William Rhea b.1-29-1760 d.1-21-1836, son of Rev. Joseph Rhea and Elizabeth McIlwaine, was born in County Donegal, Ireland. On June 10, 1795 he married Elizabeth Breden b.6-5-1766 d.5-31-1835, daughter of John Breden b.~1735 d.~1777 and Elizabeth Dysartb.6-5-1766 d.5-31-1835. They married in Abingdon, Va. Elizabeth was also born in Ireland. Both are buried in Blountville, Sullivan Co. , Tenn. William and Elizabeth lived on the old Joseph Rhea farm on Beaver Creek. In 1806, William built a large imposing brick home known as "The Elms". This home still stands on the corner of 11E and Sperry Road in Bristol, Va. It overlooks the great meadow which saw musters of Revolutionary War militia. On the lawn formerly stood the Rhea-Doak Elm. William fell off a horse in 1836 and died at age 75. The home was sold by James Dysart Rhea to John T. Earhart and it descended to the Philip Earhart family. The Earhart farm was adjacent to the Rhea farm. (This narrative and most of what follows on this page is courtesy of Ed Foley.)

1. Margaret Breden Rhea b.1795 in Sullivan Co. Tn died 1864 in Bristol, Tn. m. Samuel Wood Netherland b.11-18-1796 d.1832. Samuel was born in Powhattan, Va. Their children were:
• Elizabeth Rhea Netherland
• Hariet Samuel Wood Netherland
2. Elizabeth Rhea 1798-1856 m. Reyburn Buchanan b.abt1798. Both were born and died in Sullivan Co. Tenn. (Reyburn Buchanan family mentioned in Notable Southern Families, Z. Armstrong 1922) They had issue:
• William Buchanan b. abt 1827 in Sullivan Co., TN and died in Morristown, TN. He married Addie Hill who also died in Morristown, TN.
• Elizabeth Buchanan b. 1828 in Sullivan Co., TN and d.1900 in Sullivan Co., TN. She married James King Jr., son of James King and Mourning Micajah Watkins.
• John Buchanan b. abt 1829 in Sullivan Co., TN. John married Martha 'Mattie' Cross.
3. Joseph Campbell Rhea 2-14-1800 d.7-15-1853, a lawyer and merchant, married in Washington Co., Va. on 1-21-1824 Susan Smith Preston b.7-17-1803 d.11-2-1828, daughter of Col. John Preston and Margaret Brown Preston of Washington Co., Va. Susan is buried in the Blountville, Tn. cemetery. Joseph married secondly in Pulaski, Giles Co. Tn, in 1831, Margaret Field b. abt. 1800 d.1832. Joseph married thirdly on 3-31-1836 in Giles Co., Tn., Catherine C. Reynolds b.4-25-1815 d.8-4-1857 in Pulaski, Tenn.
   

   Joseph moved to Pulaski, Tn in 1831 after the death of Susan. He was a member of the Blountville Presbyterian Church and did much to persuade his fellow man to lead better lives along with his uncle, Robert P. Rhea. Often stumped the county making temperance speeches. Joseph assisted his cousin Matthew Rhea in making the first map of Tennessee based on actual surveys. He was a Colonel in the Tennessee Militia and a merchant with John McNabb until 1827. Col. Rhea purchased land in the city of Pulaski, TN, the block which is bordered by Flower Street, South Fourth Street, Madison Street and almost to South Third Street. The place was called "Colonial College" and he and his family lived in a house which he had built there. Later, Mary (Mamie) A. Rhea and her husband Dr. Sumpter built the large house which stands today and has been the site of many interesting events. The house faces Madison street and is next to a large house on the corner of Madison and South Third.

   Joseph and his first wife Susan Preston had issue:

   • Margaret Rhea born 1823 in Sullivan Co., TN married Ezra Nuckolls Sheffey b.7-13-1824 d.2-13-1891. Ezra was a doctor in Wythe Co., Va. He was buried in Walnut Grove Cem. Washington Co., Va. Margaret died before 1855. After Margaret's death, Ezra Sheffey married Margaret's cousin, Elizabeth Preston on Sept. 5, 1855.
   • William Rhea b.1825 d.1-7-1847. Born in Sullivan Co., TN. William graduated from West Point in 1845 and was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during the Mexican War. While in Mexico he died of Measles and was buried in Mexico.
   • Susan Elizabeth Rhea b.8-3-1828 in Sullivan Co., TN married on 8-3-1848 in Marion, Smythe Co., Va, William Campbell Edmonson (Edmondson ?) b.5-28-1816 in Abingdon, Washington Co., Va. He was the grandson of Revolutionary Col. William Edmonson. William died 7-15-1883 in Washington Co. and is buried at Glade Springs Cemetery. Susan died 4-13-1860. They had 3 children.
   • John Preston Edmonson.
   • Jane 'Jennie' Edmonson 1851-1919 married Walter Preston Rhea (third cousin), son of Matthew Rhea V and Mary Looney and grandson of Matthew Rhea IV and Jane Preston. (See page on Matthew Rhea for details, item #11)
   • Louise Smythe Edmonson married a cousin William Abram Rhea. William was the son of Elizabeth Looney Rhea and John Rhea, and grandson of Matthew Rhea V and Mary Looney.

   Joseph married secondly Margaret Field in 1831. She died in 1832, no issue. In March 1836 he married his third wife, Catherine C. Reynolds. They had issue.

   • John Rhea b.1836 in Pulaski, TN and died in 1836.
   • James David Rhea b.2-7-1838 d.1-16-1882 in Pulaski, Giles Co., TN. James was a farmer who married on 5-1-1863 Mary Elizabeth 'Bettie' Buford b. abt 1840 in Giles Co., TN. Mary was the daughter of the Hon. Thomas Buford and Mary A. E. Gordon. She died in 1900 in Galveston, TX. James served in the Confederate Service as a Captain in the 3rd Tennessee Infantry Regiment. He was in the battles of Donaldson, Shiloh, Missionary Ridge, Chicamauga, Resacca Ga.. He was commanding a Regiment at Bentonville, NC when the Southern army surrendered. He was a merchant before the war and a farmer after. He died by drowning in 1882 while attempting to save a negro man. James and Mary lived at Buford Station. Their children were: (Data on children supplied by Pat)
   • James Buford Rhea.
   • Clifford Rhea b.~1866 married Delia Donovan.
   • Annie Rhea b.1868 married William Presley Dabney.
   • James David Rhea II b.1870 in Pulaski, TN married Sadie (Sarah) Gardner. He died 1952 in Giles Co., TN.
   • Frank Buford Rhea.
   • Bessie Buford Rhea.
   • Joseph Campbell Rhea b.1877 married Addie Martha Booth.
   • Louise Buford Rhea b.1880 married Harry H. Chandler.
   • Mary 'Mamie' Amanda Rhea b.10-12-1840 in Pulaski, Giles Co., TN. married 8-27-1857 Dr. James Asher Sumpter b.11-15-1831 in Pulaski and died 8-4-1885. Mary died 6-8-1924. Mary was married at 17 in the same year her mother died. She took care of her husband, the house on Madison Street which was left by her father, and her 2 younger siblings, Ellen Kate and Willie. Mary and James had 6 children of their own. She was a Sunday School teacher for 25 years, and her granddaughter, Mary Sumpter Long taught for 17 years. James Sumpter bought the Caywood Plantation which was located at Caywood Ford on the north side of the Holston River. (This same land was formerly part of a 940 acre tract owned by John Shelby who received the grant from George II of Britain. During the Civil War, Dr. Sumpter was forced to leave Giles Co. He enlisted and served till the end of the war. After the war he became Mayor of Pulaski. He took down the old cottage J. C. Rhea had lived in and built a 2 story brick home. Their son Edward lived directly behind them.
   • Anna V. Rhea b.1842 in Pulaski and died 1845 in Pulaski.
   • Ellen Catherine 'Kate' Rhea b.12-17-1846 married her first cousin David O. Reynolds in 1866. He died in 1868. They had no children. She married secondly in 1871 Oscar Abernathy b. abt 1835.
   • William Samuel Rhea b.8-16-1849 in Pulaski, was a Civil Engineer, County Surveyor and a farmer. He married 9-1-1876 in Pulaski, Ida Eudora Osborn b.8-20-1855 in Murfreesboro, Rutherford Co. TN. She was the daughter of Caleb Osborn and Elizabeth Valena Rankin. Ida died 2-1-1919 in Nashville and was buried in Maplewood Cemetery, Pulaski. William died 9-15-1899 and was also buried at Maplewood.
     It was said he should have been a minister of the Gospel because he was too good and noble to have been anything else. He was a Presbyterian elder and he married the daughter of the church deacon. He had attended Washington & Lee University and become a surveyor. He was an outstanding student and had letters of commendation from Robert E. Lee. William and Ida were married in the Presbyterian church her father, Caleb Osborn, had built. William purchased about 200 acres of land on Richland Creek about 3 miles south of Pulaski, reached by the 'Crescent View Road'. He and his wife moved into a small two room house on the farm. Their first two children, Caleb Rhea and Erma Rhea were born in this small house. About 1800 he built a large house that was the sight of family gatherings. William died unexpectedly after a siege of fever at 'Mamie's' house.
4. James Dysart Rhea b.7-4-1802 d.11-29-1886. James was born in Sullivan Co., TN, a lawyer and farmer. He married first on 12-15-1831 Elizabeth Juliet Carter b.2-10-1814 daughter of Alfred 'General' Carter. Elizabeth died 4-22-1857 and was buried in Blountville Cemetery. They had 10 children. He married secondly, Mrs. Margaret Jane Rhea Long, granddaughter of Matthew Rhea IV and Jane Preston and the widow of Nicholas Long. Margaret had one son by her previous husband, Nicholas M. Long II, and one son by James Dysart Rhea, Matthew Belmont Rhea who died young. After James sold the farm to John Earhart he moved to Bluff City. He lived in a stone house on the north side of the river with one of his married daughters. Margaret and James are buried in Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Sullivan Co., TN. Margaret Rhea's sister Elizabeth married James Dysart Rhea's brother, John Rhea.
5. William Rhea b.8-29-1804 d.12-5-1861. On 10-1-1833 he married Mary Ann Mosely Rockhold b.1816 in Sullivan Co., TN. She was the daughter of William R. Rockhold and Harriet Netherland. She died 12-1-1887 and is buried at Bethel Church, in Sullivan Co., TN. William is buried at Presbyterian Cemetery in Kingsport, TN.
6. Frances Rhea b.2-1808 d.6-23-1854 married Montgomery Irvin b.3-14-1802 d.4-14-1857. Montgomery was the son of John Irvin and Elizabeth ? . Montgomery is buried in Jonesboro Cemetery.
7. John Preston Rhea b.5-31-1810/11 d.8-24-1862 married on 12-22-1840 Elizabeth Looney Rhea b.3-4-1822 d.6-8-1892, daughter of Matthew Rhea V and Mary 'Polly' Looney, granddaughter of Matthew Rhea IV and Jane Preston. See Matthew Rhea page for details.