Five Springs History
The Rhoads-Lorah Homestead, Yellow House, PA — Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, March 29, 2007
Listed as the Rhoads-Lorah House and Barn
March 29, 2007
The Place of Five Springs
Native Americans called the area "The Place of Five Springs" and many arrowheads have been found in the fields. The Delaware or Lenape Indians had long lived in the area. Their villages were aligned along the tributary streams that fed the Schuylkill and Delaware Rivers. The villages moved as resources were depleted. The Lenape continued to live among the European settlers for some time. By 1730 they appeared to be confined to approximately 800 acres in Oley which otherwise remained unclaimed.
Swede's Tract
Amity Township, originally known as "Swede's Tract," was in 1701 a 10,000 acre grant from William Penn to the Swedish settlers that ran along the Schuylkill River and approximately ten miles to the north. The individual grants were laid out in long strips each bordering on the Schuylkill and running north to the border of present day Oley Township. Few of the Swedes settled there and many sold their land to English or German settlers. The current Rhoads-Lorah-Body-Goldfarb property became part of the property of English settler John Campbell. The Estate of John Campbell is listed as owning the property in 1725.
The Rhoads Family
Johann Jacob Rodt — Generation I
Johann Jacob Rodt (Generation I, 1685-1745) was born in 1685 in Bonfeld, Wurtemberg. He was married to Maria Barbara Weber (1677-?) on November 8, 1707 in Gelmersbach, Wurtemberg. He immigrated in 1717 to Philadelphia, PA. The name is variously spelled Rodt, Roth, Rodes, Rhodes, Rhoad, Rhoads or Rhoades. He arrived with his wife and three sons, Johann Konrad (1708-1767), Johann Jacob (1711-1798), and Matthais (1717-1795) born at sea. A daughter Helena Maria (1715-1716) had died before he came to America and another daughter Barbara (1719-1805) was born in Amity Township. Johann Jacob Rodt came with his family to Oley Valley, Amity Township, in 1717, together with the family of Johann Theodorick Greiner. These two families pooled their money to buy 300 acres of land from English settler Henry Gibson. Rodt owned 100 acres of the land and Greiner the other 200.
Johann Jacob Rhoads — Generation II
Johann Jacob Rhoads (Generation II, 1711-1798) was born and baptized on October 8th, 1711, in Bonfeld, Wurtemberg. He died in Oct 1798 in Amity Township. He was married to Mary Magdalena Unk about 1735. He had ten children. He was taxed on this 183 acre Old Swede Road property at least as early as 1767. The first deed to the Old Swede Road property found is dated 1785, when Johann Jacob Rhoads (Generation II, 1711-1798), widower, deeds it to his eighth child, Daniel Rhoads.
Daniel Rhoads — Generation III
Daniel (Generation III, 1752-1825) was born on May 19, 1752, and died on March 12, 1825, both in Amity Township. He was buried in St. Paul's Cemetery, Amityville. Daniel was a farmer. He married Magdalena Kerst about 1780 and they had 13 children. Daniel's headstone notes he was a member of the Pennsylvania Militia. Daniel wrote his will on May 29, 1823 and it was filed 18 April 1825. He leaves the property on both sides of Old Swede Road to his "seven Sons." The five youngest brothers deed their interest in the 183 acres to their older unmarried brothers Jacob (1784-1848) and John (1787-1861) in 1826. The two brothers live there for the rest of their lives. At some point, John moved across the road to the primitive settler's dwelling and in 1830, built the gray limestone house and matching barn. The bank barn bears the inscription "J. Rhoads -- Sept. 14 A.D. 1830."
John Rhoads — Generation IV
John (Generation IV, 1787-1861) in 1859, shortly before he dies, sells and deeds the 150 acres of the property on the east side of Old Swede Road to his nephew Jonas. John writes his will that same year (August 13, 1859), leaving property on the west side of the road to his widowed sister Mary Lorah (Generation IV, 1803-1881). It is probated in 1861. He describes the property devised to Mary as "all that certain messuage or part of my plantation with the new buildings on and whereon I now reside, with the appurtenances thereunto belonging."
Mary Lorah
The 1876 map shows Mrs. M. Lorah in the Rhoads-Lorah-Body-Goldfarb farmhouse and Jonas Rhoads in the house across the road. The map also shows three springs and a fountain near the Lorah house. The property now has three springs in the fields and one near the base of the springhouse which may have been called a fountain. Mary Lorah lives there until she dies in 1881. She leaves her daughter Ellen Luisa Ludwig a life estate in the property with the remainder to her children and heirs.
"J. Rhoads — Sept. 14 A.D. 1830"
The inscription carved into the closed-frame forebay of the barn gives it its precise date — and its builder his quiet permanence. John Rhoads built the gray limestone house and matching barn in 1830; the barn bears his initials and the date to this day.
A Poultry Farm
The property is bought at public sale by Henry A. Body, a poultry specialist who began operating a hatchery there and raising layers. In 1930, Henry Body rebuilds the small red brick "summer kitchen." He moves into the remodeled building and begins renovations on the large stone farmhouse. He installs running water, central heat and electricity. Henry Body marries Dorothy Dougherty on October 18, 1930, and they move into the remodeled house. In 1945 Body purchases the farm across the road at public auction, once again joining the ownership of the two farms as they had been in the 18th and early 19th Century. On May 9, 1981, Henry Body dies. Dorothy Body continues to live in the main house until her death in 1999, when the farm now consisting of 11.486 acres is sold to Carter and Sarah Reese.
Stewards of the Present
Carter and Sarah Reese hold it as an investment property until October 2002 when it is sold to David and Liz Goldfarb. Like Henry Body in 1930, the Goldfarbs use the "summer kitchen / guest house" while the main house is restored. In the main house, they turn the enclosed porch into a kitchen so that the "farm kitchen" can be restored. The original doors to the walk-in fireplace are found and put back in place. A second full bathroom is added on the second floor. In 2004 remodeling began on the guesthouse. Also, the bank barn has been stabilized and some restoration work done.
Five Springs was listed on The National Register of Historic Places as the Rhoads-Lorah House and Barn on March 29, 2007. David and Liz enclosed the attached carport into a three-season room. They then added a family room connecting the main house to the guest house.