Harvey Rice, LL.D. was an American lawyer, a Democratic state legislator, poet, author and newspaperman prominent in Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

.

Early life and education

Harvey Rice was born in Conway, Massachusetts

Conway, Massachusetts

Conway is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,809 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.- History :...

, March 18, 1871 to Stephen Rice and Lucy (Baker) Rice. He received his A.B. degree from Williams College

Williams College

Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...

 in Williamstown, Massachusetts

Williamstown, Massachusetts

Williamstown is a town in Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,754 at the 2010 census...

 in 1824. After graduation, he moved west to Cleveland to study law under the tutelage of Reuben Wood

Reuben Wood

Reuben Wood was a Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. He served as the 21st Governor of Ohio.Wood was born near Middletown, Rutland County, Vermont. While living with an uncle in Canada, he was conscripted into the Canadian Army at the outset of the War of 1812, but escaped across...

. In 1826, was admitted to the bar that year and entered law practice as a partner with Reuben Wood. His doctor of laws degree was awarded by Williams College.

Professional career

In 1828, Rice and other partners started a newspaper The Independent News Letter, that was later reorganized and renamed The Plain Dealer in 1842. In 1829, Rice became the managing editor of the paper. That same year he was appointed as Justice of the Peace. In 1830, he was elected as a Representative in the Ohio House of Representatives as a Democrat, serving for two years. He was appointed in 1830 as agent for the sale of fifty thousand acres Western Reserve School Lands

Connecticut Western Reserve

The Connecticut Western Reserve was land claimed by Connecticut from 1662 to 1800 in the Northwest Territory in what is now northeastern Ohio.-History:...

. Over a three-year period he raised the sum of $150,000 through the sale of the public lands which was used to establish the public school system in Ohio.

In 1851 Rice was elected to the Ohio Senate

Ohio Senate

The Ohio State Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly, the legislative body for the U.S. state of Ohio. There are 33 State Senators. The state legislature meets in the state capital, Columbus. The President of the Senate presides over the body when in session, and is currently Tom...

 and served for two years. During his time in the senate, he was responsible for introduction and passage of laws to reorganize the public school system of the state and establish a system of public libraries. From 1879 until his death, he was president of the Early Settlers Association of the Western Reserve.

Selected publications

• Rice, H. (1859). Mt. Vernon and other Poems. Follett, Foster and Company, Columbus, Ohio. 179pp.
• Rice H. (1875). Nature and Culture. Lee and Shepard Publishers, Boston. 202pp.
• Rice, H. (1883). Pioneers of the Western Reserve. Lee and Shepard Publishers, Boston. 350pp.

Family life

Harvey Rice married Fannie Rice, daughter of Truman Rice on 27 September 1828 and they had four children: Percival Wood Rice, Fannie Maria Rice, Henrietta M. Rice and Harvey Hayden Rice. Fannie Rice died 21 December 1837. Three years after her death, Harvey Rice married Lucy Baker, and they had five children: Henrietta Maria Rice, Emma Fitch Rice, Mary Wood Rice, James Stephen Rice, and Harvey Rice, Jr. Harvey Rice died on 7 November 1891 in Cleveland and was buried at Cleveland’s Lake View Cemetery.

Legacy

For his support of education in Cleveland, an elementary school was named in his honor. In 1899, the City of Cleveland erected a statue by James Hamilton in his honor at the Fine Arts Museum Garden Area on East Boulevard in Cleveland.

Genealogy

Harvey 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:

• Harvey Rice, son of
• Stephen Rice (1769 – 1850) son of
• Cyrus Rice (1726 – 1804), son of

• Josiah Rice (1696 – 1730), son of
• Ephriam Rice (1665 – 1732), son of
• Thomas Rice (1625 – 1681), 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 – 1663)