Lockley, Fred.  "History of the Columbia River Valley, From The Dalles to the
Sea." Vol. 3.  S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1928.  p. 216.
 
S. M. RICE

     The present prosperity of Oregon, which is largely based on its
agricultural resources, is due in great measure to the sturdy and persevering
efforts of those who cleared the land and from the wilderness developed the fine
farms which now dot the landscape. Among these stands S. M. Rice, who, after a
useful and successful career as a farmer, is now retired and lives in his
comfortable home in Rainier. Mr. Rice was born in Kentucky March 17, 1855, and
is a son of Sherred and Peggy (Morris) Rice also natives of the Blue Grass
state. His father was a farmer, and was also a millwright and operated a grist
mill. Both parents are deceased, the mother dying in 1861 and the father later
in that decade. Of the fourteen children born to them, but two are living, E.
M., of Hillsboro, Oregon, and S. M. Four of the deceased sons
fought in the Union army during the Civil war.
     S. M. Rice had but limited opportunity for a school education, but has
always been a reader and a close observer and has well made up for his lack of
school training,  When eleven years of age he went to work on farms in Kentucky,
and was also employed at railroad work. In 1876, when twenty-one years old, he
went to Missouri, where he was employed at farm work until March, 1882, when he
came to Oregon, making the journey by railroad to San Francisco, thence by boat
to Portland. Coming to Rainier, Columbia county, he took a job at clearing land,
and the same year took up a homestead of eighty acres of heavy timber land, two
miles south of Rainier.  The only improvement on the place was a small cabin and
he was compelled to build his own road to the land. He cleared about twenty
acres of the tract, planted a good orchard, and farmed there until 1898, his
principal crops being hay and potatoes, while he also raised large numbers of
cattle and horses. In 1898 he bought three hundred and twenty acres of river
bottom land adjoining the town of Rainier, it being half of the James Dobbins
donation claim. There were many cottonwood trees and much willow brush on the
place, but in the course of time he cleared one hundred acres, on which he
raised bountiful crops of hay and potatoes and at one time had many stock
cattle, but later developed a fine herd of Holstein dairy cattle. He devoted his
efforts closely to the operation of that farm until 1924, when he sold the place
and moved into Rainier, where he bought a few lots and erected a modern and
attractive home, in which he is now living and enjoying the fruits of his former
toil. He owns a good automobile service station in Rainier, which is leased and
operated by his son.
     On April 6, 1878, in Missouri, Mr. Rice was united in marriage to Miss
Annie Lovelace, who was born in Pettis county, that state, and was a daughter of
David H. Lovelace. They had five children. Ruby has passed away. Ollie,
deceased, was the wife of Guy Tarbell and had a daughter, Ened. William E., who
runs a service station in Rainier has been married twice, having two children,
Eva and Earl, by his first wife, and two, William and Nelda, by his present
wife. David Franklin is married and lives in Eugene, Oregon. Harry, who
graduated from Willamette University, at Salem, and graduated in chemistry from
Chicago University, now holds a splendid position in Chicago. He is married and
has two children, Jeanette and Ruth.  Mrs. Annie Rice died in October, 1925, and
in September, 1926, Mr. Rice was married to Mrs. George Longe, a native of
Kentucky and a daughter of William H. and Rebecca Whiteley, both of whom were
born in Kentucky, where the father followed farming throughout his life. He died
in 1910 and his wife in January, 1925. They were the parents of eleven children,
of whom six are living, namely; Mrs. Rice; Mrs. Eliza Eidson, who still lives in
Kentucky; James M., who resides in West Virginia; Watt, in Kentucky; Fred, in
South Carolina; and Jennie Pope. By her first marriage Mrs. Rice became the
mother of three children. Watt A. Longe, who graduated from Pacific University,
served in the Naval Hospital Corps at Akron, Ohio, during the World war and is
now athletic coach at the Grant high school in Portland. His twin brother,
William H., died in January, 1919. Elizabeth is the wife of C. W. Clarke.  Mr.
Rice is a member of the Woodmen of the World at Rainier. He takes a deep
interest in everything pertaining to the welfare and improvement of his
community, having served as a member of the school board and for several years
as road supervisor, and he helped to build the first roads in Columbia county.
He gives liberal support to every worthy cause and stands consistently for all
that is best in life, exemplifying in his own career a fine type of citizenship.
Because of his active and successful life, his sterling qualities and his
agreeable manner, he commands the respect and good will of all who know him.

 
*******************

Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in September 2007 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.