Dorchester, Rhoda

Rhoda (Dorchester) Toby

Sullivan, NH

Rhoda Dorchester was born in Sterling, MA, in September 1788 to Ishmael and Peggy (Rogers) Dorchester.  Census records for the years 1790 and 1800 document the Dorchester family’s presence in Sterling, MA.  Ishmael Dorchester was listed as a male head of household in the racial category of “all other free persons.”  All other household members were also listed as free people of color; this most likely included wife Peggy, the children and perhaps one additional person. 

During the late 1800s-early 1810s, the Dorchester family relocated to southwest New Hampshire.  Rhoda accompanied her parents to their new home in Sullivan, NH.  At the age of 20, Rhoda married Simeon Toby of Rutland, MA, in Sullivan on March 14, 1808. 

The couple moved back to Sterling, MA.  Husband Simeon died in 1834, prompting 26-year old Rhoda to remarry.  On August 12, 1835 she married George Brooks of Worcester, MA.   They had a daughter Lucy Brooks in Sterling, MA, in 1838.  

Lucy Brooks grew up to marry a man named Samuel Lee. She died in an almshouse in Springfield, MA, in 1908.  

~Written by Historical Society of Cheshire County Director of Education Jennifer Carroll, 2024.

GENEALOGICAL SUMMARY

RHODA DORCHESTER was born in Sterling, MA in September 1788 to ISHMAEL and PEGGY (ROGERS) DORCHESTER.  She married 1st SIMEON TOBY in Sullivan, NH, on March 14, 1808.  He died in Sterling, MA in 1834.  Rhoda married 2nd GEORGE BROOKS of Worcester, MA on August 12, 1835.  They had Lucy Brooks in 1838.

SOURCE MATERIALS

Massachusetts Town Vital Records, Births, Sterling- 1788, 1838- Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Town Vital Records, Deaths, Springfield- 1908- Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Town Vital Records, Deaths, Sterling- 1834- Ancestry.com

Massachusetts Town Vital Records, Marriages, Sterling- 1835- Ancestry.com

New Hampshire Vital Records, Marriages, Sullivan- 1808- Ancestry.com

Seward, Josiah Lafayette. A History of the town of Sullivan, New Hampshire, 1777-1917 (1921), pages 940-941.

U.S. Federal Census, 1790, 1810, 1820- Ancestry.com