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.
From the guide to the Rhone Family Papers, 1886-1971, 1910-1971, (Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin)
