Descriptive Summary
Rhone Family (Calvin Lindley
Rhone, 1867-1921)
Rhone Family
Papers
1886-1971
1910-1971
5 ft.
Center for American History, The
University of Texas at Austin
Papers, correspondence,
business and other records of the Rhone family, African American educators and
part-time farmers of Fayette County, Texas.
English
Biographical Note
The family of Calvin Lindley Rhone (1867-1921) and Lucia J. Knotts Rhone
(1866-1941) was a highly regarded African American family who resided in
Fayette County, Texas for nearly one hundred years. Calvin and Lucia Rhone were
married in 1887 and had twelve children - six males and six females - during
the next twenty years. Eight children were born on a farm near Round Top, Texas
and four were born near Plum, Texas. Eight of the children lived to
adulthood.
The Rhones were educators and farmers, and were very involved in church
activities and fraternal societies. Calvin Rhone, known as Professor Rhone,
taught in Fayette County public schools for many years and served on the La
Grange District Association of the Baptist Church. Lucia Knotts Rhone was also
a teacher. Urissa Rhone Brown, one of the daughters, studied at Prairie View A
& M College prior to a long and successful teaching career that included
serving as principal of the "Colored" Round Top-Carmine High School. Other
Rhone children who attended Prairie View A & M College and taught school
include Lillian Rhone Jones (1888-1915), Benjamin L. Rhone (1890-1941), Charles
C. Rhone (1892-1956), Calvin L. Rhone, Jr. (1896-1970) and Beulah Rhone
Thompson (ca. 1902-1968). Like their father, many of the Rhone sons engaged in
part-time farming. Some of the Rhone children moved to Houston, Texas. Several
of the family members have been buried in the Mt. Zion Cemetary in Plum,
Texas.
Scope and Contents
The inclusive dates of the papers span from 1886 to 1971, with the bulk
of the material dating from around 1910 to 1971. The papers document many
aspects of the family's lifestyle as well as their social and economic status.
Included are personal and professional correspondence, financial records,
farming records, education materials, church materials, teaching records, legal
papers and photographs.
Most of the papers relate to two family units: Calvin and Lucia Knotts
Rhone and Roscoe and Urissa Rhone Brown. Personal correspondence includes
letters to and from Calvin Rhone and Lucia Knotts during their courtship,
letters to Lucia Rhone from her children, and letters to Urissa Rhone Brown
from her siblings, friends and students. Particularly noteworthy are the papers
that document almost all of Urissa Rhone Brown's college education and teaching
career. Financial records include mortgages and loans, tax material, and a
sampling of cancelled checks, bank statements, and purchase receipts. Legal
papers relate to oil and gas leases on property owned by the Rhones. Throughout
the collection are documents relating to the Rhones' activities in fraternal
societies such as the Knights of Pythias, Sisters of the Mysterious Ten, and
the United Brotherhood of Friendship.
Very few of the 102 photographs have been identified, somewhat limiting
the subject access to them. Included with the photos are cancelled checks that
have prints of Fayette County banks or bank logos on them. The condition of the
papers ranges from good to highly deteriorated.
Organization
The papers were received by the Center for American History with no
apparent arrangement. The arrangement created is by types of records, with each
series or subseries arranged chronologically.
Acquisition Information
The Rhone Family Papers were donated to the Center for American History
by George and Linda Colby of Round Top, Texas. The Colbys had purchased a farm
that had belonged to the Rhones and found the papers in one of the
outbuildings.
Index Terms
Subjects (Persons)
Rhone Family (Calvin Lindley
Rhone, 1867-1921)
Brown, Urissa
Rhone
Rhone, Calvin Lindley,
1867-1921.
Rhone, Lucia Knotts,
1866-1941.
Places
Carmine (Tex.)
Fayette County
(Tex.)
La Grange (Tex.)
Plum (Tex.)
Round Top (
Tex.)
Subjects
African
Americans--Texas--Fayette County
Baptist
Church--Texas
Education,
Higher--Texas
Education,
Secondary--Texas
Agriculture--Texas
Friendly
societies--Texas
African
Americans--Texas--Fayette County
Baptist
Church--Texas
Education,
Higher--Texas
Education,
Secondary--Texas
Agriculture--Texas
Friendly
societies--Texas
Oil and gas
leases--Texas-Fayette County
Subjects (Organizations)
La Grange District
Association (Baptist Church : La Grange, Tex.)
Round Top-Carmine Rural
High School (Tex.)
Giddings High School.
Colored Dept. (Giddings, Tex.)
Prairie View State Normal
and Industrial College (Prairie View, Tex.)
Prairie View Agricultural
and Mechanical College
Prairie View
University
Prairie View A & M
University
Texas Baptist State Sunday School Convention (Houston,
Tex.)
Inventory
3U171.
Family correspondence:
Calvin L. and Lucia J. Rhone:
1.
1886-1887
2.
1906-1940
Beulah Rhone Thompson and Ted Thompson:
3.
1919, 1926, 1958-1968
and undated
Lucia U. Rhone, Benjamin L. Rhone, Calvin L. Rhone, Jr.,
Teodore Rhone, Harold Rhone:
4.
1914, 1926-1968 and
undated
Roscoe and Urissa Rhone Brown:
5.
1917-1929
6.
1930-1949
3U172.
Family correspondence:
Roscoe and Urissa Rhone Brown:
1.
1950-1959
2.
1960-1970
3.
Undated
Miscellaneous:
4.
1915-1938
5.
1943-1965 and
undated
3U173.
Education and teaching records:
1.
1903-1950
Education and teaching records of Urissa Rhone
Brown:
Educational training material:
2.
1919-July
1947
3.
August 1947-August
1950
4.
September
1950-1955
5.
1957-1960 and
undated
Correspondence:
6.
1929-1970 and
undated
3U174.
Education and teaching records of Urissa Rhone
Brown:
Round Top-Carmine High School:
Administrative records:
1.
1947-1960
2.
1960-1965
3.
Undated
Financial records:
4.
1947-1970
Inquiries:
5.
1939-1970 and
undated
3U175.
Education and teaching records of Urissa Rhone
Brown:
Round Top-Carmine High School:
Students' papers:
1.
1942-1950
2.
1951-1954
3.
1955-1956
4.
1957-1958
5.
Undated
3U176.
Education and teaching records of Urissa Rhone
Brown:
Round Top-Carmine High School:
Interscholastic League of Colored Schools:
1.
1939-1957
2.
1960-1962 and
undated
Graduation and social events:
3.
1937-1960
4.
1961-1968 and
undated
Ex-students' questionnaires:
5.
ca. 1955
Miscellaneous:
6.
1952-1971 and
undated
3U177.
Financial records:
Banking records:
Calvin L. Rhone, Lucia J. Rhone and Calvin L. Rhone,
Jr.:
1.
1916-1970
Roscoe and Urissa Rhone Brown:
2.
1925-1963
3.
1964-1970
Bank account books:
4.
1911-1957
Billing notices and receipts:
5.
1898-1929
6.
1930-1949
7.
1950-1959
3U178.
Financial records:
Billing notices and receipts:
1.
1960-1971
Taxes:
State, local and poll:
2.
1922-1968
Federal income:
3.
1950-1968
Mortgages and loans:
4.
1908-1970 and
undated
Miscellaneous:
5.
1905-1970 and
undated
3U179.
Farming records:
1.
1935-1971 and
undated
Legal papers:
2.
1900-1969
Licenses, certificates, and memberships:
3.
1927-1966 and
undated
Medical and insurance records:
4.
1896-1970 and
undated
Church and religious materials:
5.
1914-1920,
1954-1962
6.
1963-1965 and
undated
4L882
Family Bible,
1899
3U180.
Funeral material:
1.
1921-1970 and
undated
Miscellaneous notes and addresses:
2.
Ca. 1940-1971 and
undated
3.
Ca. 1940-1971 and
undated
Miscellaneous printed material:
4.
1909-1970 and
undated
Correspondence fragments:
5.
Undated
Greeting cards:
6.
1896-1970 and
undated
7.
1896-1970 and
undated
3S53.
Photographs, letterheads, and negatives:
1. AR 83-216-1 - AR 83-216-23
2. AR 83-216-24 - AR 83-216-40:
AR 83-216-037 Lucia Rhone
AR 83-216-040 Beulah Rhone
3. AR 83-216-41 - AR 83-216-73:
AR 83-216-041 Alfrieda L. Mason?
AR 83-216-046 Lucious Rhone
AR 83-216-057 Willie Thompson
AR 83-216-059 Ollie Lawrence
AR 83-216-062 "U. G. and monkey"
AR 83-216-066 Cecil McCoy
AR 83-216-073 Urissa Rhone Brown
4. AR 83-216-74 - AR 83-216-112:
AR 83-216-093 Grandchild of Mae West
AR 83-216-094 Niece of Urissa and Roscoe
Brown
AR 83-216-095 Round Top, Texas - Rhone farm house,
ca. 1959
AR 83-216-111 Urissa Rhone Brown
AR 83-216-112 Round Top, Texas - Rhone farm house,
ca. 1975
Letterheads (Bank check engravings):
AR 83-216-101 La Grange, Texas - John Schumacher State
Bank
AR 83-216-102 La Grange, Texas - La Grange State
Bank
AR 83-216-103 La Grange, Texas - La Grange State
Bank
AR 83-216-104 Giddings, Texas - Citizens State
Bank
AR 83-216-105 Giddings, Texas - First National
Bank
AR 83-216-106 Houston, Texas - Harrisburg National
Bank
AR 83-216-107 Carmine, Texas - Carmine State Bank
logo
AR 83-216-108 La Grange, Texas - First National Bank
logo
AR 83-216-109 "Uncle Sam"
Photographs:
AR 83-216-111 Urissa Rhone Brown
AR 83-216-112 Round Top, Texas - Rhone farm house,
ca. 1975
Print:
Rock of Ages
5. Negatives:
La Grange, Texas - Monument and John Schumacher State
Bank,
ca. 1920s
Carmine, Texas - Round Top-Carmine High School,
graduation
1957
San Jacinto, Texas - Battleship Texas
3S117.
Postcards:
Relating to Texas, St. Louis, Cleveland, Detroit,
Colorado and France
2.325/D31C
Oversize materials:
Education and teaching records,
1903-1950
Education and teaching records of Urissa Rhone Brown,
1919-1970 and
undated
Licenses, certificates, and memberships,
1910-1966 and
undated
2.325/D31C
Scrapbook