Alex H. Rice.
Contents
Hon. ALEXANDER HAMILTON RICE, LL.D.
THE OLD STORES AND THE POST-OFFICE OF GROTON.
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN MASSACHUSETTS.
CHURCH SERVICES IN PURITAN TIMES.
THE FIRST SCHOOLMASTER OF BOSTON.
JOHN WISWALL, THE OBJURGATORY BOSTON BOY.
THE BAY STATE MONTHLY.
A Massachusetts Magazine.
Vol. I. February, 1884. No. II.
Hon. ALEXANDER HAMILTON RICE, LL.D.
By Daniel B. Hagar, Ph.D.
[Principal of the State Normal School, Salem.]
Massachusetts merchants have been among the most prominent men inthe nation through all periods of its history. From the days of JohnHancock down to the present time they have often been called by theirfellow-citizens to discharge the duties of the highest public offices.Hancock was the first governor of the State. In the list of hissuccessors, the merchants who have distinguished themselves by honorableand successful administrations occupy prominent places. Conspicuousamong them stands the subject of this sketch.
Alexander Hamilton Rice, a son of Thomas Rice, Esq., a well-knownmanufacturer of paper, was born in Newton Lower Falls, Massachusetts,August 30, 1818. He received his early education in the public schoolsof his native town and in the academies of the Reverend Daniel Kimball,of Needham, and Mr. Seth Davis, of Newton, a famous teacher in hisday, who is still living, in vigorous health, at the venerable age ofninety-seven years. As a boy, young Rice was cheery, affectionate, andthoughtful, and a favorite among his companions. His earliest ambitionwas to become a Boston merchant. After leaving school he entered adry-goods store in the city. He there performed his duties with suchlaborious zeal and energy that his health gave way, and he was compelledto return to his home in Newton, where he suffered many months' illnessfrom a malignant fever, which nearly proved fatal. About two years laterhe returned to Boston, and entered the establishment of Messrs. J.H.Wilkins and R.B. Carter, then widely known as publishers of music booksand of dictionaries of various languages, as well as wholesale dealersin printing and writing papers. Three years of service in their employlaid the foundation of the excellent business habits which led to hisultimate succes