Edmund Rice
Encyclopedia
Edmund Rice was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. Rice served in the U.S. Congress in Minnesota's 4th District from March 4, 1887 to March 3, 1889.

Early life

Edmund Rice, Jr. was born in Waitsfield, Vermont
Waitsfield, Vermont
Waitsfield is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,659 at the 2000 census. It was created by Vermont charter on February 25, 1782...

 on 14 February 1819 to Edmund Rice and Ellen Durkee Rice. He moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...

 in November 1838 to study law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

. He was admitted to the bar association
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...

 in 1842 and commenced practice in Kalamazoo. He was appointed registrar of the court of chancery
Court of Chancery
The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid the slow pace of change and possible harshness of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equity, including trusts, land law, the administration of the estates of...

 in 1841 and master in chancery in 1845. Rice enlisted to serve in the Mexican-American War in 1847 and commissioned first lieutenant of Company A, First Regiment, Michigan Volunteers. He was the brother of Henry Mower Rice. He married Anna Maria Acker on November 28, 1848.

Political career

In July 1849, he moved to St. Paul, Minnesota and became clerk of the Minnesota Supreme Court
Minnesota Supreme Court
The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota and consists of seven members. The court was first assembled as a three-judge panel in 1849 when Minnesota was still a territory. The first members were lawyers from outside of the region who were appointed by...

's third circuit the same year. He was a member of the Territorial house of representatives in 1851. Rice practiced law until 1856 when he was elected commissioner of Ramsey County
Ramsey County, Minnesota
Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1849. As of 2010, the population was 508,640. Its county seat is St. Paul, which is also Minnesota's state capital. The county is named for Alexander Ramsey , the first governor of the Minnesota Territory...

.

He became president of the Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Co. (1857 – 1863) and of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (1863 – 1872), and trustee of the latter in 1879. From 1863 to 1877, he was president of the St. Paul & Chicago Railroad.

Rice served in the Minnesota State Senate 1864 – 1866 and 1874 – 1876, and was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house in the Minnesota State Legislature. There are 134 members elected to two-year terms, twice the number of members in the Minnesota Senate. Each senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B...

 in 1867, 1872, 1877, and 1878. He was elected mayor of St. Paul and served from 1881 to 1883, was again elected mayor in 1885, and served until February 1887 when he resigned to take an office in the 50th United States Congress
50th United States Congress
The Fiftieth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1887 to March 4, 1889, during the third and fourth...

 (March 4, 1887 to March 3, 1889). His reelection campaign in 1888 was unsuccessful, so he retired from public and political activities.

He died in White Bear Lake, Minnesota
White Bear Lake, Minnesota
White Bear Lake is a city in Ramsey and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 23,797 at the 2010 census. The city is located on White Bear Lake, one of the largest lakes in the Minneapolis-St...

, on July 11, 1889. His body is interred in Oakland Cemetery in Saint Paul.

Ancestry

Rice was a descendant of Edmund Rice
Edmund Rice (1638)
Edmund Rice , was an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony who was born in Suffolk, England, and lived in Stanstead, Suffolk and Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire prior to sailing with his family to America. He arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in summer or fall of 1638, presumed to be first...

, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...

, as follows:
  • Edmund Rice, son of
  • Edmund Rice (March 26, 1784 – May 27, 1829), son of
  • Jedediah Rice (b. April 2, 1755), son of
  • Ashur Rice (July 6, 1694 – August 20, 1773), son of
  • Thomas Rice (June 30, 1654 – 1747), son of
  • Thomas Rice (January 26, 1626 – 1682), son of
  • Edmund Rice
    Edmund Rice (1638)
    Edmund Rice , was an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony who was born in Suffolk, England, and lived in Stanstead, Suffolk and Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire prior to sailing with his family to America. He arrived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in summer or fall of 1638, presumed to be first...

     (1594 – May 3, 1663)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK