Rice, William W. (William Whitney), 1826-1896

William Whitney Rice (1826-1896), son of Rev. Benjamin Rice (1784-1847) and Lucy (Whitney) Rice (1799-1893), was born at Deerfield, Mass., on 7 March 1826. He attended Gorham Academy, graduated from Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Me., in 1846, and received from them the degree of LL.D. in 1886. He was a teacher at Leicester Academy, Mass., from 1847 to 1851. He studied law with the Hon. Emory Washburn (1800-1877), was admitted to the bar in 1854, and commenced practice in Worcester, Mass. He was appointed Judge of Insolvency for Worcester Co. in 1858, served as mayor of Worcester in 1860, was district attorney for the middle district of Massachusetts from 1869 to 1874, and was a Representative to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1875. He served from 4 March 1877 to 3 March 1887 in the U. S. House of Representatives as a Republican. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1885, was a trustee of both Worcester Polytechnic Institute and of Clark University at Worcester, and was a director, for many years, in the City National Bank. He married, 21 November 1855, Cornelia Ann Moen (1832-1862), of Stamford, Conn. and, 28 September 1875, Alice M. Miller (1840- ), of Worcester. He died at Worcester on 1 March 1896.