From humble beginnings he came, a village of just a few hundred people far away from the bustling city, and the loss of his father at age nine.

Life, plus a devoted mother, though, taught him the value of work and the lessons he would need to survive.

The young man from Coal Township learned them very well, and transformed his skills and knowledge not only into a legendary life of public service, but the foundation to guide one of America's great states on a visionary track to soaring new heights.

On Monday, this young boy who became one of Jackson County's most notable native sons, former four-term Ohio Governor James Allen Rhodes, will celebrate his 90th birthday.

While he might pause to recognize the milestone and reflect on his multitude of accomplishments, it will be no reason for him to cease his daily work of consulting and helping to make his beloved Ohio a better place to live.

The century was less than a decade old when Rhodes was born in Coalton. When his father died at Rhodes's young age, his mother was left with three children to raise and little finances to forge ahead.

Although not even a teenager, he knew he would have to find employment to help his mother make ends meet, and 80 years later Rhodes continues to work away.

He has traveled the world, been admired by presidents, served longer than any other governor in the 223-year history of the United States of America.

Jim Rhodes, though, has never forgotten where home was.

"I am a Jackson Countian at heart, period," proclaimed Rhodes at the Jackson High School Hall of Honor ceremony last month. "I love coming back. I will do everything I can for Jackson County."

Besides his native roots, he also believes his upbringing by his mother was influential in his lifetime of success. "I did everything I could to help my mother after my father died," said Rhodes. "She taught me discipline. She was great."

His mother, until her death in 1950, even often advised him during his political campaigns, he recalled.

Rhodes not only had his mother close by for counsel, but surrounded himself with two other Jackson Countians in positions of prime importance. The late Fred Rice was his campaign manager and was also a tireless worker for Jackson County.

Norm Crabtree, who joins Rhodes and Rice as members of the Jackson High School Hall of Honor and annually attends the induction ceremonies, was instrumental in the building of the many airports constructed during the Rhodes administration.

He fondly recalls his 60-year relationship with the former governor.

"He is the best thing that ever happened to Ohio," Crabtree stated. "He still generates enthusiasm that makes things happen. He could get people to work together."

When Rhodes speaks of his days as governor, he recalls them proudly.

"We changed this state. I am most proud of the 16 years I served as governor," he observes. "As governor, we brought in more federal highways, more plants, more industry. We built more roads by accident than others did on purpose."

He still believes the improvements in the transportation, including airports in every county, keyed Ohio's growth during the 20-year period from when he first became governor in 1963 until he left office in 1982.

He also felt that education and better employment opportunities went hand in hand.

"I called the university presidents together and told them we wanted more college branches," he remembered. "Young people want education. These young people need a good job to become wage earners. We want them to have a job in one hand and a diploma in the other."

Although he no longer serves in elective office, Rhodes is still working for the citizens of Ohio through James A. Rhodes and Associates, which does consulting and government relations work.

His grandson, Ric Moore, helps oversee Rhodes's business interests.

"He plays a pretty active role in the business, making phone calls and working daily," said Moore, who accompanied his grandfather to Jackson. "He is as active as ever. Sometimes, it is tough keeping up with him."

Rhodes broke his collarbone over Memorial Day, but Moore says he is completely healed from that injury.

The former governor has always proudly maintained strong ties to his home county, and that influence and effort has certainly been an asset to the county of his birth.

Jackson Mayor Tom Evans believes Jackson Countians enjoy a much better quality of life today because of Rhodes. "At that time (while he was governor), both the governor and the Speaker of the House (Vern Riffe of New Boston) were from southern Ohio," remembered Evans. "It was really a blessing for this area. Although of different political parties, they put southern Ohio ahead of politics."

Evans credited Rhodes's good relationship with Jeno Paulucci in helping to bring him back to Jackson County and begin a food manufacturing facility where Pillsbury is today.

Rhodes also worked hard on the upgrades of the Jackson County Airport, which today is named in his honor, in addition to playing a major role in the development of the Appalachian Highway, which runs through Jackson and is also named in his honor.

Current State Representative John Carey from Wellston has a set answer for those who want to know where his district is.

"I always tell people I'm from Jackson County, Jim Rhodes's country," he says. "His name is still very prominent in Columbus. There are several people still in state government who either worked for him or who were influenced by him. What impressed me, though, is that you always hear good things about when he was governor," Carey remarked. "Obviously, it was a time of good government."

Duke Rhodes has long been active in the Jackson County Republican Party and is a second cousin to Jim Rhodes.

"His career has definitely given our county party additional pride knowing that he was from Jackson County," Duke Rhodes commented. "When you get elected governor in Ohio, you are the leader of the party in the state and for 16 years we produced the leader of the Republican Party of Ohio."

On the occasion of his 80th birthday, a book entitled James A. Rhodes at Eighty was produced by Stanley J. Aronoff, president of the Ohio Senate; and Riffe, who was Speaker of the Ohio House.

The two leaders opened the book with these thoughts:

"It is impossible for any of us in state government, regardless of our party preference, to ignore the impact of James Allen Rhodes on Ohio's governance, campaign methods, and politics. As the right man at the right time in Ohio, he permanently changed for the better the way of the state in education, recreation, transportation and industrial development during his 16 gubernatorial years."

Former President George Bush, shortly after being elected President in 1988, autographed a picture to Rhodes, saying, "To Jim Rhodes, my friend whom I respect. He taught me a lot!"

Jim Rhodes was born in Coalton, the son of James and Susan Howe Rhodes. His father was a coal miner and operator as well as a Republican precinct committeeman. In 1910, the family moved to Jasonville, Ind. to secure a better job opportunity. The elder Rhodes, though, died in 1918 of influenza, whereupon his family returned to Jackson County.

Thereafter, Mrs. Rhodes supported the family, including her son Jim and daughters Garnet and Della, by working in a cigar factory and operating a boarding house.

The former governor attended elementary school at Mound Street School and Portsmouth Street School in Jackson, and junior high school at Broadway School, also known as Old Central.

As a student, he became janitor of the two-frame supporting buildings of the Old Central building; receiving ten dollars a month. Prior to that, he had worked at Michael's Ice Cream Store, turning peanuts for $1 a day shortly after his father died.

While he was in eighth grade, he and his family moved to Springfield where he continued working as a newspaper boy, clerk, errand boy and at other odd jobs.

While attending Springfield South High School, he made the all-state football and basketball teams. But his influence on sports would also extend far beyond his high school days, and even back to his home county.

In the spring of 1938, Jackson High School, which had unofficially been known as the Red Devils, decided it was time to select an official name for the high school's athletic teams.
The letter from Rhodes's homestead in Columbus, where he was serving on the Columbus Board of Education, was the first one submitted to vote for the name, "Ironmen," which later became the high school's official nickname.

In 1948, while mayor of Columbus, he represented the United States at the 1948 Olympic Games at London, served two terms as president of the Amateur Athletic Union and was a founder of the Pan American Games.

It was in the 1930s, though, he embarked on what would be nearly a half-century of serving in elective office.

In 1932, he organized a campus Republican Club while a student at Ohio State University, the beginning of his political life.

In 1934, he successfully ran for his first political office, ward committeeman, ousting the incumbent committeeman who had held the seat for 16 years. He won election to that post twice.

In 1937, he was elected to the Columbus Board of Education for one term and in 1939, elected to the first of two terms as the Columbus City Auditor.

In 1943, it was on to the mayor's office in the capital city for the first of three terms and then in 1952 he was elected as the state auditor of Ohio, re-elected to the post again in 1956 and 1960.

He was first elected governor of Ohio in 1962, when he ousted incumbent Democrat Michael DiSalle by over 500,000 votes. He was returned to office in 1966 with a resounding victory over Frazier Reams in which Rhodes captured 87 of Ohio's 88 counties.

Term limits forced Rhodes to leave the governorship in 1970, but he narrowly edged incumbent governor John Gilligan in 1974 and served two more terms before leaving office in 1982.

The month before he left office, a bronze statue was dedicated in his honor on the northeast corner of the Statehouse grounds.

The statue was well deserved when reviewing his brilliant record as governor.

In education, many more college branches were established in Rhodes's dream to take education beyond high school to within 30 miles of every Ohio student.

As for those wanting to enjoy themselves, the number of state parks during his reign grew from 49 to 71, state lodges went from one to seven, with more than four times as many cabins and campsites developed at state parks.

And Governor Rhodes was always huge on roads, and almost 1,400 miles of interstate highways were built and opened during his first eight years as governor.

Today, from the airport in this county to the Rhodes Office Tower near the statehouse in downtown Columbus, countless buildings and other items are named in his honor. He was elected to various public offices 15 times between 1934 and 1982.

He was also an author. Between 1959 and 1969, be authored or co-authored five books, including The Trial of Mary Todd Lincoln, Johnny Shiloh, Teenage Hall of Fame, The Court Martial of Commodore Perry and Alternative to a Decadent Society.

He was married to the late Helen Rawlins of Jackson County for nearly 45 years and they were the parents of three daughters, Susan, Saundra and Sharon.

An article in the Nov. 3, 1937 edition of The Wellston Telegram announced that "Jimmy Rhodes, grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Ellison Rhodes of Coalton, had been elected to the Columbus Board of Education."

The story said he led the field and continued to forecast his political potential.

"Mr. Rhodes is only 27 years old, but he has been Republican committeeman in the Sixteenth Ward in Columbus, and gives promise of reaching the political heights of Ohio."

Little did they know.

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By Randy Heath, newspaper journalist, written in honor of Governor Rhodes's 90th birthday in 1999