Rice, David, 1733-1816

Biographical note: David Rice was born in Virginia in 1733. After converting to Presbyterianism and studying for the ministry, he left Virginia for Kentucky in 1783. He is credited with organizing three of the first Presbyterian congregations in Kentucky and was involved in the founding of Transylvania Seminary. A strong opponent of slavery, he failed as a delegate to the Kentucky constitutional convention of 1792, to have an article leading to the emancipation of slaves included in the state's first constitution. Later in life he moved from Mercer County to Green County where he died in 1816.

David Rice (1733-1816); Presbyterian pastor in Virginia and Kentucky; first moderator of the Presbytery of Transylvania and Synod of Kentucky; renowned abolitionist and educator.

Presbyterian minister.

Rice, a native of Hanover County, Virginia, was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1762. He relocated to Danville, Ky. in 1783, and then in 1798 gave up the ministry, moving to Green County, Ky. Rice, a member of the first Constitutional Convention in Kentucky, wrote a pamphlet entitled SLAVERY INCONSISTENT WITH JUSTICE AND GOOD POLICY in an attempt to persuade the convention to prohibit slavery in Kentucky. Failing in this, he withdrew from the Convention.