Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 5).djvu/259

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RICE
RICE

served on the committee on naval affairs, and, as chairman of that c mittee in the 38th congress, introduced iiii|nirtant measures. He was a dele- gale to the Loyalists' convention at Philadelphia in I860, and to the Republican national conven- tion in 1868. He was governor of Massachusetts in 1870, 1877, and 1878.


RICE, Allen Thorndike, editor, b. in Boston, M:i->., ix June. is.">:i; d. in New York city, 10 May, 1889. At the age of nine years he was taken abroad. In 1807 he returned to the United Stales. and remained here until 1871, when he went to England and was graduated at Oxford in 1875. On his return to the United States he entered as a student at Columbia law-school. In 1870 he bought the " North American Review," of which he was afterward the editor. He organized in 1879 and subsequently directed what is popularly known as the Charnay expedition, which was despatched under the joint auspices of the United States and France, to investigate systematically the remains of ancient civilization in Central America and Mexico. In 1884 he bought a controlling interest in " Le Matin," one of the chief papers of Paris, in which he continued a proprietor. He was actively interested in politics, and in 1886 received a Re- publican nomination for congress, but was defeat- ed by the local political leaders. A controversy succeeded, which resulted in the expulsion of Mr. Rice's opponents from the Republican organiza- tion. This event turned his attention to the Aus- tralian system of voting, which he was the first to recommend for adoption in the United States, and mainly owing to liis advocacy a demand for ballot- reform was incorporated in the platforms of the Republican and United Labor parties in 1887. He edited " [{rminisccnccs of Abraham Lincoln (New York. 1880), and contributed to "Ancient Cities of the New World" (1887).


RICE, Americns Vespucins, soldier, b. in Per- rysville, Ohio, 18 Nov., 1835. He was graduated at Union college in 1860, and began the study of law. On 12 April, 1861, he enlisted in the National army, soon afterward was appointed a lieutenant, and then a captain in the 21st Ohio volunteers, and served in West Virginia. When his term of en- list ment expired in August, 1861, he assisted in re- cruiting the 57th Ohio infantry, returned to the field as captain of a company, and became lieuten- ant-colonel, and afterward colonel, of the regiment. He fought in Gen. William T. Sherman's cam- paigns, in Gen. William B. Hazen's division, was wounded several times, and at the battle of Kene- saw Mountain lost a leg. The people of his dis- trict gave him a majority of votes as the Demo- cratic candidate for congress in 1864, but he was defeated by the soldiers' vote. He was promoted brigadier-general on 31 May, 1865, and mustered out on 15 Jan., 1866. In 1808 lie became manager of a private banking business in Ottawa, Ohio. He was a delegate to the Democratic national con- vention at Baltimore in 1H72. and was elected in 1S74 to congress, and re-elected in 1876. His cousin. Rosella, author, b. in Perrysville. Ohio. 11 Aug.. 1827. She began writing for the local papers at an early age. published a novel entitled .Maliel. or Heart Histories " (Columbus, 1858), and has since been a contributor of serial stories and humorous articles and of poems descriptive of nature lo newspapers and magazines. She is also known as a public lecturer. In 1871-'2 she con- tributed, under the pen-name of "Pipsissiway Potts," a serial entitled Other People's Win- dows " to Timothy S. Arthur's " Home Magazine." It attracted attention, and was followed by others with the same signature, "My Girls and I" and ui her tales signed " Chatty Brooks," and still other serials published under her own name, including " Fifty Years Ago, or the Cabins of the West."


RICE, Benjamin Franklin, senator, b. in East Otto, Cattaraugus co., N. Y., 26 May, 1828. After obtaining his education in an academy, he taught for several winters, studied law, and was admitted to the bar at Irvine, Ky. He was a presidential elector in 1856. and was elected to the Kentucky legislature in 1865. Mr. Rice removed to Minne- sota in 1860, enlisted in the National army in 1861, was appointed a captain in the 3d Minnesota in- fantry, and served in that grade till 1864, when he resigned and established himself in the practice of law at Little Rock, Ark. He was the organizer of the Republican party in Arkansas in 1867, was chairman of its central committee, managed the electoral canvass during the predominance of his party, and was elected to the U. S. senate, serving from 3 June, 1868, till 3 March, 1873.


RICE, Daniel, showman, b. in New York city in 1822. His name was originally McLaren, but he changed it to Rice after removing to Pitts- burg, Pa., and becoming an acrobat. He after- ward travelled as a circus-clown through the west and southwest, and acquired such popularity that he was enabled to exhibit his own circus, which his rivals derisively called the "one-horse show" because the chief attraction, besides his jests, was a trained Arabian stallion. He soon gathered a large company, and enhanced the reputation of his " great anil only show " by munificent gifts for charitable purposes and public monuments. During the civil war he promoted recruiting by delivering patriotic speeches in connection with his comic performances. He met with financial disaster, and performed under the management of others until intemperate habits interfered with his engagements. Having reformed, he occasionally lectured in advocacy of temperance. He resided in Cincinnati, Ohio, and subsequently in Texas, where he became a large land-owner.


RICE, David, clergyman, b. in Hanover county, Va., 29 Dec., 1733; d'. in Green county, Ky.. 18 June. 1816. He was graduated at Princeton in 1761, studied theology, was licensed to preach in 1702, and was installed as pastor of the Presbyterian church at Hanover. Ya., in December, 1703. At the end of five years he resigned on account of dissensions among the church-members, and three years later he took charge of three congregations in the new settlements of Bedford county, Va., where he labored with success during the period of the Revolution. When Kentucky was opened to settlement he visited that country in October, 1783, removed thither with his family, and in 1784 organized in Mercer county the first religious congregation in Kentucky, and opened in his house the earliest school. He was the organizer and the chairman of a conference that was held in 1785 for the purpose of instituting a regular organization of the Presbyterian church in the new territory, and the principal founder of Transylvania academy, which developed into Transylvania university. lie was a member of the convention that framed a state constitution in 1792. In 1798 he removed to Green county. His wife, Mary, was a daughter of liev. Samuel Blair. He published an "Essay on llapiism" (Baltimore, 1789) : a"Lecture on Divine Decrees " (1791) ; " Slavery Inconsistent with Jus'tice and Policy" (1792); "An Epistle to the Citizens of Kentucky Professing Christianity, those that Are or Have Been Denominated Presbyterians" (1805); and "A Second Epistle to the I'rcsbvtp-