William B. Rice
Encyclopedia
William Ball Rice was an American industrialist who co-founded Rice & Hutchins
, a shoe manufacturing company with main offices in Boston, Massachusetts. He served as president of the company from its founding in 1866 until his death.
to Obed Rice (1810-1890) and Sarah Maria (Ball) Rice (1816-1895). Rice was educated in the public schools in Massachusetts and apprenticed as a shoemaker in Marlborough, Massachusetts
until he reached 21 years of age. Rice married Emma Louise Cunningham of Marlborough on 25 October 1860, and they had four children. From 1861 to 1864 he served in the Union Army
as a second lieutenant in Company E, 5th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, serving in Baltimore, Washington D.C. and North Carolina. Between 1865 and 1866, he served as a sales agent to the U.S. military for the L.T. Jefts shoe manufacturer in Marlborough.
. By the time of the company's founding, Marlborough had built a reputation in shoe and boot making to supply the Union Army
during the American Civil War
. In the first twenty years of the company, Rice and Hutchins established shoe factories in Warren, Maine
and Rockland, Massachusetts
, four factories in Marlboro, Massachusetts, a factory in Boston, and their first wholesale distribution warehouse outside New England in Philadelphia. After Hutchins retired from the company in 1885, Rice led the further expansion of the company by adding more factories in Quincy
, Braintree
, and Yonkers, New York
. He also expanded the distribution capability of the company by opening wholesale houses in St. Louis
, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Chicago
. He also was responsible for developing international sales by establishing offices in London
, Berlin
, and Manila
. He led the initial incorporation of the company in 1892 under the laws of New Jersey, and later the reorganization and incorporation of the company in Maine in 1905. At the time of Rice's death on 21 May 1909, the company was among the largest shoe manufacturers in the United States.
During his career Rice was engaged in a number of civic and philanthropic pursuits. In 1894, Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge
appointed him to the governor's council of business advisers and he was a major benefactor of the Quincy City Hospital. When Rice's wife, Mrs. Emma Louise Rice died in 1934 she left the family home and grounds at 275 Adams St. in Quincy to the William B. Rice Eventide Home, a non-profit, nursing home corporation.
, and was married to Frances Austin Manson in 1900. They had three children: William Ball Rice II (1901-1964), Benjamin Manson Rice (1902-1978), and Edmund Rice (b. 1905). Harry Rice died 5 March 1951 in Quincy MA
. Fred B. Rice was born 14 July 1866 in Hudson MA, and was unmarried. He died 11 Feb 1933 at the family home in Quincy MA. Rice's third son William Ball Rice, Jr. died in infancy in 1872. His daughter Mary Sanborn Rice was born 12 February 1874 in Quincy, MA and was married to portrait painter Homer Lane Bigelow (1868-1955) in 1896. They resided at 37 Old Orchard Road in the Chestnut Hill
section of Newton, MA
and had three children Priscilla Rice (Bigelow) Trainer (b. 1897), Homer Lane Bigelow, Jr. (1899-1967), and Malcolm R. Bigelow (1906-1945).
William Ball Rice was a direct descendant of Edmund Rice
, an English immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony
, as follows:
Rice & Hutchins
Rice & Hutchins, Inc. was a shoe manufacturing and wholesaling company based in Boston, Massachusetts begun as a partnership in 1866, and later incorporated in 1892. By 1916 the company was considered to be among the largest shoe manufacturers in America, with sales that were nationwide and in...
, a shoe manufacturing company with main offices in Boston, Massachusetts. He served as president of the company from its founding in 1866 until his death.
Early life and military service
William Ball Rice was born 1 April 1840 in Hudson, MassachusettsHudson, Massachusetts
Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,063 at the 2010 census. The town is located in central Massachusetts, about a 40-minute drive, or about , west of Boston, and about a 20-minute drive, or about , northeast of Worcester.Before its...
to Obed Rice (1810-1890) and Sarah Maria (Ball) Rice (1816-1895). Rice was educated in the public schools in Massachusetts and apprenticed as a shoemaker in Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,499 at the 2010 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the late 20th century after the construction of the...
until he reached 21 years of age. Rice married Emma Louise Cunningham of Marlborough on 25 October 1860, and they had four children. From 1861 to 1864 he served in the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
as a second lieutenant in Company E, 5th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, serving in Baltimore, Washington D.C. and North Carolina. Between 1865 and 1866, he served as a sales agent to the U.S. military for the L.T. Jefts shoe manufacturer in Marlborough.
Business career
In October, 1866 Rice and his partner and neighbor from Hudson, Massachusetts Horatio H. Hutchins began the Rice and Hutchins Shoe Company with sales offices in Boston, Massachusetts and a factory in Marlborough, MassachusettsMarlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,499 at the 2010 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the late 20th century after the construction of the...
. By the time of the company's founding, Marlborough had built a reputation in shoe and boot making to supply the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. In the first twenty years of the company, Rice and Hutchins established shoe factories in Warren, Maine
Warren, Maine
Warren is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,794 at the 2000 census. It includes the villages of East Warren, Warren and South Warren, the latter home to the Maine State Prison and minimum security Bolduc Correctional Facility....
and Rockland, Massachusetts
Rockland, Massachusetts
Rockland is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The 2010 census records its population at 17,489. As of December 31, 2009, there are 11,809 registered voters in the community.-History:...
, four factories in Marlboro, Massachusetts, a factory in Boston, and their first wholesale distribution warehouse outside New England in Philadelphia. After Hutchins retired from the company in 1885, Rice led the further expansion of the company by adding more factories in Quincy
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
, Braintree
Braintree, Massachusetts
The Town of Braintree is a suburban city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Although officially known as a town, Braintree adopted a municipal charter, effective 2008, with a mayor-council form of government and is considered a city under Massachusetts law. The population was 35,744...
, and Yonkers, New York
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
. He also expanded the distribution capability of the company by opening wholesale houses in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Cincinnati, Atlanta, and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. He also was responsible for developing international sales by establishing offices in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. He led the initial incorporation of the company in 1892 under the laws of New Jersey, and later the reorganization and incorporation of the company in Maine in 1905. At the time of Rice's death on 21 May 1909, the company was among the largest shoe manufacturers in the United States.
During his career Rice was engaged in a number of civic and philanthropic pursuits. In 1894, Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge
Frederic T. Greenhalge
Frederic Thomas Greenhalge was born in Clitheroe, England and immigrated with his parents to the United States in early childhood...
appointed him to the governor's council of business advisers and he was a major benefactor of the Quincy City Hospital. When Rice's wife, Mrs. Emma Louise Rice died in 1934 she left the family home and grounds at 275 Adams St. in Quincy to the William B. Rice Eventide Home, a non-profit, nursing home corporation.
The Rice family and genealogy
William B. Rice had four children. His eldest sons Harry Lee Rice and Fred Ball Rice ran the family shoe manufacturing business after his death until they retired and sold the business in 1929. Harry Rice was born 28 July 1862 in Hudson MAHudson, Massachusetts
Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,063 at the 2010 census. The town is located in central Massachusetts, about a 40-minute drive, or about , west of Boston, and about a 20-minute drive, or about , northeast of Worcester.Before its...
, and was married to Frances Austin Manson in 1900. They had three children: William Ball Rice II (1901-1964), Benjamin Manson Rice (1902-1978), and Edmund Rice (b. 1905). Harry Rice died 5 March 1951 in Quincy MA
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
. Fred B. Rice was born 14 July 1866 in Hudson MA, and was unmarried. He died 11 Feb 1933 at the family home in Quincy MA. Rice's third son William Ball Rice, Jr. died in infancy in 1872. His daughter Mary Sanborn Rice was born 12 February 1874 in Quincy, MA and was married to portrait painter Homer Lane Bigelow (1868-1955) in 1896. They resided at 37 Old Orchard Road in the Chestnut Hill
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Chestnut Hill is a wealthy New England village located six miles west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is not an incorporated municipal entity, but unlike most of them, it encompasses parts of three separate municipalities, each of...
section of Newton, MA
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
and had three children Priscilla Rice (Bigelow) Trainer (b. 1897), Homer Lane Bigelow, Jr. (1899-1967), and Malcolm R. Bigelow (1906-1945).
William Ball Rice was a direct 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 English 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:
- William Ball Rice, son of
- Obed Rice (1810–1890), son of
-
-
- Ithamar Rice (1743–1824), son of
- Matthias Rice (born 1708, date of death unknown), son of
-
- Gershom Rice (1667–1768), son of
- Thomas Rice (1638–1681), son of
-
- Edmund RiceEdmund 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...
(1594–1663)
- Edmund Rice
-