Joseph Rhodes was born in Palermo, but his last residence was in New Orleans. He served on a British Man of War for four years and 40 years on merchant ships. Joseph shipped for 36 of these years on American Ships. His last position was Stewart, and he was last at sea on a Brig in 1844.

18th Century Ship Biscuit: Word Press.com

Once he retired from being a seaman, Joseph Rhodes kept an Oyster stand in New Orleans for four years. When Joseph Rhodes's wife died, he traveled to New York and was accepted as a resident of Snug Harbor on May 23, 1853. Joseph Rhodes kept it lively at Snug Harbor. He was known to drink and had at least one sailor fight on the Harbor Grounds. Joseph Rhodes was a resident of Sailors Snug Harbor for 26 years and passed away on June 10, 1879. Joseph Rhodes is buried in Sailors' Snug Harbor Cemetery at Plot 3, Row 5, Grave number 14. According to the cemetery Map, Joseph Rhodes has grave number 1071.

"Mine oysters - Dredging boats in the Chesapeake" (The New York Public Library Digital Collections)

Joseph Rhodes's Oyster Stand was comparable to a hot dog stand in the 20th century. Americans in the mid-19th century benefited from innovations in Oyster Harvesting (Isa). Oyster Harvesting made Oysters cheap, and Oyster Establishments like Oyster parlors, Oyster saloons, Oyster lunchrooms, and Oyster cellars became commonplace throughout the United States (Isa). People would eat Oysters for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and taverns would serve them with alcohol (Isa).

• Isa, Mari. The Great Oyster Craze: Why 19th Century Americans Loved Oysters, MSU Campus Archaeology Program-Protecting Michigan State's Material Culture, URI:http://campusarch.msu.edu/?p=4962 .
• Joseph Rhodes, IDENTIFIER: SSHRegisterA_Inmate62_Rhodes_Joseph.jp2, ABSTRACT: Register page of Sailors' Snug Harbor resident Joseph Rhodes, date created: September 15 1869, Sailors’ Snug Harbor, New York (State), Staten Island, the collection is on permanent loan at the Stephen B. Luce Library of SUNY Maritime College, URI: SUNY Maritime Digital Archive : Text : Joseph SSHRegisterA_Inmate62_Rhodes_Joseph Register Page [SSHRegisterA_Inmate70_Hudson_William_H.jp2] (maritimedigitalcollections.com)
• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. "Mine oysters - Dredging boats in the Chesapeake" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1872-03-16. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/bcddb051-df19-1f90-e040-e00a1806337d
• Word Press. 18th Century Ship Biscuit, URI: https://recipereminiscing.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/sailors-eating_thumb.jpg?w=450&h=301&zoom=2 , Coppied Image Link on 3/1/2022, at 10pm.