Jeremiah Rice was a pioneer farmer of Southern Illinois, a carpenter and served on the first board of trustees for the city of Marion where his children were born, but before they grew to maturity he moved to Dunklin county, Missouri, to live out his years.
Jeremiah S. “Jerry” Rice was born in November of 1820 in Tennessee.
He married Susan A. Sanders on September 9, 1840 in Williamson County, Illinois.
In 1841, when 36 Williamson County residents requested of the Williamson County Commisioner’s Court to build a road from Marion that would intersect the state road leading from Bainbridge to Vienna, Jeremiah was one of three men selected to review the request. Later, in June of 1841, the court committed their report to the record of the county that a road be built commencing at Marion to run west to the corner of John Ward’s plantation then the best way possible so as to intersect the state road running from Bainbridge at or near B.F. Maneese’s plantation. Rice and the other two men were allowed one dollar per day for the review.
In the March term of 1845 the County Commissioner’s Court appointed Rice as supervisor of the Marion Road District.
In 1849 he bought 160 acres of ground just north of the Marion I.O.O.F. Cemetery. He paid for the land with warrants. Warrants were land grants given to soldiers for their service which were often sold or exchanged for services. It is unknown at this time exactly where these warrants came from.
In the 1860 census, Jeremiah and Susan were living in Marion, Illinois and both were 39 years old. They had 4 children at home: William, 12; Benjamin F., 10; Richard W., 7 and Safrona A., 3. He had real estate valued at $500 and $100 in personal property.
Under and by virtue of the authority of the Charter of Marion, Illinois, at the election in April, 1865, Rev. A. T. Benson was elected President, W. P. Goodall, Wiley W. Hall, Jas. M. Edwards, Jeremiah Rice, Oliver H. Wiley and James H. Stewart were elected trustees. This City Board adopted and approved the first code of ordinances for the government of the Town of Marion May 15, 1865. Rice then served a second term in the following year of 1866 under Robert M. Hundley.
The First Baptist Church of Marion, Illinois, was organized on the 19th day of August, 1865 and on the second day of September, 1865, the church met in the first regular conference meeting, when Elder David Butler was elected pastor and Thomas Carter and Jeremiah Rice were elected to the office of Deacons.
In 1870 Susan and Jeremiah were living in the same house with Thomas and Mary Reed. Thomas was a blacksmith and Jeremiah was listed as a cabinet maker, his real estate then was valued at $1,000 and his personal property at $400. Their children, William and Benjamin, had left home and Richard and Saphrona were living there with their brother Thomas, 9.
In 1878 the Marion Monitor reported that “Uncle Sammy Ireland and J. S. Rice are engaged in building a mammoth barn for Zi Mitchell of Corinth. When completed it will be the largest and finest barn in Williamson County. It will be 70 feet x 83 feet and will have two floors. It will hold an entire season’s crop, besides stable room for a large number of animals.”
Sometime between 1878 and 1880 Jerry and Susan moved to Malden in Dunklin County, Missouri where he was listed as a carpenter. He and Susan were 60 years old and their children, Thomas J. 19 and Saphrona 22, were still home. Thomas was working as a clerk.
By 1900 Jerry and Susan had moved to Cotton Hill, a small town near Malden in northern Dunklin County. They were living with their daughter, Saphrona Benson, and her family. Jerry and Susan were both 79 then.
In Missouri, he appears to have passed the closing years of his life engaged in agricultural pursuits. They are not living with his daughter in 1910 and don’t appear to be in the census that year, but no death records for them could be found.
Notes on the Children:
William Rice was born about 1848.
Benjamin J. Rice was born about 1850.
Richard W. Rice was born about 1853.
Safrona Rice Benson was born in 1857 and married Rot Benson in 1896. They lived in Cotton Hill, in Dunklin County, Missouri. They had one child in 1900, Robert L. Benson.
Thomas J. Rice was born in 1860. He married Tommie H. (unknown surname). They had three children: Helen, Ward and Frederick Rice. They lived in Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas.
(Sources: Federal Census Records; 1905 Souvenir History of Williamson County; Williamson County, County Commissioner’s Order Book A, 1839-1848; compiled by Colleen Norman)