Henry Rice ¹

  General Notes:

History of Montgomery County, together with historic notes on the
Wabash ... By Hiram Williams Beckwith, P. S. Kennedy, Thomas Fleming
John Rice, retired, Crawfordsville, is a member of the family which
includes the Rices of Rockville, La Fayette, Attica, etc. About 1Y60
ten families emigrated from Maryland and settled on Short creek, near
the old town of Washington, Virginia. Here they built a fort to
protect them against the Indians, and called it Rice Fort, in honor of
the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. This fort stood till
recent years. Within it played two children, Henry Rice and Elizabeth
Lessler.
They were raised amid the wilds of frontier life, and danger on every
hand from savage Indians. Elizabeth Lessler, while playing with a lad
without the fort, was chased by the redmen to the fort, and leaning a
ladder against the fort wall she gained safety, but the boy was
wounded, and rescued by means of a rope. Many were the exciting times
experienced by the inmates of Rice Fort, and at times narrowly escaped
extermination.
Henry Rice and Elizabeth Lessler were married, and in 1807 settled in
Harrison county, Indiana, bringing six children. Here Henry Rice died,
about 1825, and about 1835 his wife followed him. He was a builder by
trade.
The Rices have been Presbyterians far back, and Henry was an elder in
the first church at Corydon, Indiana.
John Rice, son of the above, was born April 16, 1804, near Wheeling,
Virginia. He attended school perhaps three months in his life. He
early began the cabinet trade and carpentering. He first worked With
his father, and continued this trade till 1845, when he built a grist
and saw mill at Corydon. In 1859 the mill burned, and Mr. Rice removed
to New Albany, and there built a mill and successfully ran it till
1861, when be had $7,000 or $8,000 worth of flour at Memphis and New
Orleans, which was all confiscated by the rebels. In 1865 he moved to
Bloomington, Indiana, and engaged in the stock business, remaining
there six years and doing an extensive trade.
In 1871 he came to Crawfordsville, and engaged in stock and wheat
trade. He is at present retired from active life and rents his
business property. Mr. Rice is a member of the Presbyterian church,
and has been an elder in former places. He is a staunch republican,
and used to be a whig. He was married June 29, 1829, to Sophia
Hinsdill, a school teacher of Vermont. She died September 14, 1846.
They had ten children, five of whom preceded their mother in death.
She was a good, amiable, and religious woman, and her last words to
her husband were: "I take five children with me and leave five with
you." She was a Presbyterian.
Mr. Rice was next married February 20, 1849, to Nancy Baldwin, of
Louisville, by whom he had five children. She is also a Presbyterian.
Mr. Rice is not a politician, and has refused the nomination for
sheriff and representative.
(ERROR - Leffler, not Lesser)

Citation: The Indiana GenWeb Project, Copyright ©1997-2007, Montgomery
County Website http://ibssg.org/montgomery/
http://ibssg.org/montgomery/

Montgomery County, Indiana USGenWeb Project

John RICE
Montgomery County, Indiana

H. W. Beckwith History of Montgomery County, Indiana p 311 (Chicago:
HH Hill, 1881)

John RICE, retired, Crawfordsville, is a member of the family which
includes the Rices of Rockville, Lafayette, Attica, etc. About 1760 10
families emigrated from Md and settled on Short Creek, near the old
town of Washington, Va. Here they build a fort to protect them against
the Indians and called it Rice Fort, in honor of the grandfather of
this sketch. THis fort stood till recent years. Within it played two
children, Henry Rice and Eliz. LESSLER. They were raised amid the
wilds of frontier life and danger on every hand from savage Indians.
Eliz. while playing with a lad without the fort was chased by the
redmen to the fort and leaning a ladder against the fort wall she
gained safety but the boy was wounded and rescued by means of a rope.
Many were the exciting times experienced by the inmates of Rice Fort
and at times narrowly escaped extermination. Henry Rice and Elizabeth
Lessler were marr and in 1807 settled in Harrison Co In bringing 6
children. Here Henry Rice died about 1825 and about 1835 his wife
followed him. He was a builder by trade. The Rices have been
Presbyterians far back, and Henry was an elder in the first Church at
Corydon, Indiana. John Rice, son of the above, was b. April 16, 1804
near Wheeling, Va. He attended school perhaps 3 months of his life. He
early began the cabinet trade and carpentering. He first worked with
his father, and continued this trade till 1845 when he built a grist
and saw mill at Corydon. In 1859 the mill burned and Mr. Rice removed
to New Albany and there built a mill and successfully ran it till 1861
when he had $7,000 or $8,000 worth of flour at Memphis and New Orleans
which was all confiscated by the rebels. In 1865 he moved to
Bloomington, IN and engaged in the stock business, remaining there six
years and doing an extensive trade. In 1871 he came to Crawfordsville
and engaged in stock and wheat trade. He is at present retired from
active life and rents his business property. Mr. R. is a member of the
Presbyt. Church and has been an elder in former places. He is a
staunch republican and used to be a whig. He was marr. June 29, 1829
to Sophia HINSDILL a school teacher of Vermont. She d. Sept 14, 1846.
They had 10 children, 5 of whom preceded thir mother in death. She was
a good, amiable and religious woman and her last words to her husband
were: "I take 5 children with me and leave 5 with you." She was a
Presbyt. Mr. R. was next marr Feb 20, 1849 to Nancy BALDWIN of
Louisville by whom he had 5 children. She is also a Presbyterian. Mr.
R. is not a politician and has refused the nomination for sheriff and
representative. ³

Henry married Eva Elizabeth Leffler in Dec 1790. (Eva Elizabeth Leffler was born on 19 Feb 1774 in Washington, Pennsylvania, USA and died on 28 Sep 1831 in Corydon, Harrison County, Indiana, USA.)