Jacob C. "Uncle Jake" Rhodes

Birth:  

Family Information: Married to Betty B. (Ewell) Rhodes.

Step-father of Trixie, Louise and Will Ewell.  

Description:  

Pre-Colony History:  

Home in Colony:  

Job in Colony: Over the years he visited the colony from time to time. One of his most important accomplishments was to insist that the colony must have a brick plant to use the first-class brick clay which underlay the site of the village.

He kept at it, until finally, under the leadership of Marcus Devine, the first kiln of brick was fired in August 1920. In addition to providing bricks for many colony buildings, those valuable bricks were traded for land, blooded stock and other needed commodities.  

Other Info: He was one of the members of the colony when George Pickett was first named General Manager.  

Post-Colony History:  

Death: He died while living in the colony in October 1921. He was remembered to be "one of our most loyal colonists and a grand supporter of the ideals for which this colony was organized."  

Sources: "Bread and Hyacinths; The Rise and Fall of Utopian Los Angeles" by Paul Greenstein, Nigey Lennon and Lionel Rolfe; "Vernon Parish Democrat": October 6, 1921; "Llano Colonist": July 8, 1922, March 11, 1933 (Story of Llano), April 11, 1933 (Reprinted from the Colonist May 17, 1924)