Small, Serene, Simply….Garnett

“Who was Julia Ash”, asks Noreen in the patient and inquisitive tones typical of my sister, at least, that’s how she is when we are on the road together.  She poses this question after we already have driven up and down several streets in this Kansas community of Garnett.  “Small, serene, simply….Garnett” is how it describes itself on its webpage.  With its population of nearly 3500 residents, the place is not really all that small, at least according to my experience after having grown up in a town just half its size.

Our grandfather, Leslie F. Rice, lived and taught in Garnett during the years of 1912 to 1914.  Granddad married Grace Rich on August 24, 1912 and within a few weeks the couple moved to Garnett where he began his first teaching position in the state.

Located in the southeast corner of the state, Garnett in 1912 had a population of over 2300 residents. An electric plant, flour and feed mill, creamery, cigar factories, opera house, fire department, eleven churches, a high school and grade schools, two daily newspapers, two weeklies, and “several blocks of substantially built business houses”.   Goodness, the number of newspapers, the opera house, and eleven churches quite impress me. These facilities alone would be enough to encourage Granddad and Grandmother to this location for his first teaching job in the state. They were to change locations five times while remaining in the state for thirteen years until they moved to North Dakota in 1926.  And four of their five children were born here.

But the available facilities were undoubtedly merely contributing factors to their choice of residence. Well known to Granddad, and very likely also to Grace, was the Ash family who had settled in the community some years before.  They would certainly have encouraged the young couple to make the move, ah yes, they would have been were instrumental in their doing so.  Mrs. Ash, Julia, was Granddad's aunt, well, nearly.  It was in Garnett that Leslie and Grace made their first home.  They remained here until 1914 when they moved on to Salina, Kansas.

On this occasion, October 2012, Noreen and I had been looking for the home of Andrew and Julia Ash on Olive Street.  I had gotten the address from the Federal Census of 1910, but we were unable to find the location.  The town might have been rezoned such that the streets and house numbers have been changed, or the house torn down, or the address wrongly transcribed.  Not really so unusual after over one hundred years.

Thus Noreen’s very reasonable question. “Who was Julia Ash”?

“Although Julia Ash was biologically Granddad’s second cousin once removed, she was in many ways Granddad’s aunt, or maybe more correctly, “step-aunt” if there is such as position.  She was the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Turner of Rock Creek, Kansas. However, when her mother died in 1875 Julia was taken in by her father’s cousin, Julia Rice, that is, our great-great grandmother. At the time Julia Turner (Ash) was thirteen years old and our Great-grandfather, Francis, was 22.   Does this make sense?  Think about it for a while and your mind will put all this in form of a cute little family tree.  Julia Rice (our great-great-grandmother) - Francis Jay Rice (our great-grandfather), Julia Turner (foster sister), and Leslie F. Rice (our granddad).

As the years passed, Julia Rice and Julia Turner became closely tied to each other, living in the same household for mutual benefit, each taking care of the other. Julia Turner quickly became a beloved family member, a daughter to Julia Rice, and a sister to Francis. After Julia Turner married Andrew Ash in 1885, she continued to care for her mother who remained with the family. Julia Rice was blind during the last few years in Garnett, and in 1904 moved to Siloam Springs, Arkansas to live with her son and family. There she died and was buried two years later in 1906.

Julia Ash and Andrew remained in Garnett and in 1927 she passed on.  Andrew in 1930. Both are buried in the cemetery outside of town.  It’s because of her close ties with the family that I would like to visit their graves.”

“Which direction should I drive now in order to find the cemetery”, another more than reasonable question from Noreen as she concentrated on searching the house numbers just in case we missed what we have been looking for.

“Continue north along Olive Street and then make a little jog onto Neosho Road. The Garnett cemetery is by the road side.”

At the end of Olive Street we left the community outskirts, and entered the Kansas prairie.  We drove three or four blocks into the countryside until we could begin to see the gravestones on the top of a small rise.

“I see the gate on the right at the top of this hill”, I said, as I began to realize that the task we had taken upon us would be nearly impossible.

“Look at all those stones, Sis”.  There must be a thousand of them.”

Noreen and I have on several occasions walked cemeteries in search of memorial remnants of long gone relatives.  Our searches have been made both in Canada and the USA. Usually we either found them, or the stones were not there.  This time the task seemed insurmountable.

“Where in the world did all these burials come from?”   In my hometown of Mott we could easily have walked the Sunny Slope Cemetery, inspecting each stone, reading each name, several times.  Mott in my day had about 1500 residents and for some reason my mindset on this day had all the Kansas towns at this size or smaller. I mean, in western North Dakota a community of 1500 was pretty good sized. Garnett at 3500 rather threw me, and I was not properly prepared for the task.

We both gazed in wonderment at the stones as we drove along the trail through the center of the graveyard. Noreen looking on her side, me on mine.  Not only was there what seemed to be an unaccountable number of stones, but nearly half were placed flat on the ground.  Much like footstones. These stones could only be registered from the car as existing, but were impossible to read.

We drove slowly, searching, but knowing that this would not give any results.  At the end of the road, Noreen turned the car and drove slowly back towards the entrance.

“There’s no way we are going to find those graves without a map or a register. There is simply no way.  We could walk this cemetery all day and not find anything.  In fact, we don’t really know if the markers are still here.” Was my pessimistic contribution. “We can just as well call it a day.”

“Maybe Leslie will help us”, Noreen’s thoughts became verbal.

?????, thought I.  “Ja, sure!”

“Who knows?” thought Noreen aloud.  “Maybe Granddad can give us some direction.”

Again, “Ja, sure”.  I knew that she has recently been watching Oprah’s “Super Soul Sundays” and has begun to consider the possibilities of meditation, but to this….?

Noreen parked the car on the road side.  “Let’s just give it a try.  Who knows what we will find.”  Besides, we didn’t have much else on our schedule for the day, and although it was cloudy and cool, we both could use the exercise. 

So we began.  Noreen walking on the cemetery’s left side.  I along the right, following the rows from the middle to the far right, and back again. Each endless row, and continuing deeper and deeper into the cemetery which was eternal not only for its occupants, but seemed also for us as we tried to read each stone, both those standing and those laying half buried in the grass.

In time, I rather lost track of Noreen.  I moved faster than she, knowing full well that this was not going to work.   I should previously have tried to locate more info on the graves.  A lot number or at least a section number.  This was not the first time I was unable to complete a search due to being poorly prepared.

Stones upright, large and small, old and new, readable and illegible, brightly colored, others covered with lichens and moss, some of brass, others marble or granite, some with figures, with pictures. The stones standing I could at least read. But those lying flat were more of a challenge. In places soil half way covered them, others the grass.  And even though I knew we would be unable to accomplish our goal, there is something comforting about walking a cemetery. Well, at least, during the day…. Probably not so much at night.

The neatly ordered rows of stones and memorials help to create a calm atmosphere in which to slowly wander, and yes, meditate, at least in the form of just letting my thoughts wander, restlessly as my feet moved in an orderly fashion.

I thought about our Granddad Leslie as a young teacher in this prairie town, and Grace his young wife who kept the home fires burning.  Grace, a very cheerful and social person, would not have spent her time at home cleaning, preparing meals, and waiting for Granddad.  She undoubtedly reached out and became acquainted with the residents of Garnett.  She might even have taught school, and she for certain gave piano lessons.

As I walked among the gravestones, I also imagined evenings which Granddad and Grace would spend with his Aunt Julia, also a teacher. I imagined Julia with her youngest girl Christine, seventeen years old. And Andrew the carpenter. All sitting at the kitchen table, reminiscing about early Kansas. The Ash family wasn’t wealthy, but they could share rich memories of growing up in Kansas, of Leslie’s grandmother, and his dad Francis.

In my wandering thoughts, they talk about their daughter Helen, twenty-four and living away from home with relatives. Leslie tells of the Santa Fe Railway which he and Grace take from Siloam Springs to Topeka and then on to Garnett. Granddad could tell of teaching Indians in Oklahoma Territory, just across the border from Garnett. And while talking about home in Arkansas, Julia and Christine would pry out of Leslie and Grace tidbits about their courtship. Shy as he is, Leslie reveals little about the dark haired beauty from Arkansas, but Grace with a smiling enthusiam tells more.

As I think of Leslie, and Grace, and Andrew, and Julia, I look down, and by my feet, as Noreen predicted, are the markers:

Garnett Municipal Cemetery.  All 40 acres on an October afternoon in 2012

The gravestones were at my feet

The photo is from 1895 showing the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway on the Kansas prairie. Granddad used this railroad when traveling from his home in Siloam Springs, Arkansas to various locations in Kansas, including Garnett.

The railroad station for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway at Garnett, Kansas, as it appears today. 

From here Granddad took the train whenever traveling in Kansas

A portion of the Rice family tree showing Julia P. (Turner) Ash’s place in the tree

Leslie F. Rice
The actual date of this picture is unknown. However, we can assume that it is from about the time our Granddad
lived at Garnett, Kansas

Notes:

On the 3^rd of March, 1855 Julia Rice fled Logansport, Indiana in the middle of the night, together with her mother and her two sons, leaving her husband, Gilbert Rice, behind.  This was the last time Gilbert ever saw his sons. Edward, the oldest died five years later, and Francis lived in Kansas and Arkansas, a considerable distance from St. Paul, the later home of his father.

Gilbert mourned over his loss for over 50 years.  From letters which Gilbert in later years wrote to Julia Ash, we know that he never understood the reasons for his wife’s leaving, (in his words “deserting”), the family, and that he never recovered from the divorce.  In his aging years Gilbert wrote to his former wife, the letter arriving when his ex-wife was living with Julia Ash and the Ash family.  Julia Rice ignored the letter.

Julia Ash knew that Gilbert had last seen his son as an infant some 40 years earlier. She would also have known that Gilbert was aging and that none of the involved individuals were likely to take an initiative to be reacquainted with one another. Curiosity and concern are strong motives, which is probably why Julia Ash, risking the wrath of her “mother”, opened the letter and began to correspond with Gilbert. It appears as if this correspondence was kept a secret from one of the individuals involved, Julia Rice herself.

After a brief correspondence with Gilbert, Julia Ash informed Francis of the correspondence and succeeded in her endeavor to connect Gilbert with his son.  Although they never met, several letters were exchanged between father and son before Gilbert died in 1904.

Credits:

- “Kansas. A Cyclopedia of State History…”. Editor Frank W. Blackmar. Standard Pub. Co., Chicago. 1912. P. 712 

- Photo of ATSF depot, Garnett, Kansas by Mike Pennington 17 May 2008

- Photo of “Passenger Train of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, around 1895” from Wikipedia. Author
             unknown.

- Photo of Leslie F. Rice. From personal collecton of Norman W. Mills

- All other photos by Norman W. Mills

Granddad's Sisters

As Noreen and I look down on the graves we realize that something is wrong.  Maybe it’s the inherent feelings shared by a brother and sister who have grown up together in the same family with its shared values and traditions. Or maybe it’s what any two members of the Rice family would feel while viewing these graves. Or, maybe it’s simply what anyone would feel. Something is wrong. Something is just not right. I don’t need to say anything to Noreen. She doesn’t need to say anything to me. We just feel it. We just know it.  I suppose anyone would know it.

Zelda and Edna, Granddad's sisters

Edna and Zelda Rice were older than Leslie. Edna by six years. Zelda by four. Their little brother was their mascot as they grew older and into their teens.  Despite the difference of two years, the two girls shared nearly exactly the same birth day, celebrating each year together, as one.

They became, like their birthdays, inseparable and much like twins, both in their appearance and in the time shared with each other. Edna was the leader, the daring one, the one who took the initiative. Zelda was the soft, tender.  Both grew to educated, forward thinking women.

Born in Augusta, Kansas, Edna on June 3, 1883 and Zelda on June 7, 1885, they were the daughters of Rev. Francis Jay Rice and his wife, Rose Heiz Hefty.  They were both born on a Sunday.

Francis was from a long line of English ancestors who had arrived on the continent in the middle 1600s. Puritans at the beginning, the Rice line gradually became Baptists, of which Francis continued in this faith as a minister.

Rose was the daughter of immigrants, Anne Marie and Balthasar Heiz, from Glarus, Switzerland. When her mother died in 1859, it was decided that two year old Rose would be placed with family friends rather than remain with her own father and three siblings. Leaving behind her sisters Katherine and Maria, and her brother Balthasar jr., Rose moved to live with Marcus and Magdalena Hefty, pious Swiss Evangelists, caring, and generous. Through the years, Rose kept contact with her sisters, but took the name Hefty, despite not being baptized.

In 1866, the Heftys and Rose moved to Valley Falls, Kansas where she began and completed school.  It was here she met the young minister Francis Rice and three years after their first meeting they were married on December 28, 1880.

Francis and Rose changed their residential locations several times, but always within the state boundaries of Kansas, except for their last move.  They lived fourteen years in central Kansas at Augusta, and it was here their first two children, Edna and Zelda, were born. Leslie the youngest was born in 1889 at Topeka.

Edna, Leslie, and Zelda Rice
Photograph might be from about 1901 - 1904

In 1902 the family moved to Arkansas and here the children grew to adulthood and began to teach, a profession which they remained with throughout their lives.  Zelda eventually moved to Phoenix due to poor health, plagued with sinus problems which apparently could not be cured despite several operations. It was believed that the dry air would help to relieve her symptoms. At times Edna lived with Zelda, but also other places such as New Mexico and California. 

Education was obviously an important factor in the Rice family in that all three of the children were educated as teachers. Learning followed a long line of traditions within the family. Francis J. Rice, their father, was a minister receiving his education at Washburn College in Topeka, Kansas. Their grandmother, Julia Rice, also a teacher, went to school at Fredonia Academy in New York in the middle 1840s, at which time schooling for women was not all that common. Their great-grandfather Anselm was a lawyer, and as one moves further back on the registry of ancestry, one finds at least three generations of ministers of prominence.

Edna and Zelda were attractive women although they lived their lives as spinsters. According to my mother (their niece), this was due to a very protective father.

Suffering from sinus ailments, Zelda moved to Phoenix, at first during the winters, but later permanently. She lived at 331 N Laurel Ave, Phoenix, Arizona until her death in 1945. 

The picture to the right was taken by Zelda.

331 N Laurel Ave, Phoenix, Arizona

In 2012 Noreen and I drove by the house which is still standing with few noticeable changes, even after more than seventy years. 

The location is now in a dubious part of town. We slowly drove by, taking a picture, with the doors locked, and our foot on the accelerator.

Both Edna and Zelda liked to draw, although Zelda was probably the most accomplished, as evident from this painting made by Zelda:

Zelda and Edna traveled to Europe in 1929 at which time they undoubtedly visited Glarus, Switzerland from which their grandparents immigrated.

Zelda died in Phoenix on October 8, 1945, probably of pneumonia. She is buried at Greenwood Memorial Park in Phoenix.

At her graveside were a few friends and her faithful sister who arranged for the funeral and the placement of a headstone. Her father had passed away in 1936, her mother in 1942. It is not known if her brother, some 1600 miles away in North Dakota, was able to make the trip.  

Ten years later, on September 24, 1955, Edna died at her home in Long Beach, California. Her very good friend, Margueritte Senner Smith, informed her brother, the remaining survivor of the family. It was agreed, at Edna’s own request, to send the body to Phoenix to be buried beside her sister.  The good friend accompanied the casket, and stood beside the grave, possibly together with Leslie, as Edna was placed in the ground beside her sister.

Time passed on by.  Her brother died ten years later at Jamestown, North Dakota in 1965.

But something was not completed.

As Noreen and I gazed down upon two graves, we had exactly the same thought and at exactly the same time.  She posed a question, but I completed it. 

“Would you join me….”

“in buying a stone for Edna?”

“Yes”

My sister and I were looking at two graves, but only one was marked.  We knew, we felt within us that this was not right. Edna’s place on this earth needed closure and recognition.

What does the placement of a stone mean to us? Each of us will decide that for himself.  However, Edna had once stood by the grave of her beloved sister, watched her lowered into the ground, and later made sure her own last resting place would be beside her.  It just seemed right for us that Edna also should have a stone placed beside the sibling she so loved.

Now, should anyone visit the Greenwood Memorial Cemetery in Phoenix, and stand beside site 31-17-4-4, they will see not just one memorial, but two. I know that I can stand on this very same spot where my Granddad stood as he said good bye to his sisters.

It is certain that persons we loved, and knew, will be remembered as long as they are in our hearts. And yet, although none of today’s Rice family knew these two girls, they will not be completely forgotten. Memorial stones do not in themselves carry memories, but they serve as reminders through generations.

My granddad and grandmother are buried on the lonesome prairie outside of Mott, North Dakota.  The stones are there and attract few visits.  But the stones will remain for generations, allowing others to stand by the graves and remember that here once stood, on this very place, loved ones in sorrow, and in remembrance. Possibly even your own mom or dad.

Edna Julia Rice 1853- 1955
   Date of photograph unknown 

Zelda Magdalena Rice 1855- 1945
Picture from about 1909

Edna's middle name was Julia from her grandmother Julia Rice, and her great-grandmother Julia Potter.

Zelda's middle name was Magdalene from her foster grandmother Magdalena Hefty.

Notes about the two sisters:

From their father, Francis Jay Rice, in a letter to his own father written in 1901.

“My family are well.  The children are attending school.  Edna will graduate fr. the city high school next June, and Zelda the year following if nothing happens.  Leslie is doing fairly well in school but likes play a good deal better which is quite natural.”

From Virginia Rice Bohn (Zelda’s niece)

     “Zelda was in ill health most of her life.  She spent her summers in Arkansas but her winters in Phoenix, Arizona.  She suffered from sinus trouble and was reported to have had several operations on her sinuses.

    She was of slight build with brown eyes and hair.

    I only met her once, when we visited the farm in 1936 and I really don’t remember her too well.  She was quiet and seemed to have gone her own way.

    She taught school in her life time, and traveled a lot in both Europe and the United States.”

From Virginia Rice Bohn (Edna’s niece ):

     “Edna taught school but made the homeplace in Arkansas her residence , and later spending the winter in Arizona with Zelda, until the farm was sold and then retired to California.

     She was dark with dark eyes and hair.  She was also very thin.

     Edna was a very individualistic person.  The stories told about her were many.  For instance, My father told of taking her out to lunch at a very fancy café and she ordered only a cup of hot water and then proceded to bring out her own sandwiches and tea bag, which she used to make tea.  Another instance was that she always answered your letter on the back side of your letter.

     When we visited the farm, she always ate her meals separately from the rest of us—not that she didn’t want to eat with us, but she was used to eating at different times.

     She was a teacher and traveled a lot in the summer time including several trips to Europe. I do know that she taught school at Pierre, South Dakota at the time Dad was a Sherwood, North Dakota. “

From Norman (about Edna):

I remember being told of a time when Edna became tired of waiting for traffic such that she could cross a street in Phoenix.  She there upon walked out into the middle of the street and directed traffic until the pedestrians on both sides had finished crossing.  What a fine effort for a member of the Rice family!

Noreen and I never met Edna nor Zelda, although in the early 1950s Edna sent a 19 volume set of the World Book Encyclopedia to Noreen and me, a gift from an unknown aunt, but befitting a teacher.  A gift which remained a true gift for many years.

The last known picture of Edna Rice
   Date and location unknown

Last known picture of Zelda Rice
   Date and location unknown

Credits:
Photo of Zelda’s house in Phoenix by Norman Mills and Noreen Braun
Photo of Edna and Zelda’s headstones by Barbara Digges of Find a Grave, Sept 5, 2012
All other photos from the personal collection of Virginia Rice Bohn

Find A Grave
Barbara Digges who took the picture of the two headstones in Phoenix is a member of Find A Grave, (as am also I) an organization of volunteers who register graves both in the USA and throughout the world. In addition, these volunteers take pictures of stones, cemetery plots, etc upon request from persons who are unable to do so.  My experience with requesting such photos has been that volunteers such as Barbara have been gracious about doing so, and are very effective. It’s seldom that one needs to wait more than 24 hours before receiving the picture requested.

Find a Grave has also become an important source of information for genealogists.  Those doing research have begun to include family information together with information on the graves.  There are to this day registered nearly 90 million graves in this program.

I have begun to do so, although am only at the beginning.  Should you want to visit my site try:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=vcsr&GSvcid=319114

The Rice family and the territory of Kansas

From 1858 to 1926, a period of 48 years, Kansas was essentially the “home state” for our Rice family. 

Our immigrant ancestors, Edmund and Thomasine Rice, arrived on the United States continent in Massachusetts about 1638, possibly Sudbury. Through a period of nine or ten generations the family migrated from eastern Massachusetts, through New York, and on into Kansas, arriving some two hundred years later, in 1858. The first to arrive in this prairie state when it was just beginning to find its rightful place in our nation was Julia Martha [Potter] Rice along with her mother Julia Geraldine [Turner] Potter, and her two sons Edward and Francis.

Julia in an autobiography describes the move.

Julia’s autobiography

My marriage was an unhappy one.  I left my home March 5, 1854.  Edward Potter Rice, my oldest child was born Sept 2, 1851.  Francis Jay was born Nov. 27, 1853.

     My cousin Armina Turner, spent a year with me and when I left Logansport I accompanied her to her father’s home in Janesville, O., where I spent ten months and united with the Market St. church, Rev. L. G. Leonard, pastor.  I returned to Logansport and took Eddie, who had remained with his father, and proceeded to Fond du Lac, Wis. whither my uncle had removed.  When I left Logansport my mother’s home was with cousin Mary Wilson until her death, Sept 18, 1854.  In the spring of 1856 my mother came to uncle’s.  In the spring of 1857 she with myself and two children went to Belleville, Canada, and spent sixteen months with Aunt Pamelia Jones (mother’s sister) and family, Uncles Gideon and Benjamin Turner’s families.  I taught school six months during our stay there. In Oct. 1858 we came to Jefferson Co. Kansas, where my Uncle Harry was then living.  In the spring of 1859, I commenced a select school in Oskaloosa.  I boarded one term in Mr Macomber’s family.  Then with Mr. Benton’s family, till Jan. 1860 when I rented rooms where I kept house and taught, my mother and little boys coming from uncle’s to live with me.  I purchased lots and contracted with Mr. Benton to build a house.  We moved into it in May, 1860, where I continued teaching.

     Oct. 28^th 1860 my beloved Eddie died of typhoid fever after an illness of ten days.

     In 1865 I bought property in Topeka with money from my father’s estate.  We moved there Aug. 1^st.  I taught a select school four months, then in the public school a few weeks; was taken ill and resigned.  In the spring of 1866 I commenced keeping boarders.  I lived in Topeka twelve years, moved to Valley Falls with Frank in 1877. Dec. 6^th. My mother died on Jan 17, 1875 and was buried in Oskaloosa by the side of Eddie.

Francis married Rose Heiz Hefty in Valley Falls, Kansas and their three children, Edna, Zelda, and Leslie, were born in the State. At the beginning of the 20^th century, Francis retired from the ministry and the entire family removed to a small farm in northwestern Arkansas. 

In 1912 Leslie Rice and his new wife, Grace Rich Rice, moved to Garnett, Kansas, and then onto several other locations as Leslie changed administrative positions. In this state, four of their five children were born.

In 1926 Leslie and Grace and the four children left Kansas and moved to Sherwood, North Dakota where their youngest child, Lawrence, was born. Leslie and Grace did not renew their residence in Kansas, and never left North Dakota. Both are buried at Mott, North Dakota.  Our Rice family has since remained expatriates to the state of Kansas.

Kansas

A)    Oskaoosa (as of 2010 population was 1113):
Julia Martha Rice, her mother Julia G. Potter, and her two sons, Edward and Francis moved to Oskaloosa in 1860. Here Julia Martha built a house and settled in as a teacher.  The same year her son Eddie died of typhoid fever and is buried in the Pleasant View Cemetery.

B)    Topeka (as of 2010 population was 127 473):
Julia Martha Rice
- Mother to Francis Jay Rice. Moved to Topeka from Oskaloosa, Kansas in 1865 together with her mother Julia G. Potter and her son Francis Jay Rice.
- Francis Jay Rice studied at Washburn College where he received his ministerial degree. He moved from Topeka in 1876 to become a minister at Valley Falls, Kansas (C).
- Julia G. Potter died in Topeka in 1875 and was buried at Pleasant View Cemetery in Oskaloosa beside her grandson Eddie Rice.

- Dorothy Frances Rice, daughter of Leslie and Grace Rice was born in Topeka on March 28, 1915

C)    Valley Falls (as of 2010 population was 1192)::
- Francis J. Rice began his ministry at the Baptist Church in 1877.
- Rose Heiz Hefty moved here with her foster family from New Glarus, Wisconsin in 1866. Here she met Francis Rice in 1876, and they were married in the Baptist Church in 1880. In 1882 they moved to Augusta, Kansas.

D)    Augusta (as of 2010 population was 9274): Edna Rice (June 3, 1883) and Zelda Rice (June 7, 1885) were born in Augusta.

E)     Salem (as of 2010 population was 249): Leslie Francis Rice was born here on March 7, 1889. This is very likely in error. Salem as his birthplace is mentioned in the obituary for Leslie Rice, as well as in notes belonging to Virginia Rice Bohn. Topeka is named as his birthplace in Leslie’s application to study at U. of North Dakota and also in his draft notice.  I assume that the info in the obit comes from Virginia who was probably in error. The birthdate is, however, correct.

F)     Francis Jay Rice, Rose Rice, and their three children moved to a small farm north of Siloam Springs, Arkansas. It was here that Leslie met his wife, Grace Rich, who lived several miles east of the farm. Francis and Rose are buried in Siloam Springs

G)    Ottawa (as of 2010 population was 12 649): Leslie F. Rice achieved his Bachelor of Science degree at Ottawa University. Graduated in 1911

H)    Garnett, Kansas (as of 2010 population was 3415). Leslie and Grace Rice moved here in 1912. Here was their first residence in Kansas. Leslie taught school here from 1912 to 1914

I)       McDonald (as of 2010 population was 160):  Franklin Jay Rice was born here on May 19, 1918. Leslie Rice was superintendent of schools here from 1916 to 1919

J)       Norcatur (as of 2010 population was 151): Virginia Rice was born here Oct. 7, 1920. Leslie Rice was superintendent of schools here from 1919 to 1921

K)    Colby (as of 2010 population was 5387):  Mildred Rose Rice was born here on Jan. 18, 1923. Leslie F. Rice was superintendent of schools here from 1921 to 1924