Born in Missouri and reared amid the wide sweep and stirring activities of the agricultural life of that great state, and later following his chosen vocation on a large scale in Kansas, Jasper N. Rhoads, of Garfield county, Colorado, living about five miles north of the village of Debeque on Roan creek, came to be an important factor in the farming industry of his section after thorough preparation in the business and having learned it in every detail by actual practical experience. His life began in 1865, and he is the son of Harvey and Memory (Evans) Rhoads, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Indiana. Soon after their marriage they moved to Missouri, and after a residence of many years in that state took up their abode in the territory of Oklahoma, where they are now living. Jasper was the second born of their twelve children, and was reared to the age of nineteen on the Missouri homestead, and received his education at the district schools near by. At the age mentioned he took up the contest of life for himself, going to Kansas and there engaging in farming for six years. In 1890 he came to Colorado and settled at Grand Junction, but he lived there only a short time, removing soon after his arrival in the state to his present home, which by industry and close application he has made valuable in productiveness and improvements, and increasing profits. He was married in 1885 to Miss Mary Hays, a native of Missouri but living at the time of her marriage in Kansas. They have six children living, Meda, Estella, Victor, Harvey, Charles, and Lester. Two others, Fern and Clarence, died in childhood. Mr. and Mrs. Rhoads are among the leading people of their community, and have the lasting respect and esteem of their large circle of friends and the citizens generally. Mr. Rhoads takes an active interest in the welfare of his county and state and does his part faithfully toward its promotion.
Source: Bowen, A. W. Progressive Men of Western Colorado. Chicago: A. W. Bowen & Co., Publishers. 1905.