Philadelphia into a Quaker family. His grandfather John Rhoads (also spelled Roads or Roades), had faced persecution after joining the Quaker faith. "The Rhoads family was one of note in England, and of great antiquity." In the late 17th century, he and two of his sons emigrated from Waingroves, Derbyshire to Pennsylvania. The second son, also named John Rhoads, married Hannah Willcox in 1692. Samuel was born in Philadelphia in 1711, their fifth child. He first worked as a carpenter and builder before becoming a merchant.</p>

<p>Rhoads's political career began in 1741, when he was elected to the Common Council of Philadelphia. He designed the east wing of the Pennsylvania Hospital. He also designed the west wing and an additional outdoor structure that weren't built until after his death, in 1794. Rhoads also served on the Board of Managers of the hospital. In 1761 he was elected to the Pennsylvania Assembly, where he served two terms. Rhoads shared the revolutionary sentiment spreading through the city in the 1770s and was a delegate to the First Continental Congress. He was elected Mayor of Philadelphia in 1774.</p>