William G. Rhoads autograph album

William Gibbons Rhoads was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 26, 1838, the son of Samuel Rhoads and Anne Gibbons. He entered Haverford College in 1854, and left in 1858, pursuing partial course and receiving a certificate for proficiency (but no degree since there was no scientific department yet). He worked as a machinist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Wilmington, Delaware; and Altoona, Pennsylvania. He also served as steam and gasfitter and plumber in Phildelphia and a manager of Haverford College from 1871 to 1880. He married Sarah Wistar on November 28, 1866. Rhoads worked with a shipbuilding firm until he discovered that the company was involved in war work at which point he resigned his post. He then became involved in the plumbing business, in which his "knowledge and successful application of the laws of hydraulics gave him a high standing, both with the trade and those who had occasion to employ him," (The Haverfordian, pages 8-9). He died on April 28, 1880, from inflammatory rheumatism at the age of 42.