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- William M. Rice
Montgomery County, Indiana
William M. RICE, merchant and farmer, Newtown, was b. in Henry Co, Ky.1812. He was the eldest son of Jonathan and Rebecca REYNOLDS Rice, theeldest of 20; 13 brothers and half brothers, and 7 sisters and halfsisters. His minority was passed at work in his father's blacksmithand gunsmith shop. From that time until the present, he has beenmerchandising and farming. In 1829, accompanied by his parents, heremoved to Montgomery Co, arriving there Sept 10 and settling nearWaveland. In 1837, Mr. Rice came to Coal Creek in this Township(Richland) and made him a homestead one mile south of Newtown, whichhe yet owns. In 1855, his father went to Kankakee, Ill; and lived 4mi. E. of Kankakee City until his death in 1873, which overtook him atthe age of 83. Mr. Rice owns the farm on the Kankakee River. He wasmarried Aug 21, 1834 to Catharine STANTON who died the next year. Hecelebrated his second marriage Oct 13, 1836, with Mary STEVENS, sixch. have been the fruits of this union:
Elizabeth A.,;
Rachael Eleanor ;
Mary Jane;
Jonathan (dead);
William (dead) and
George.
Mrs. Rice and three of her daughters belong to the Baptist Church. Mr.Rice has been an Odd Fellow upward of 30 years and a life-long JacksonDemocrat, and so much is he wedded to the principles of "Old Hickory"that he almost fancies himself to be voting for the old hero yet... Heowns over 600 acres of valuable land, more than 500 of which lie inRichland Township. His landed estate is held to be worth $25,000. Mr.Rice has held the office of trustee of Richland Twp, and is thepresent incumbent.
Portrait & Biographical Record of Montgomery, Parke & FountainCounties, Indiana.
Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1893, p. 183
William M. RICE is a prominent and successful representative of theagricultural class of Fountain County. He is a resident of newtownwhere he has a large number of sincere friends and was born in henryCo Ky in 1812, being the eldest in a family of 11 children born toJonathan and Rebecca Reynolds Rice, who were natives of Ky born in1790 and 1785, respectively. Jonathan and Rebecca Rice were married inKY just prior to the breaking out of the War of 1812. When the war wasdeclared, Mr. Rice enlisted but served only the brief time of 60 days.After returning home, Jonathan and his wife settled down to a quietand happy life in theforests of Ky where they lived until 1829 at theend of which time they emigrated to Indiana, and located nearWaveland, Montgomery County. Here he purchased 160 acres of heavytimberland, all of which he lived to see cleared and cultivated by hischildren. He was a master mechanic and worked at his trade the greaterpart of his time. Our subject's paternal grandparents were English andGerman ancestry, respectively the former, William Rice, coming toAmerica where he became a brave soldier in the Revolutionary War. Hisgreat grandparents were natives of the Old Dominion, and moved fromthere to Ky with pack mules at an early day. Mr. Rice of this sketchwas married in this county in 1834 to Miss Catherine Staunton wholived but a little more than a year. In 1836, he came to FountainCounty having that year married Miss Mary, the daughter of WilliamStevens. To them were born 6 children, all of whom grew to matureyears, they were Elizabeth, wife of N. Johnson; Rachel the widow ofFielding Slusher by whom she had two children; Mary J, wife of JohnGebhart; Jonathan, deceased; William P deceased and George. For manyyears Mr. Rice farmed successfully, and purchased and disposed ofstock in which he was greatly profited. About the year 1844 he engagedin driving stock to Wisconsin in this way, adiding the State in hertransaction sin that line. He engaged in merchandising, which hefollowed until 1880 in partnership with his brother, selling immensequantities for some years. he now owns almost a section of land inthis county and is regarded as one of the ambitious and perseveringcitizens of the vicinity. His father located and died in Illinois nearKanakakee. He was married a second time, in 1836 to Miss Mitchell bywhom he had 9 children thus making him the father of 20. Isaac Rice, ageneral merchant of Newtown and brother to the gentleman whose nameheads this sketch was born in Henry co Ky 1821 and in 1829 came toMontgomery County where he lived for 11 years. He then located nearNewtown and has made his home in this county every since, with theexception of a period of 3 years. He was married in 1841 to MissMargaret Stevens who bore him 4 children, only one of whom is living.These children: Abednego who died and left one child; Hattie C;Mehitable who married John Voliva an dis now deceased and Rebecca,widow of Isah Jones and the mother of 4 children. Mr. Rice wasappointed Sheriff of Fountain Co about 1857 to fill an unexpired termof his brother James. He engaged in merchandising in 1868 inparternship with his brother and has continued in that business since.He and his wife are members of the Baptist Church, in which they haveworked faithfully for many years. He has also been a member of theWatt Detective Association. In politics, he is a supporter of theDemocratic principles and platform, and has been all his life. Honest,upright and liberal to a fault, he is highly respected and esteemed byall who know him. Socially, our subject is a member of the IndependentOrder of Odd Fellows and has been 50 years. Citation: The IndianaGenWeb Project, Copyright ?1997-2007, Montgomery County Websitehttp://ingenweb.org/inmontgomery/; WWW.USGENWEB.COM; Biographies &Obituaries."
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