About 1838–1896 · Rhodia Ann
Rhodia Ann was born around 1838 and is recorded as dying on September 20, 1896. She is remembered as Rhodia Ann McNamara as well as by the Phillips surname used in the family genealogy. Her maiden name and parentage remain unsettled.
Her descendants provide a fuller picture of the family’s place in Lina’s Road. Children included Josiah, Abraham—remembered as “Uncle Abe”—William, Mary Ellen, and Sarah, alongside the McNamara branch.
1886–1899 · The families join
Josiah Phillips married Eliza Jane Travers in 1886. Their household later helped raise Cora Spicer after the death of her mother, Rachel Travers.
Harriet Ann McNamara married Charles Cole Payton in 1893. Moses Hicks McNamara married Angerona Travers in 1899. These relationships connect the Phillips history to several of the community’s central family lines.
1910s–1940s · Work and home
Family members worked in oystering, farming, canneries, lumberyards, and industry. Charles Cole Payton worked as an oysterman and farmer. Moses Hicks McNamara’s working life included farming and employment at G. C. Insley’s cannery.
In 1918, Charles Winfield Payton married Cora Irene Spicer, bringing the Payton and McNamara branches together with the Spicer and Travers lines. Lillie Mae Phillips’s marriage to Asbury Spicer that same year created another connection.
Ira Garfield Stafford’s family owned a home on Lina’s Road while he worked in Baltimore industry. Later work at Norman Travers’s lumberyard illustrates how employment and family life crossed both local and regional landscapes.
Mid-century–2005 · Community service
George Harrison Meekins Sr., connected to the family through Helen Olive Phillips, served John Wesley as Singing and Praying Band captain, class leader, lay speaker, trustee, choir member, and usher.
Arthur “Auf” McNamara remained in the family home on Lina’s Road, worked at Spicers Lumber Yard, and supported church ministries. His funeral was held at John Wesley in May 2005.
Recent generations · A living legacy
Family burials at the Lina’s Road cemetery continue into recent generations, including Shirley McNamara in December 2024. The Phillips, McNamara, Payton, Travers, and Spicer stories remain joined through remembrance, family life, and stewardship.