George Washington Rice was an American businessman known for founding the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

Founded in 1851, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company is a leading mutual life insurance company with 1800 offices and 13 million clients worldwide. Mass Mutual is one of the largest Life Insurance companies globally and is currently ranked 93rd in the Fortune 500 list...

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George Washington Rice was born on 7 November 1823 at Springfield, Massachusetts

Springfield, Massachusetts

Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...

 to John and Joanna Warriner Rice. He 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 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...

. Rice married Jane C. Marsh on 11 April 1849 in West Springfield, Massachusetts

West Springfield, Massachusetts

The Town of West Springfield is a city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 28,391 at the 2010 census...

. Children of George and Jane Rice were George W. Rice, Jr. (1853-1933), Katherine Rice (b. 1855) and Ada Rice (b. 1856). George Washington Rice founded the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company

Founded in 1851, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company is a leading mutual life insurance company with 1800 offices and 13 million clients worldwide. Mass Mutual is one of the largest Life Insurance companies globally and is currently ranked 93rd in the Fortune 500 list...

and the Springfield 5 Cent Savings Bank. George Washington Rice died on 4 August 1856 in Springfield, MA.