March 18, 1913: Boyertown's Major Thomas Leidy Rhoads Appointed to Coordinate Rehabilitation Efforts

By Margaret Leidy Harner from her book One Day at a Time: A Social History of Boyertown, PA.

March 18, 1913: United States President Woodrow Wilson has appointed his aide de camp Major Thomas Leidy Rhoads to take charge of the rehabilitation of the flooded city of Dayton, Ohio.

Major Rhoads has reported that it will take at least two weeks to make an impression upon the debris which chokes the streets, alleys and yards of the city and two months before the city is “comfortably” habitable, and probably ten years before it is back to the days before the flood.

After many weeks of hard work, the city was able to get back on its feet, and the citizens of Dayton credited Rhoads with bringing stability and order to the chaos of the disaster they had faced. They showered him with praise and gratitude for his efforts.

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