Rice family

The Rice family includes the immediate family of John Rice (1831-1897), who was born in Worthington, Massachusetts, and was a businessman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Albany, New York; and Atlanta, Georgia, before retiring to Santa Barbara, California, and Europe. He married Eliza Maria Blake Seely (b. 1841) in 1872. She was the daughter of Eli Whitney Blake of New Haven, Connecticut, the widow of John Frank Seely, and mother of Edward B. Seely, who became an architect in San Francisco, California. Following John Rice's death in Berlin, Eliza Rice became a housemother at Smith College. John and Eliza Rice had two children: Eliza Maria O'Brien (b. 1876), an instructor in German at Smith College, and John Pierrepont (1879-1941), a gradute of Yale College (B.A. 1900, M.A. 1901, Ph.D. 1909) who taught romance languages at Williams College, Acadia University, and the University of Buffalo.

JOHN PIERREPONT RICE, B.A. 1900, 1879-1941.

Born March 22, 1879, in New York City.

Died December 24, 1941, in Buffalo, NY

Father, John Rice, member Rice & Rising, wholesale druggists, Milwaukee, Wis.; son of Colonel William Rice and Wealthy (Cottrell) Rice of Worthington, Mass. Mother, Eliza Maria Blake Seely Rice; daughter of Eli Whitney Blake, LL.D. (B.A. 1816), and Eliza Maria (O'Brien) Blake. Yale relatives include: Eli Whitney (B.A. 1792) (great-great-uncle); Edward S. Blake (B.A. 1835) (great-uncle); George Bushnell (B.A. 1842), Alexander MacWhorter (B.A. 1842), Charles T. Blake (B.A. 1847), Henry T. Blake (B.A. 1848), Arthur D. Osborne (B.A. 1848), George Augustus Blake ( ex -1854), Eli W, Blake (B.A: 1857), Edward F. Blake (B.A. 1858), and James P. Blake (B.A.1862) (uncles); Edward B. Seely, ex -'86 (half brother); and George E. Bushnell, '76, Thomas B. Osborne, '81, Arthur S. Osborne, '82, Edward Blake, '84 S., Henry W Blake, '86 S., James K. Blake, '91 (cousins): James Pierpont, Fellow of Yale College 1701-1714, was an ancestor.

Prepared in Berlin and Geneva and at Sedgwick School, Great Barrington, Mass. Oration appointment Junior year, high oration appointment and one-year honors in English Senior year; member Book and Bond.

Registered Yale Graduate School 1900-1909 (M.A. 1901, Ph.D. 1909: instructor in German 1903-1904 and French 1903-1909); studied and traveled abroad 1909-1910; instructor in French Williams College 1910-1911 and Romance Languages 1911-1912: assistant professor of Romance Languages 1913-1924; professor of French Acadia University 1912-1913; professor and head of department of Romance Languages University of Buffalo 1924-1941; visiting professor Yale-in-China, Changsha, 1919-1920; Westinghouse lecturer at universities in Italy 1929-1930: associated with Massawippi Summer School, North Hatley, Province of Quebec, from about 1911 to 1927; contributed to Hispanic Anthology (1920); corresponding member Hispanic Society of America; member Dante Society (Cambridge, Mass.), Italy America Society, Dante League of America (honorary vice-president), American Association of University Professors, Modern Language Association of America, Medieval Academy of America, American Association of Teachers of French, and American Association of Teachers of Italian.

Married July 8, 1914, in Northampton, Mass., Ethel Manter Pool (B.A. Barnard 1903; M.A. Columbia 1905), daughter of Joseph and Harriet Ely (Redington) Pool. No children.

Death due to carcinoma. Buried in Old Cemetery, Worthington. Survived by wife and a sister, Elizabeth Rice (B.A. Smith Coll. 1920) of Easthampton, Mass.

From: Yale University Obituary Record, 1940-1943

From the guide to the Rice family papers, 1810-1916, (Manuscripts and Archives)