| Notes |
- History of Kentucky and Kentuckians. E. Polk Johnson, Lewis Publishing Co, 1912, ;;1325-1326.
William J. Rice. - In the thriving village of Ghent, Carroll County. Mr. Rice is found numbered among the representative citizens and most progressive and popular merchants of his native place, and he is a scion of the third generation of the family in Kentucky, where his paternal grandfather established his home in the pioneer days.
William Johnston Rice was born at Ghent, Carroll county, on the 17th of March, 1865, and is a son of David R. and Elizabeth (Johnston ) Rice, the former of whom was born in Montgomery county, this state, and the latter at Aurora, Dearborn county, Indiana. The lineage of the Rice family is traced back to staunch German origin and family tradition gives ample authority for the statement that the early representatives of the name in America settled in the city of Philadelphia in the colonial epoch of our national history. David Rice, grandfather of him whose name introduces this article, was born and reared in the old Keystone state and he figures as the founder of the family in Kentucky. He made the overland journey from Philadelphia with team and wagon and numbered himself among the pioneers of Montgomery county, Kentucky, where he later removed to Carroll county, where he continued to be identified with agricultural pursuits until his death. David R. Rice was a child at the time of the family removal from Montgomery county to Carroll county, in which latter he was reared to manhood, in the meanwhile receiving such advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the locality and period. He gained prestige as one of the energetic, progressive and successful agriculturists and stock-growers of the county and with these lines of industry he continued to be actively concerned for many years. He passed the closing days of his life in the village of Ghent and was fifty-two years of age at the time of his demise. His devoted wife survived him by a number of vears and was sixty-one years of age at the time when she was summoned to the life eternal. She was a daughter of Rev. William Johnston, who was a pioneer clergyman of the Baptist church and who was well known throughout northern Kentucky and southern Indiana, throughout which section he long labored with all of zeal and consecration in the work of his chosen vocation. He was born in Ireland and was reared in the faith of the Catholic church. His father was a successful manufacturer of linen in the Emerald Isle, but at the age of seventeen years young Johnston ran away from home and finally emigrated to America. He was a man of alert mentality and for a time he was engaged in the practice of law, a profession which he soon abandoned to enter the ministry of the Baptist church, in connection with the work of which he traveled extensively throughout the northern part of Kentucky, as well as in the southern counties of Indiana. He passed the closing years of his life at LaPlata, Macon county, Missouri. He was twice married and the maiden name of his second wife (the mother of Mrs. Elizabeth Rice) was Cobb. David R. and Elizabeth (Johnston) Rice were both earnest and consistent members of the Baptist church, and his political support was given to the Democratic party. The only child is he to whom this sketch is dedicated.
William J. Rice passed his boyhood and youth in Ghent and was afforded the advantages of an excellent private school and this discipline was supplemented by higher academic training in Georgetown College, at Georgetown, this state. As a young man he went to the city of Louisville, where he was associated with John A. Stratton in the realestate business for a period of eight years. He then returned to Ghent and engaged in the general merchandise business, in which he has since continued most successfully, under the firm name of W. J. Rice & Company. He initiated operation upon a modest scale and as rapidly as circumstances justified he expanded the scope of the enterprise until the establishment now under his control is recognized as the leading department store of Ghent. Careful and honorable business methods have gained to the firm a large and appreciative patronage, and the same is drawn from the fine section of countrv normally tributary to the thriving village of Ghent, where Mr. Rice has ever held the unqualified confidence and regard of all who know him, - and it may well be said that in this section of his native county not to know William J. Rice is practically to argue oneself unknown. Mr. Rice is intrinsically loyal and progressive as a citizen and is an' exponent of high civic ideals, as shown in the earnest support given by him to all measures tending to advance the general weal of the community. In politics he is found aligned as a staunch and intelligent supporter of the cause of the Republican party; he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including DeMolay Commandery, Knights Templar, and Kosair Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the city of Louisville; and in his native village he holds membership in the lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. While a resident of Louisville he also was actively identified with the local lodge of the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, of which he was treasurer for four years. He and his wife are zealous members of the Baptist church in Ghent, and he has served as its treasurer for several years past. On the 7th of January, 1903, Mr. Rice was united in marriage to Miss Ella Stucy, who was born and reared in the village of Ghent and who is a daughter of Frederick Stucy, a well known resident of Carroll county and a prominent tobacco dealer of this section of the state. [2]
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1865 - 1916 (51 years)
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