# Thomas Rhodes — Spoon River Anthology character guide > Thomas Rhodes in Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters. **Role:** major **Also known as:** Old Rhodes, Old Thomas Rhodes, attorney for Thomas Rhodes **First appearance:** 0004-hod-putt ## Snapshot Spoon River's reigning attorney and political boss, whose wealth and influence shape the town's fortunes while quietly deciding who rises and who is ruined. ## Who they are Thomas Rhodes sits at the center of Spoon River's power, an attorney whose money and connections reach into its courts, banks, and newspapers. He is the kind of man others approach with deference and resentment in equal measure, and the epitaphs around him keep circling back to the deals he brokered and the favors he withheld. His presence in the early arc establishes the town's moral economy, where law and profit are rarely far apart. ## Relationships ### [Flossie Cabanis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/characters/flossie_cabanis) _romantic_ Flossie Cabanis was Thomas Rhodes' mistress, their affair marked by secrecy and social hypocrisy. ### [Judge Somers](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/characters/judge_somers) _professional_ Judge Somers and Thomas Rhodes were corrupt political allies who manipulated the town's legal and financial systems. ### [Kinsey Keene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/characters/kinsey_keene) _professional_ Kinsey Keene was a business associate of Thomas Rhodes, involved in shady land deals. ### [Jack McGuire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/characters/jack_mcguire) _rivalry_ Jack McGuire was a working-class antagonist who resented Thomas Rhodes' wealth and power. ### [John Allen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/characters/john_allen) _rivalry_ John Allen opposed Thomas Rhodes' political corruption, leading to bitter enmity. ### [Minerva Jones](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/characters/minerva_jones) _social_ Minerva Jones was a poor, abused woman whom Thomas Rhodes ignored or exploited as part of the town's elite. ### [Jack McGuire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/characters/jack_mcguire) _rivalry_ Jack McGuire was a working-class antagonist who resented Thomas Rhodes' wealth and power. ### [Kinsey Keene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/characters/kinsey_keene) _professional_ Kinsey Keene was a business associate of Thomas Rhodes, involved in shady land deals. ## In the story ### [Spoon River Anthology](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/spoon-river-anthology) A prominent figure whose epitaph reveals his manipulative control over the town's institutions and his hypocritical public piety. ### [Kinsey Keene](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/kinsey-keene) President of the bank; directly called out by Kinsey Keene. ### [“Butch” Weldy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/butch-weldy) Referred to as 'Old Rhodes'; his son is the employer who avoids paying damages due to the fellow-servant rule. ### [Jack McGuire](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/jack-mcguire) Bank wrecker; the legal case against him was traded for McGuire's lighter sentence. ### [Nicholas Bindle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/nicholas-bindle) Deacon Rhodes, who broke and all but ruined Nicholas Bindle, yet was celebrated in church after his acquittal. ### [Sexsmith the Dentist](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/sexsmith-the-dentist) Implied as the beneficiary of closing down the poker room and bar, gaining increased sales of shoes, blankets, and other goods. ### [Barry Holden](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/barry-holden) The farm is mortgaged to Thomas Rhodes, adding to Barry Holden's financial desperation. ### [Mrs. George Reece](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/mrs-george-reece) President of the bank whose actions caused its fall, leading to Mrs. Reece's husband's imprisonment. ### [Thomas Ross, Jr.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/thomas-ross-jr) The narrator of this chapter, who reflects on his own downfall after overcoming his lower nature. ### [Judge Selah Lively](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/judge-selah-lively) Selah Lively became his attorney, collecting notes and mortgages and representing widows in Probate Court. ### [Thomas Rhodes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/thomas-rhodes) Speaker of the chapter; contrasts his own self-contained, gold-hoarding nature with the intellectual chaos of others. ### [Ida Chicken](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/ida-chicken) Mentioned as being on the train to Peoria; the Federal Judge's ruling exempts him from paying taxes for the Spoon River water works. ### [Elsa Wertman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/elsa-wertman) Thomas Greene is the employer who sexually assaults Elsa Wertman and later gives his wife a farm to keep silent about the affair. ### [Adam Weirauch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/adam-weirauch) Mentioned as 'Editor Whedon' of the Spoon River Argus, who denounced Altgeld and was appointed Canal Commissioner instead of Weirauch. ### [Eugene Carman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/eugene-carman) Eugene Carman's employer and the dominant figure in Spoon River, who runs the store, church, and bank, enforcing a life of servitude. ### [Clarence Fawcett](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/clarence-fawcett) Old Rhodes accuses Clarence Fawcett of stealing blankets, extracts a confession under false promises of mercy, and then ensures the story is published to make an example of him. ### [Ralph Rhodes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/ralph-rhodes) Ralph's father, the banker, who was complicit in the wheat scheme but couldn't margin the deal in his own name due to his church relationship. ### [Thomas Trebelyan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/thomas-trebelyan) Mentioned as a resident of Spoon River, though not directly referenced in this chapter. ### [Felix Schmidt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/felix-schmidt) Implied as the attorney for Thomas Rhodes, though not directly named; the legal system he represents enables Dallman's victory. ### [E. C. Culbertson](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/e-c-culbertson) Mentioned as one of the faces on the bronze tablet in the New Court House, receiving credit for the building. ### [Hildrup Tubbs](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/hildrup-tubbs) Referenced as the owner of the bankrupt bank whose carcass Tubbs attaches himself to. ### [Henry Phipps](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/henry-phipps) The real power behind the wagon works and canning factory, for whom Phipps acted as dummy president. ### [Plymouth Rock Joe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/plymouth-rock-joe) Addressed as the 'cock of the walk,' representing local political dominance. ### [The Spooniad](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/chapters/the-spooniad) Ruler of the church and bank, disapproves of Flossie Cabanis and leads the conservative opposition. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/characters/thomas_rhodes - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/spoon_river_anthology_se/characters