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

Take The Time

Recently I received a package of photos and mementoes from my Uncle Joe Ebertz. In his kindness, he sent the package to me in case the enclosed items might be of value towards researching the Rice family history.  The intention was confirmed by the contents which consisted of several photo albums, some letters, and numerous loose pictures, all once owned by our grandfather Leslie Rice and later preserved with care by our Aunt Millie Ebertz. 

However, much to my disappointment, nothing within the package was dated, or identified. And even though everything was preserved with care, all is pretty much unusable, except maybe for general historical reasons.  Very little contributes to remembering our Rice family members of the past.

The pictures mounted by Granddad Rice are all to naught. He didn’t take the time to label, date, or name them.  And yet, these must have been important to him. And they certainly would have helped us to better describe and remember our Grandfather.

I won’t destroy these.  Everything will be passed on. Until, someday, someone will ask the question “why?”

Our memories are neither permanent, nor decipherable to others unless put on paper or recorded on some device. What we remember, what we have experienced, that which was a part of our lives, both important and trifle will be long gone if it is not preserved for the future.

Just the other day, while browsing through the internet in search of long lost relatives, I ran across this silly little poem.  Silly in the sense that it doesn’t have poetic literary recognition, and probably never will. But it sends a message, to you and me.

Strangers in the Box 

By Pamela A. Harazim

Come, look with me inside this drawer, 

In this box I've often seen, 

At the pictures, black and white, 

Faces proud, still, serene. 

I wish I knew the people, 

These strangers in the box, 

Their names and all their memories 

Are lost among my socks. 

I wonder what their lives were like.

How did they spend their days? 

What about their special times? 

I'll never know their ways. 

If only someone had taken time 

To tell who, what, where, when, 

These faces of my heritage 

Would come to life again. 

Could this become the fate

Of the pictures we take today? 

The faces and the memories 

Someday to be tossed away? 

Make time to save your pictures, 

Seize the opportunity when it knocks, 

Or someday you and yours could be

The strangers in the box.

A sad truth is reflected by this poem. Granddad Leslie Rice’s pictures have now become  “strangers in the box”.

Take the time… record what we remember.  It’s easy. Use a video camera or a cell phone and record things you remember from times past.  Going to school, a school teacher, a childhood friend, your home and house, going swimming, graduation, your  first job, your mom, your dad….. the possibilities are endless.  The value is beyond measurement.

Source:
The poem is copywrited by © 1997 by Pamela A. Harazim.

Oak Hill Cemetery at Siloam Springs

Oak Hill Cemetery

Julia Martha Rice was born on July 11, 1826 in Mayville, New York, a picturesque, comfortable village on the shores of Lake Chautauqua, not too far from Lake Erie.  Julia was a devout Baptist, values and beliefs which she passed on to her only surviving son.

One can easily surmise Julia’s life as being characterized by difficulties and challenges above and beyond what most of us experience today. As a young girl, she experienced the difficulties of a psychologically disturbed father. As a young anticipatory mother, she married and then later divorced an apparently dominant, and in her mind, unbearable Gilbert Rice.  Taking her two boys in the middle of the night, first to Ohio, then Canada, and at last to frontier Kansas, Julia arrived at Oskaloosa, Kansas in 1860 only to experience the death of her oldest son Edward in October of that same year.

In a short autobiography, Julia writes:
“I was born July 11, 1826 in Mayville, Chautauqua Co. N.Y. I attended school most of my life in my native village, except the summer of 1839 when I attended the Academy in Fredonia.  The winter of ’39 – ’40 I spent with my parents at my sister’s in Logansport, Ind. Where I attended a select school.  The following fall I went with my parents on a visit to my father’s parents residing at Plymouth Hollow, Conn.  They died soon after. In the summer of 1840 my father had an attack of insanity, caused by a fall from a horse when he was (9) nine years of age.  The attack lasted six weeks.  The following year it came on earlier and lasted longer, and the same way each succeeding year till it became permanent.  He died in Utica Insane Asylum Feb. 25, 1848.

…..

In Nov. 1840 I was baptized in Chautauqua Lake by Rev. Orrion (?) Dodge and united with the Baptist church of which Mr. Dodge was pastor.

…..

On Oct 5, 1845 I was married in Mayville to Gilbert J. Rice of Logansport where I went to reside.  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.

(Julia, her mother and the two boys lived in Belleville, Canada for 16 months before traveling on to her uncle’s pioneer home in Jefferson County, Kansas.)

In the spring of 1857 she with myself and two children went to Belleville Canada, and spent sixteen months with Aunt Pamela 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;  I 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.”

In a letter to be opened only upon her death, Julia wrote on her birthdays (the underlining and quotation marks are Julia’s):

On July 11, 1896
My Dear Frank,
     Today completes my threescore years and ten of life!  God has been very good to me.  He has not dealt with me in according to my sins!  “The mistakes of my life have been many, the sins of my heart have been more!”  I cannot now expect to tarry long on earth.  I hope I may not be wait with patience my appointed time to go and dwell with loved ones on the other shore.”

On July 11, 1897
Another year of my life has Gone!  I wish I may grow wiser and better as life wears away!

On July 11, 1899
Two more years of my life have passed.  May I fulfill the purpose for which my life is spent.

On July 11, 1900
Another year has passed.  I would wait patiently the days of my appointed time.  I realize my strength is growing weaker.

On July 11, 1901
Seventy five years of my life completed.  How long O LORD, terriest thou?

Julia Martha Potter Rice died at Fernbrook Farm on October 15, 1906. “Sometime we’ll understand”. 

She is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Siloam Springs.

Francis Jay Rice died at Fernbrook Farm on March 27, 1936.  He was 82 years old.

Francis was buried beside his mother in the Oak Hill Cemetery of Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

According to his death certificate, Francis died of cerebral arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) leading to a hemorrhagic stroke. There was no autopsy.

Francis Jay Rice was born in Logansport, Indiana on November 27, 1853. (One of the reasons for the picture of Logansport at the beginning of this blog.)

Rose Heiz Hefty Rice died at Fernbrook Farm on March 23, 1945. She died of coronary arrest.

A view of Oak Hill Cemetery. The stones of the Rice family are side by side in the foreground. The stone for Francis Jay Rice and Rose Rice is on the left. Julia M. Rice is on the right.

The entrance to the cemetery is at the upper left-hand corner.

Sources:
Photographs by Norman W. Mills. July 2007
Obituaries are from local newspapers at Siloam Springs, Arkansas
Letter written by Julia M. Rice in regards to her death. Copies in my possession. Location of originals unknown.
Autobiography by Julia M. Rice from Autobiography by Francis J. Rice written probably in 1905.