John Hovey Rice of Mt Vernon, Kennebec Co, Maine printed in Vol. XI (11) No. 1 Sprague's Journal of Maine History Vol. XI. JANUARY, FEBRUARY, MARCH No. 1 THE RICES OF MONSON, MAINE (By the Editor) JOHN HOVEY RICE ( Part 1) John Hovey Rice, who died in Chicago, March 14, 1911, with his brother, Peabody H. Rice, moved to Monson from the town of Mt. Vernon, in the state of Maine, in the year 1837. Their brother, Richard K. Rice, had preceded them in set- tling in this part of Maine, he having moved to Foxcroft sev- eral years before, was a leading and prominent citizen of that town, and was the first Register of Deeds in 1838 after the new County of Piscataquis was incorporated and organ- ized, holding the office four years, when A. S. Patten was elected to fill this position in 1843. He remained in Foxcroft several years, afterwards re- moving to the Pacific Coast and died in California. These three Rice brothers were the sons of Nathaniel Rice, who moved from Meredith, N. H. to Mt. Vernon, in the state of Maine. Nathaniel's wife was Jane Swazey, whom he married in New Hampshire, but who was a native of Connecticut. She was said to be a woman of superior intellectual abilities. John Hovey Rice was born in Mt. Vernon, Maine, February 5th, 1816. When he came to Monson he was 22 years of age and first engaged in the business of running a general country store in company with his brother, Peabody H. Rice, but in a short time he abandoned it, read law, was admitted to the Piscata- quis Bar and entered into practice of his profession, in Mon- son, where he remained until about the time of his election to Congress in 1860, when he moved to Foxcroft. 4 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY Peabody H. Rice held many town offices and was the first Republican Representative to the Legislature from the Mon- son District. John H. Rice never held any office, other than town offices, except that lie was County Attorney for eight years, until lie was elected to Congress in 1860. He was the fourth County Attorney after the establishment of Piscataquis County, his predecessors having been Charles A. Everett, James Bell and Alexander M. Robinson. He filled this position with marked ability, and his satis- factory record as prosecuting Attorney had much to do with his success in securing the Republican nomination for Repre- sentative to Congress. The Rices of Monson were formerly Whigs, but when that great political organization wrecked itself in the irrepressible conflict between freedom and slavery and came to the parting of the way, they became abolitionists and free soilers, and were among the builders of the Republican party in Piscata- quis. When Mr. Rice was first elected County Attorney (1852), Wm. G. Crosby was the Whig candidate for Governor and his vote in Monson was 54 while Mr. Rice received 98 votes and his Democratic opponent, Henry Hudson, received 32 votes. He served in Congress six years from 1861 to 1867, but during only one of these three terms was he a resident of Piscataquis County as he changed his residence from Foxcroft to Bangor in 1862. Among his colleagues from this State in the National House of Representatives were Frederick A. Pike, Charles W. Walton, who resigned soon after his election to Congress and accepted a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of Maine, which place he filled for many years with sig- nal ability; James G. Blaine, Anson P. Morrill and Sidney Perham, afterwards Governor of Maine. When in public life Mr. Rice was a man of acknowledged ability, as a lawyer and public speaker, and was the peer of the others distinguished and able members of Congress from this State. THE RICES OF MONSON, MAINE 5 I have heard scores of veterans of the Civil War speak of his remarkable fidelity and attention to them when they were encamped in Washington and its vicinity. He was a thorough gentleman in every sense of the word, possessing a most kindly and genial disposition, a charming and interesting conversationalist with a rich vein of humor and wit. These qualities were a great aid to him in his politi- cal and official career. I shall never forget a (lay that I spent in Bangor some years ago when I went to hear William J. Bryan speak in the Auditorium. Upon my arrival there I immediately went to the law office of the late John F. Robinson to ask him to se- cure a seat for me. I had been there but a short time before the late Gen. Charles Hamlin came in accompanied by Mr. Rice, and in a short time the late Chief Justice, John A. Peters, appeared. It was a tryst with these gentlemen for social converse and I gladly accepted their invitation to remain. Naturally the conversation drifted into subjects relating to the days of the rebellion and reconstruction, of their experiences and memo- ries of those exciting times while Mr. Rice and Judge Peters were members of Congress, the latter succeeding Mr. Rice as a Representative from the Fourth Congressional District of Maine. Mr. Rice had seen very much of President Lincoln and he related many anecdotes in reference to him. The stories Mr. Lincoln but of many others of which they told not only of the statesmen of that (lay, who were rapidly making history in that important epoch, would, if it could have been written down and printed, made a little book full of historical interest and would have been a literary gem as well. In his long life as a public and business man no one has ever suggested that he had been other than one of pure char- acter and lofty ideals, of the utmost integrity, and one who had been faithful to every trust and always had the courage of his convictions. He and the late Col. Robert G. Ingersoll were warm personal friends, and he stood by the side of Col. Inger- soll when he delivered that memorable and touching address at the grave of his brother. 6 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY Until within five or six years prior to his death he made annual visits to Maine, and at such times rarely failed to visit Monson. It was (luring this period that I became personally acquainted with him. He had a remarkable and most pleasing faculty for telling a good story, and on these occasions his mind would revert to the time when he was a resident of Monson, and his fund of droll, amusing and humorous reminiscences of those days and of the peculiarities of some of the odd char- acters with whom -he was familiar, seemed to be inexhaustible, and always afforded pleasant entertainment for his listeners. His sister, Sarah Rich, married the late Col. Levy C. Flint, long a resident there. They were the parents of John R. Flint of Monson, and the grandparents of Levy R. Flint of Dover-Foxcroft. A letter that I once received from Mr. Rice is of such im- portance in reference to both local and national history that it is herewith appended: MR. RICE's LETTER Chicago, August 20, 1908. Mr. John Francis Sprague, President Piscataquis Historical Society, Monson, Maine. My dear Sir: "Your esteemed favor of March 9, 1908, briefly acknowl- edged, came duly to hand, for which you will please accept renewal of my thanks. " I have a very warm affection for your place of abode, as I have f or all other localities in my clear native state, and I cordially hope for your success, in your great profession, and all other high and worthy aspirations in mundane life; for there, in Monson, was my residence in early married life, and there the nativity and early sojourn of our three dear chil- dren, now all well and happy denizens of this great and grow- ing central city of Chicago. The only cloud upon our family horizon here is the sad and mourning loss-deceased 1898, of the dear, devoted, translated mother-wife. "In response to the kind inquiries in respect to the origin and residence of my family progenitors, and for some reminis- THE RICES OF MONSON, MAINE 7 cences of my prolonged, past ninety-two years, and checkered life, for use in the "County Historical Society" referred to, though doubting as to the value and acceptance of this or other like contributions from me, possibly some items and in- cidents therein may be so favored, if approved and submitted by you. "As to the former, I cannot materially add to the informa- tion you have already acquired. My father and mother, Nathaniel and Mary Jane Swazey Rice, were early immigrants from New Hampshire to the District of Maine, then belonging to, and a part of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and there they located and became inhabitants of that which is now, if not then, known as Mount Vernon in Kennebec Coun- ty; and there subjected to the conditions and privations inci- dent to, and inseparable from pioneer life in a new country; and one of their afflictions was their inability to bestow upon their offspring, four sons and three daughters, the prospective advantages of high, or collegiate education, I being the baby of the flock, born February 5, 1816. "You will see from this that I am the senior of Maine as a 'Sovereign State.' Bright Morning Star' so elevated and admitted with Missouri in 1820-21, in accordance with conces- sions and agreements. "I have sadly deplored the limitations and disabilities in- cident to educational deficiencies, my resources in that sphere having been confined in early boyhood to the ministrations of my devoted mother, and the facilities provided in 'The Dis- trict School. Thus meagerly equipped for manhood's respon- sibilities, cares and strife, I, a boy, sadly abandoned parental home and loving lure for a clerkship in the office of 'Register of Deeds,' then administered by my honored namesake, John Hovey, in Augusta, then, as now, Maine's capital city. There I met and served many lawyers, and formed friendly relations with several of them prominent and distinguished in their great profession; and so I became inoculated, enamored, with admiration for each of them in their respective personalities and brilliant careers; and among those so inspiring me were Richard Hampton Vose, Sewall Lancaster of Augusta, Peleg Sprague of Hallowell, and George Evans of Gardiner, 8 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY each and all of them being active and efficient in state and national politics in earnest affiliation with the Whig Party. And being so impressed I 'read law' with Vose & Lancaster, and was duly admitted to the bar of Maine. "Although my Christianized name was derived from that of Deacon John Hovey, I did not become a disciple of his Calvinist Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon, but strayed away and became an affiliated adherent of the 'Dancing Orthodox' in Augusta, and later adhered to the Universalist faith. Lest you may be unfamiliar with the origin and application of that designation in a church fraternity, I will endeavor to briefly explain it: "In the early decades of the preceding century, the leading and most popular religious organization in Augusta was the Congregational Church, of which the Reverend Dr. Tappan was the pastor, and in which Judge Nathan Weston, one of the justices-chief, I think-of the State Supreme Judicial Court, was, with his family, a prominent and influential member thereof. His daughter, Katherine-Kate Weston, being conspicuous and distinguished for her literary and musical attainments, and for her generous advice and instruc- tion therein given in music, as I remember, to several or many of the children of her relatives and church associates in her home; and there, incidentally, she permitted them to dance or sing in concert responsive to her instrumental expositions, in which the participants, children, were wildly delighted, and so reported to their parents and associates. In those early times in many, or all, of the Orthodox churches, dancing was prohibited and anathematized as an "unpardonable sin." Thereupon charges were filed against Katherine Weston and her expulsion, excommunication, demanded from and in the Congregational Church, based upon alleged instructions for dancing. This was followed by her examination and trial by designated church officials in its vestry, and lasted two weeks, finally resulting in her excommunication and expulsion as demanded, causing much comment and excitement and a serious schism in the church, from which a large minority -of its members and adherents seceded and formally organized their membership in the Episcopal Church in Augusta, prop- THE RICES OF MONSON, MAINE 9 erly individualized 'Episcopalians,' but denominated by their abandoned Congregational associates 'The Dancing Orthodox.' "My residence in Augusta in varying employments con- tinued until the late autumn or early winter of 1840-41, and from thence I was removed incapacitated by severe illness contracted in arduous efforts and exposures in the strenuous canvas-'hard cider and song campaign'-pending in 1840 for the election of state and national officers, in which Edward Kent was the Whig candidate for governor, and William Henry Harrison and John Tyler-'Tippecanoe and Tyler, too,'-were candidates for president and vice-president, and each and all of them duly elected, Harrison only living one short month after his inauguration. My removal was to Monson, your present abode, induced by the persistence of my older and eldest brother, Peabody Harriman (P. H. Rice), he having an attractive residence there. In 1847 I was united in marriage with Grace Elizabeth Burleigh, the attractive and mm accomplished daughter of Dr. and Madame G. M. Burleigh of Dexter in Penobscot County; and there, in Monson, we resided for nearly twenty years, and attained and enjoyed health, prestige and successful employment in joint and loving effort and accord until our change of residence to Foxcroft, the twin town of Dover which is the shire town of Piscataquis County, in 1859; and there, in Foxcroft, we dwelt in like conditions, acquirements and employments, professional and otherwise, and there I exercised and discharged official duties and obliga- tions as County Attorney for eight consecutive years until my nomination and election to Congress in 1860, 1862 and 1864. Thereupon I migrated with my family to Bangor, then, as now, headquarters for professional political official intelli- gence and power, and for centralized and radiant business interests with legitimate profits in eastern Maine. Arid there we had and enjoyed our home residence for many years, in- cluding all of the time in which I was Collector of United States Customs there and part of the time when in Congress, though the major part of my time and official responsibilities were confined to and exercised in Washington, amidst the perils and vital events pending in and incident to our great in- ternecine war. One of those incidents demanding my sym- 10 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY pathy and resources, official and personal, was, my devotion for the welfare and comfort of our wounded, sick and disabled soldiers and sailors in the hospitals provided for them in and around Washington City; and amidst those thousands so dis- abled and suffering, there were many individualized cases in- volving political or executive intervention or advice by or from high government officials, state or national. This brought me, individually or in concert with others so actuated, into frequent conferences with President Lincoln, 'The Com- mander-in-chief,' upon each subject or case presented with cognate incidents and effects. Those receptions were never needlessly delayed, for the 'Great Heart' and God-given in- tellect of Lincoln were in constant active love for each and every Union soldier and sailor, and in overflowing, boundless sympathy for each and all of them, in tent or hospital, at home or abroad, suffering from the fatal incidents of our cruel, needless war; and his fervent love and sympathy were alike extended to their relatives, and confreres of all such war patriots, dead, dying or serving, and promptly, effectively ex- ercised, personally or officially, as information, invocation or appeal inspired him, but subordinate to the more exacting de- mands for and upon his time and attention in numerous pend- ing cases requiring immediate amelioration, relief or inter- vention as above specified. Nor were his generous and abiding impulses, so devoted, exhausted or diminished in the crowning, overshadowing glory of his immaculate life. "After the war was closed, and Reconstruction consum- mated, I did not desire further service in Congress, hoping for pecuniary advantages in civic life and professional employ- ment, cumulative to some extent, in place of expenditures and losses incurred in the exigencies of war, and I was succeeded by my distinguished friend and advocate, Hon. John A. Peters, A.D. 1867. About that time a vacancy occurred in the office of Collector of Customs, Port of Bangor, and I was duly ap- pointed and commissioned therefor in accordance with the advice and solicitation of my said successor, and representa- tive of the Portland Collection District. I accepted this po- sition and continued service in that capacity for several con- secutive years, four, I think, and there, in the sunlight of re- THE RICES OF MONSON, MAINE 11 stored peace, in uninterrupted presence of my dear, devoted wife and children, and in constant affiliation and accord with many friends and associates with whom, in few or many years' acquaintance, I had found and secured amicable relations in social, political and official life and endeavor. "My appointment as Collector of the Port of Bangor re- called my loving, adoring memory, now, as then, of Abraham Lincoln in his alluring personality and executive endowment. I had contemplated retirement from Congressional office with the ending of my second term in 1865, and that fact having come to the knowledge of President Lincoln, he voluntarily offered to me appointment to the office of U. S. Collector of Customs, District of Bangor, Maine, then, as later, being va- cant or soon to become so, for which generous offer I tendered to His Excellency my grateful acknowledgment, actuated not so much foi- the pecuniary interest involved as in loving ap- preciation of his personal regard and his belief in my official integrity. Whether or not that offer had aught to (lo with my appointment thereto two years later, I fail to recall. "Subsequent to my retirement from official life in Wash- ington and Bangor, I became interested, professionally and otherwise, in a projected international railroad named "The European & North American Railway," and in several other corporations of life import, design and purpose; and those interests, considerations and obligations, added to prior pro- fessional incentives, induced and consummated the removal of my residence with my family from Bangor, Maine, to Wash- ington, D. C., and there I entered into law co-partnership with Hon. Edward Jordan, ex-solicitor of the Treasury in 1873, I think, and we continued in honorable and fairly successful professional practice in federal and state courts and before legislative committees about twelve years or more, when our co-partnership was dissolved. "While thus summing up and admitting my comparative failure in financial pecuniary life, I more vividly recall and appreciate the substantial unfailing advantages I possess in the untiring love and ministrations constantly bestowed by my three dear children, Frank Willis, Anna Burleigh, and Mary Ayer, each and all of them being in possession of just human 12 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY incentives and virtues as primarily derived and transmitted to them from their deceased sainted mother, Grace Elizabeth Burleigh Rice, embodied perfection in human motherhood and virtue; and each and all of them having been, and being re- inforced and assisted in all congenial aspirations, material, social, benevolent, and progressive, by their married consorts, Annie Dyer Rice, James Warren Nye and Ebenezer Lane; and each and all of them being assiduous in kindness and untiring devotion to me in my old age. "It will seem in and from the foregoing unsatisfactory ex- position of my financial pecuniary status, that the one bequest, sure and reliable, of intrinsic value that I can in my old age leave to mankind, personal or public, is centralized in the glowing radiant personalities of my dear children, their Con- jugals and confiding friends. "Respectfully submitted, with apology for prolixity and needless detail. (Signed) JOHN R. RICE, Nonagenarian. 1816-1909." A sketch of F. Willis Rice of Chicago. son of John H. Rice. and other items, re- garding the Rice farmily will appear in subsequent issues of the Journal. *************** Courtesy of the Androscoggin Historical Society (c) 1997 * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. 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