The builder (1857) and first owners of the house were Dr. Joseph S. Rhea and his wife, Lady Kirkpatrick, who emigrated from Ireland. According to McKinley, the Rhea family lived in a neighboring log cabin while the brick house was under construction.
The front rooms on either side of the foyer were the doctor's waiting room and the examining room. The downstairs bedroom was where the Rheas slept. It is thought the two upstairs rooms belonged to the children.
Shortly after the beginning of the war, Rhea was conscripted into the Confederate Army and served as a battlefield surgeon until the end of the war, while Lady Kirkpatrick was left behind to tend their five children and the 180-acre estate.
According to some local old-timers, ‘ruts,' were dug under the house to hide the boys; there is no record of their having been taken to fight in the war. After the war ended and Lincoln was assassinated, the Rhea family sold the house to another physician, Dr. Henry Hoss, and re-settled in Kentucky where they had investments in coal.
Hoss reportedly turned the home into a hospital and makeshift morgue during the cholera epidemic that carried away numerous residents of the community in 1873.
Henry and Martha Hoss lived in this house following the move of his grandfather Dr. Henry Hoss and his family. Henry and Martha lived in this house while Henry operated several farms in Washington and Greene counties until a few years before Martha's death.
The house stood empty for three years before McKinley purchased it from the third owner, Dr. Frank P. Haws.
House is listed as Rhea McKinley House on The National Historic Register.
The front rooms on either side of the foyer were the doctor's waiting room and the examining room. The downstairs bedroom was where the Rheas slept. It is thought the two upstairs rooms belonged to the children.
Shortly after the beginning of the war, Rhea was conscripted into the Confederate Army and served as a battlefield surgeon until the end of the war, while Lady Kirkpatrick was left behind to tend their five children and the 180-acre estate.
According to some local old-timers, ‘ruts,' were dug under the house to hide the boys; there is no record of their having been taken to fight in the war. After the war ended and Lincoln was assassinated, the Rhea family sold the house to another physician, Dr. Henry Hoss, and re-settled in Kentucky where they had investments in coal.
Hoss reportedly turned the home into a hospital and makeshift morgue during the cholera epidemic that carried away numerous residents of the community in 1873.
Henry and Martha Hoss lived in this house following the move of his grandfather Dr. Henry Hoss and his family. Henry and Martha lived in this house while Henry operated several farms in Washington and Greene counties until a few years before Martha's death.
The house stood empty for three years before McKinley purchased it from the third owner, Dr. Frank P. Haws.
House is listed as Rhea McKinley House on The National Historic Register.
The builder (1857) and first owners of the house were Dr. Joseph S. Rhea and his wife, Lady Kirkpatrick, who emigrated from Ireland. According to McKinley, the Rhea family lived in a neighboring log cabin while the brick house was under construction.
The front rooms on either side of the foyer were the doctor's waiting room and the examining room. The downstairs bedroom was where the Rheas slept. It is thought the two upstairs rooms belonged to the children.
Shortly after the beginning of the war, Rhea was conscripted into the Confederate Army and served as a battlefield surgeon until the end of the war, while Lady Kirkpatrick was left behind to tend their five children and the 180-acre estate.
According to some local old-timers, ‘ruts,' were dug under the house to hide the boys; there is no record of their having been taken to fight in the war. After the war ended and Lincoln was assassinated, the Rhea family sold the house to another physician, Dr. Henry Hoss, and re-settled in Kentucky where they had investments in coal.
Hoss reportedly turned the home into a hospital and makeshift morgue during the cholera epidemic that carried away numerous residents of the community in 1873.
Henry and Martha Hoss lived in this house following the move of his grandfather Dr. Henry Hoss and his family. Henry and Martha lived in this house while Henry operated several farms in Washington and Greene counties until a few years before Martha's death.
The house stood empty for three years before McKinley purchased it from the third owner, Dr. Frank P. Haws.
House is listed as Rhea McKinley House on The National Historic Register.
The front rooms on either side of the foyer were the doctor's waiting room and the examining room. The downstairs bedroom was where the Rheas slept. It is thought the two upstairs rooms belonged to the children.
Shortly after the beginning of the war, Rhea was conscripted into the Confederate Army and served as a battlefield surgeon until the end of the war, while Lady Kirkpatrick was left behind to tend their five children and the 180-acre estate.
According to some local old-timers, ‘ruts,' were dug under the house to hide the boys; there is no record of their having been taken to fight in the war. After the war ended and Lincoln was assassinated, the Rhea family sold the house to another physician, Dr. Henry Hoss, and re-settled in Kentucky where they had investments in coal.
Hoss reportedly turned the home into a hospital and makeshift morgue during the cholera epidemic that carried away numerous residents of the community in 1873.
Henry and Martha Hoss lived in this house following the move of his grandfather Dr. Henry Hoss and his family. Henry and Martha lived in this house while Henry operated several farms in Washington and Greene counties until a few years before Martha's death.
The house stood empty for three years before McKinley purchased it from the third owner, Dr. Frank P. Haws.
House is listed as Rhea McKinley House on The National Historic Register.
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