William M. Rice

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. William M. Rice first set foot in Texas in 1834, and friend, that is early.

We're talkin' frontier Texas, before the republic, before the flag, before just about everything. He put down roots in what is now Nacogdoches County, and right away this man was not sittin' still. He got involved in frontier defense, and he earned himself a position as an Alcalde in the Mexican Government.

That's a magistrate, a local authority; a man the community leaned on when order needed keepin'. Now hold that picture in your mind, because the world Rice was standin' in was about to shake itself apart. The Texas Revolution came rollin' through, and William M.

Rice was in it. He didn't just watch from a distance. He fought at the Battle of San Jacinto, and he was wounded there.

That battle, that ground, that moment (and Rice paid for it in blood). After the smoke cleared and Texas became its own thing, Rice kept on livin'. He and his wife Mariah moved around the way frontier families did, chasin' opportunity and solid ground.

Harris County. Kansas. Dallas County.

Farmer. Merchant. A man of several chapters.

Then the Civil War arrived, and Rice (who by that point had already seen more history than most men dream of) was active on the home front. Making soldiers' hats. Hauling supplies.

Not on a battlefield this time, but workin', contributing, keepin' things movin' the way a community needed. And then, about 1874, William M. Rice landed in Tarrant County.

He was done wanderin'. He stayed right there until the day he died. One man.

Nacogdoches in 1834. San Jacinto's field. Mariah by his side through Harris County and Kansas and Dallas County.

Hats stitched for soldiers. And finally, Tarrant County, where the road stopped. That's a long walk through Texas history, and William M.

Rice was there for most of it.

What the marker says

William M. Rice first came to Texas in 1834 and settled in what is now Nacogdoches County, where he was involved in frontier defense and served as an Alcalde in the Mexican Government. He served in the Texas Revolution and was wounded in the Battle at San Jacinto. He and his wife, Mariah, later lived in Harris County, in Kansas, and in Dallas County, where he was a farmer and merchant. During the Civil War, he was active on the home front, making soldiers' hats and hauling supplies. About 1874, Rice moved to Tarrant County, where he lived until his death.