Rhea of Spalding County

Samuel Rhea was the grandson of Revolutionary War Soldier, John Rhea, who fought in the Battle of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, for which he was granted 640 acres in Hancock County, Tennessee. After the war, he was a farmer on his plantation. Issue:

• Samuel Rhea engaged in blacksmithing and agriculture. Issue:

Joseph Grenville Rhea was born 10 September 1837 near Sneedville, in Hancock County, Tennessee. He was married to Martha Odell. He joined the Confederate Army in the Spring of 1862, and served under General John H. Morgan; also with General John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky in the campaign around Bulls Gap, Tennessee; also under Captain John Y. Johnsons Company at Vicksburg, Mississippi. After the war, he was in the cotton business. In July of 1865, he married (1) Miss Mary E. Bell of Loudon, Tennessee (died 27 June 1900), the daughter of J. J. and Martha (Mays) Bell; (2) Mrs. Arva Woolsey of Woolsey, Georgia (died 23 June 1915) in 1905. He had one child by the first wife, Mary Bell Rhea, who was educated at Griffin Female College.

Samuel Rhea.

Sources: History of Georgia