Husband: Henry James Rodda (usually called Harry)
    Born: Jan 18, 1857           Place: Tavistock, Devon, England
    Died: 1919                   Place: Denver, CO
    Occupation: Coal Miner, Farmer, Store Clerk
    Married: May 15, 1877        Place: Plains, Plains Township, Luzerne, PA
    Husband's Father: Benjamin Rodda
    Husband's Mother: ?

Wife: Ida Florence Clark (or Clarke)
    Born: Apr 11, 1858           Place: Glenwood, NY
    Died: 1926                   Place: Denver, CO
    Occupation: Housewife
    Wife's Father: ?
    Wife's Mother: ?

1. Female, Name: Alice Rodda
    Born: ~1878                  Place: Plains, Plains Township, Luzerne, PA
    Died: before 1900            Place: ?

2. Male, Name: Benjamin G. Rodda
    Born: Aug, 1880              Place: Plains, Plains Township, Luzerne, PA
    Died: after 1916             Place: ?
    Occupation: ?
    Spouse: Ruth ?
    Married: before Feb, 1904    Place: Raton, NM

3. Female, Name: Roseanna Rodda
    Born: about 1881-2           Place: Plains, Plains Township, Luzerne, PA
    Died: before 1900            Place: ?

4. Male, Name: William Rodda
    Born: about 1882-3           Place: Plains, Plains Township, Luzerne, PA
    Died: before 1900            Place: ?

5. Male, Name: Henry J. Rodda (also called Harry)
    Born: Apr, 1884              Place: Plains, Plains Township, Luzerne, PA
    Died: after 1900             Place: ?
    Occupation: Baker's Apprentice in 1900

6. Female, Name: Nettie Bell Rodda
    Born: Dec, 1885              Place: Plains, Plains Township, Luzerne, PA
    Died: after 1905             Place: Raton, NM
    Occupation: ?
    Spouse: John Henry Follis
    Married: ?                   Place: Raton, NM

7. Female, Name: Grace E. Rodda
    Born: Feb, 1890              Place: Golden, Jefferson, CO
    Died: after 1900             Place: ?
    Occupation: ?
    Spouse: ?
    Married: ?                   Place: ?

8. Male, Name: Thomas Rodda
    Born: Mar, 1892              Place: Golden, CO or Blossburg, NM
    Died: after 1900             Place: ?
    Occupation: ?
    Spouse: ?
    Married: ?                   Place: ?

9. Male, Name: Edward Sherman Rodda⁸
    Born: Apr 27, 1894           Place: Blossburg, NM
    Died: after 1918             Place: ?
    Occupation: Farmer
    Spouse: Pearl Grove
    Married: Aug 15, 1914        Place: Raton, NM

10. Female, Name: Elizabeth M. Rodda
    Born: Nov 21, 1896           Place: Blossburg, NM
    Died: Dec 24, 1968           Place: Long Beach, CA⁹
    Occupation: Grocer, Housewife
    Spouse: Nels Elmer Nelson
    Married: Apr 27, 1914        Place: Methodist Episcopal Church, Raton, NM

11. Male, Name: Charles Rodda
    Born: Nov, 1896              Place: Blossburg, NM
    Died: Nov, 1896?              Place: Blossburg, NM?
   (Twin of Elizabeth, died shortly after birth?)

Henry James Rodda was born on January 18, 1857¹ in Tavistock², Devonshire, England. He used the nickname "Harry" for informal purposes. He is listed as Harry in the 1900 US Census but his legal name was definitely Henry. Rodda is a very common name among Cornish coal miners. Tavistock is a mere two or three miles east of the border between Devon and Cornwall. Coal mining and associated activities were very likely the focus of Henry's career from his youth, in common with many of his relatives. The International Genealogical Index lists his father's name as Benjamin, but does not mention his mother. Henry named his oldest son after his father.

He came to the USA in 1872³, settling in Pennsylvania. He was probably a coal miner there, in or near the community of Plains, Plains Township, Luzerne County. There he met and married Ida Florence Clark (or Clarke)⁴ on May 15, 1877⁵. Ida was born on April 11, 1858 in Glenwood, New York⁶. Nothing is known at this point about her family. Harry and Ida had 11 children⁷, 7 of whom were living in 1900.

Harry and Ida lived for several years in Plains, Pennsylvania, at least until after Nettie Bell's birth at the end of 1885. That area was a rich coal mining territory at that time. Plains is located about 3 miles from the center of Wilkes-Barre along the Susquehanna River in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania. Because Grace and probably Thomas were born in Colorado¹⁰, the family must have moved to Golden¹¹ and lived there beginning between 1885 and 1890 and ending between 1892 and 1894.

Sometime around 1892, they moved to Blossburg, New Mexico. This was a small coal camp founded in 1881 to take advantage of coal deposits discovered there by the Santa Fe Railroad. Blossburg was the name of a town in Pennsylvania and colloquially the name of a type of coal. "Blossburg" coal was semi-bituminous, softer than hard or anthracite coal but cleaner burning than soft or bituminous coal. I suspect that the New Mexico coal camp was so named because the coal found there was similar to that from Blossburg, PA. Coal camps in the remote areas of the west were run in a paternalistic and sometimes oppressive manner. The employees lived in company housing and were paid in company scrip, honored only at the company store where prices were often inflated. In 1895, Blossburg's population was 892¹². There were churches, a school, a newspaper, stores and saloons. In the 1900 Census, Harry Rodda's occupation is listed as "Clirk in Co Store." [sic]

Undated photos from the Raton Museum: (Click on small picture to see larger version.)

Blossburg from the NE

Blossburg from the NW

Blossburg School

Company Store in Gardiner, very near to Blossburg

Regressive management and hard conditions fueled the rise of the Labor Movement in the United States. Workers increasingly banded together in unions and used strike tactics to gain shorter work weeks, higher pay, and better working conditions. The American Federation of Labor was founded in 1886, presided over by Samuel Gompers. In 1891, coke oven workers in Pennsylvania struck, seeking an 8-hour workday. Strikes in this era often were responded to by companies hiring gangs of strikebreaking thugs, pitched battles in the streets, and state militias being called out to quell the violence¹³. Labor unrest reached Blossburg first in 1894, with a strike causing the mine to close. It reopened but closed permanently a few years later. By 1903, only a hundred people remained¹⁴. Many disgruntled mine employees, Harry Rodda included, turned to farming by homesteading land on nearby Johnson Mesa. Johnson Mesa is a flat-topped mountain just east of Raton. In the early 1900's, the climate was quite a bit wetter than it is now, and farming was widespread. In the dustbowl days of the 1930's, the climate changed for the worse and farming in that area never recovered its earlier success. Not only did the annual rain and snow fall decrease, but strong winds blew away the thin topsoil.

In 1901, Henry Rodda secured a land patent from the Federal Government to 160 acres on Johnson Mesa¹⁵. Settlers had begun farming in that area at least 5-6 years earlier, but it must have been a bleak and lonely place compared to the hustle and bustle of Blossburg. 

Photos taken during our visit to Johnson Mesa, Dec 2000:

Stone Church

Old house about two miles from Rodda land

Cemetery (no Roddas)

In common with many miners turned farmers, Henry did not remain for a long time on Johnson Mesa. In 1910, a new coal camp opened called Sugarite, pronounced "sugar-eat." By 1914, Elizabeth M. Rodda listed Sugarite as her place of residence on her marriage license application¹⁶. After living in Sugarite for an undetermined period of time, Henry and Ida moved to Denver¹⁷. We know that Elizabeth, their youngest daughter, and her husband Nels Elmer Nelson lived in Las Animas, Colorado from 1914 to approximately 1919. Henry Rodda died in 1919 in Denver. Ida followed him in 1926¹⁸. They are probably buried in Crown Hill Cemetery, but this has not yet been verified.

With the exception of Elizabeth M. Rodda, their youngest daughter and my grandmother, not much is known about the lives of the other Rodda children. Benjamin G. Rodda married a woman named Ruth sometime before Feb, 1904 when they purchased a home in Raton¹⁹. The second son Harry J. at age 16 was listed twice in the 1900 Census, once at home and once in the household of Mary Du Kelin of Raton, listed as a boarder with an occupation of baker's apprentice²⁰.

Daughter Nettie Bell married John Henry Follis. They had two children, John Henry Jr. and Florence Evelyn. Florence was the author of the biographical article in Johnson Mesa Pioneers. John and Florence' parents died when they were young, the children living with and working for a man named Fred Floyd. Florence married Bill Nauta. There are several Nautas listed among Johnson Mesa homesteaders, descended from Oneal Nauta who came to the region from Michigan. The relation between these Nautas and Florence' husband Bill is not established. Florence and Bill married on Feb 17, 1934, moving a short time later to a farm near Fort Collins, Colorado. They had two children, Charles Ray and Helen Louise²¹. I remember hunting pheasants on the Nauta farm once when I was small. John Follis Junior, Florence' brother, went to Denver, married Rosalie Newton, and moved back to Johnson Mesa. They had two sons, John and Fred. Later, they moved near Ava, Missouri, had three more children: Allen, Bill, and Carolyn, and died there.

Harry and Ida's daughter Grace, 10 years old in 1900, is not mentioned in Johnson Mesa Pioneers. More facts are known about the youngest son, Edward. His full name and exact birthdate are listed in the IGI. According to Florence in Johnson Mesa Pioneers, he married Pearl Groves and farmed east of Johnson Mesa toward Folsom. They had two children, Irene, who married Chester Edwards, and Edward who died in the service during World War II (Feb 1, 1944). Courthouse marriage records show Pearl's maiden name as Grove and their wedding date as Aug 15, 1914. Pearl was born in Jerico, MO on Nov 10, 1893 and was living in Raton prior to their marriage.

Harry & Ida's Tombstone in Denver.

Notes: (Click on the number to return to the text)

1. From IGI Record found on www.familysearch.org (LDS Church genealogy site), Film Number 445850, Page 257. Month and year confirmed by US 1900 Census and by biographical article in Johnson Mesa Pioneers (hereinafter referred to as JMP).
2. Place also from the same IGI record and confirmed in JMP.
3. From US 1900 Census information.
4. Her maiden name is given as "Clark" in the below mentioned IGI record but as "Clarke" in JMP.
5. IGI Record from www.familysearch.org. Marriage record from Film Number 456792.
6. From JMP.
7. Number of children and their vital information from two independent sources, US 1900 Census and JMP.
8. From IGI Record, Batch number H000133, Source Call No. 884302-884304.
9. Birth and death dates from her funeral card in her son Leslie's possession.
10. From US 1900 Census information.
11. From JMP.
12. From an 1895 Atlas of the United States, available on the Internet at www.livgenmi.com/1895. 
13. "A Short History of American Labor," found on the Internet at www.unionweb.org/history.htm.
14. From a short history of Blossburg, NM found at www.ghosttowns.com/states/nm/blossburg.html. 
15. Patent Record, Certificate 454, dated Aug 27, 1901 and filed Nov 11 in the Colfax County Courthouse in Raton, NM.
16. Record of Marriages No. 0774, Colfax County, NM dated Apr 27, 1914. (Marriage performed the same day.)
17. From JMP.
18. From photo of tombstone in family possession.
19. From mortgage deed record filed in the Colfax County Courthouse, Raton.
20. 1900 US Census, Vol. 2, ED 35, Sheet 9, Line 32.
21. From JMP.

Sources:

New Mexico. Colfax County. 1900 U.S. census, population schedule. Colfax ED 39, Precinct 24, Sheet 5 Lines 93-100 and continued on Sheet 6, Line 1. Harry Rodda household, listing Harry, wife Ida F., sons Bejamin G., Harry J., Thomas U. and Edward S, daughters Nettie B., Grace E., and Elizabeth M. 

New Mexico. Colfax County. 1900 U.S. census, population schedule. Colfax ED 35, Sheet 9, Line 32. Harry Rodda (son, age 16) listed as a baker's apprentice and boarder in the household of Mary Du Kelin.

Rodda Tombstone. Erected after 1926. Probable location Fairmont Cemetery, Denver, Colorado. Have photograph.

Colfax County deed dated Feb 29, 1904 wherein Benjamin G. and Ruth G. Rodda agree to buy a lot within the city of Raton for $450.00 to be paid within 2 years at 8% interest. Mortgage deed and Indenture recorded separately. Loan marked as paid on the deed July 7, 1905.

Colfax County Record of Marriages. Application, License and Certificate dated Aug 15, 1914. Marriage between Edward Rodda and Pearl Grove.

Johnson Mesa Pioneers. Bibliographical information unknown. Article on p. 178 titled "Harry Rodda Family" by Florence Follis Nauta.

Patterson & Snively Mortuary, Long Beach, California. Funeral card for Elizabeth M. Nelson died Dec 24, 1968. Funeral held at Lakewood Four Square Church.

United States Patent Record. Colfax County, New Mexico. Record of purchase of 160 acres, portions of Sections 23 and 26, Township 31N, Range 25E on Johnson Mesa by Henry Rodda. Aug 17, 1901.

Henry James Rodda birth record entry, International Genealogical Index, Salt Lake City, UT. Film Number 445850, Page 257.

Henry James Rodda marriage record entry, International Genealogical Index, Salt Lake City, UT. Film Number 456792.