Nathaniel J. Rice

SOURCE: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889
Contributed by Michael Brown
18 Oct 1998

---------------------------------------------------------------------- FRANKLIN COUNTY

Nathaniel J. Rice, farmer and stock raiser, of Franklin County, was born in Wood County, W. Va., January 2, 1834, and is a son of Nathaniel and Mary (McPherson) Rice, the former a native of Virginia, his father being Bailey Rice. The father of Bailey Rice served under Gen. Washington in Gen. Braddock's army, and lost his life in Braddock's defeat. After the War of Independence Bailey Rice married Elizabeth Morehead, and before the War of 1812 moved to Wood County, W. Va., where he lived to be nearly one hundred years of age. Nathaniel Rice, father of our subject, took part in the War of 1812, and assisted in the building of Fort Meigs, Ohio, under Gen. Harrison. He was in the battle of the Thames, and at the close of the war returned to his home in Virginia, where he remained until his death, in 1850. Nathaniel J. Rice received his education in his native county. August 25, 1861, he enlisted in Company G, Sixth West Virginia Infantry, and during his three years of service for his country was promoted several times. He participated in the battles of Bulltown and New Creek, but was on detached duty most of the time. When his term of enlistment expired he was in poor health, and returned to his home, where he resumed farming. In 1867 he went to Carthage, Mo., and in 1872 located in Franklin County, Ark., on the farm where he now resides. In 1855 he married Jane Atkinson, a native of Monroe County, Ohio, and a daughter of Mitchell Atkinson. Mrs. Rice died October 9, 1858, the mother of two children: Mary J., wife of B. F. Hughes, of Sebastian County, and Margaret, deceased. Mr. Rice subsequently married Elizabeth Smith, of Wood County, Va., and the two children born to this union are both deceased. He is a member of Green Post No. 21, G. A. R., of which he is adjutant, and of which he served two terms as commander. Politically he is a Republican.