Madison County AlArchives Obituaries.....Rice, Joseph February 12, 1883 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.org/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.org/al/alfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Kenneth Stacy klstacyfamily@aol.com January 30, 2007, 9:26 pm The Huntsville Weekly Democrat, 21 Feb 1883 In Memory of Joseph Rice, dec’d ------------- Joseph Rice, Esq., died at the residence of his brother-in-law, W. R. Jones, near New Market, Alabama, of acute bronchitis, on Monday, February 12, 1883, at 12:15 p.m. in his 86th year. The deceased was born November 5, 1797, in Cooke county, Tennessee, whither his parents moved to Buncombe, North Carolina, and, thence, in 1806, to the vicinity of what is now New Market, in Madison County, which was organized as a county by the Mississippi Territorial Legislature in 1805. His father, Spencer Rice, dying in 1808, his mother went back to North Carolina, taking Joseph and his younger brothers, Levi and George, with her. In a few months she died, leaving these little boys to the care of her sister, Mrs. Sarah McCathy. The subject of this sketch and his brother Levi, young as they were, wishing to live in Alabama, set out on foot and, in less than two weeks, were, again, at the present New Market, where Joseph Rice has since resided, except for six years—when he lived in Dallas Co., Ala. In 1813, when about 16 years old, he served under Gen. Jackson as a volunteer in the Creek war, and (a friend informs us) was one of a body of volunteers sent from Fayetteville, Tenn.; by Gen. Jackson, to defend Huntsville from a threatened Indian raid, and they came at a double quick, reaching Huntsville, 30 miles distant, in five hours. On the 18th of Feb’y 1818, he was married to Johanna Bayless, daughter of Hezekiah Bayless, Esq., who, in 1805 settled the place where John A. Fanning now lives. This union was blessed with nine children—four sons and five daughters—of whom only one son (Dr. Francisco Rice) and three daughters survive him. In the fall of 1841, he made a profession of faith in Christ, but did not attach himself to any Church for several years, when he united with the Baptist Church in New Market, and, ever after, lived a consistent Christian. He was of a cheerful, lively disposition, very humorous, having a pleasant smile and word for every one, polite and courteous to the most lowly as to the most honored; liberal in the distribution of his monies in aid of Churches and schools, and never turning the poor and needy empty away. In his pursuits as a private citizen, and in his official character as a Justice of the Peace, a love of right and justice was his ruling trait. Few men, if any, were more respected than he for these eminent Christian virtues. He died in peace with God and man, with a blessed hope of a resurrection with the just. Surely, “The chamber, where the good man finds his death, Is privileged beyond the common walks of men, Close on the verge of Heaven.” May he rest in peace and rise in glory! File at: http://files.usgwarchives.org/al/madison/obits/r/rice819gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/alfiles/ File size: 3.3 Kb