Rice, Edmund
Territorial House 1851 (District 3); Senate 1864-65 (District 1); House 1867 (District 1); House 1872 (District 24); Senate 1873-74 (District 23); House 1877-78 (District 24)
Party when first elected: Not Available
Counties Served:
Ramsey
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Date of Birth:
2/14/1819
Birth Place:
Waitsfield, Vermont
Birth County:
Birth Country:
United States
Date of Death:
7/11/1889
Gender:
Male
Religion:
Reported Minority: None Reported
Other Names:
City of Residence (when first elected):
Saint Paul
Occupation (when first elected):
Lawyer; Rice, Hollinshead and Becker Law Firm
EDUCATION
Kalamazoo, Michigan; Studied Law; Admitted to the Bar, 1842
OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE
Judicial Administration:
Kalamazoo, Michigan (Master in Chancery, Register of the Court of Chancery, 3rd Circuit; Clerk of the Supreme Court of Michigan);
18?? to 18??
Military:
1st Regiment Michigan Volunteers, Company A, (Mexican War, First Lieutenant);
1847 to 1848
County Board/Commissioner:
Ramsey County, Minnesota (County Commissioner);
1856 to 1858
[Elected]
Municipal Mayor:
St. Paul, Minnesota (City Mayor);
1885 to 02/1887
U.S. Representative:
4th Congressional District, Minnesota;
03/04/1887 to 03/03/1889
[Elected]
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
Spouse:
Married
Children:
Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature:
GENERAL NOTES
He moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1838. He moved to St. Paul, Minnesota in July 1849.
"He is a Democrat of the old school." (Biographical Sketches of the Officers of the State Government of Minnesota and the 19th Minnesota State Legislature by C.L. Hall, 1877, p. 50)
He was listed as a Democrat on the list of members posted after the 1877 election. ("The Next Legislature." St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 10, 1877)
His brother, Henry Mower Rice, also served in the United States Congress.
He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection to the United States House of Representatives in 1888.
He practiced law in St. Paul, Minnesota until 1855. He became President of the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad in 1857. He was also associated with its successors, the St. Paul and Pacific; and the St. Paul and Chicago Railroads until 1872.
He and six other members of the House resigned in protest over the 1851 apportionment bill. They argued the census count was incorrect. For more information on the resignations, see Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. 2, p. 456 and the links in the Other Information section below.
Elected:
11/6/1877
Residence:
Saint Paul
Term of Office:
1/8/1878 to 1/6/1879
Counties Represented:
Ramsey
Occupation:
Railroad Trustee
Party:
Democratic
Party Notes: He was listed as a Democrat on the list of members posted after the 1877 election. ("The Next Legislature." St. Paul Pioneer Press, November 10, 1877)
Committees:
-
Joint Paris Exposition Special
-
Railroads
-
Ways and Means
Elected:
11/7/1876
Residence:
Saint Paul
Term of Office:
1/2/1877 to 1/7/1878
Counties Represented:
Ramsey
Occupation:
Lawyer
Party:
Democratic
Party Notes: "He is a Democrat of the old school." (Biographical Sketches of the Officers of the State Government of Minnesota and the 19th Minnesota State Legislature by C.L. Hall, 1877, p. 50)
Committees:
-
State Reform School
-
Ways and Means
Body:
Senate
District:
23
Elected:
11/5/1872
Residence:
Saint Paul
Term of Office:
1/7/1873 to 1/4/1875
Counties Represented:
Ramsey
Occupation:
None Listed
Party:
Democratic
Party Notes: His party affiliation was provided by The Fifteenth Legislature of Minnesota, 1873.
Committees:
-
Claims
-
Corporations
-
Federal Relations
-
Joint University and University Lands
Body:
Senate
District:
23
Elected:
11/5/1872
Residence:
Saint Paul
Term of Office:
1/7/1873 to 1/4/1875
Counties Represented:
Ramsey
Occupation:
None Listed
Party:
Democratic
Party Notes: His party affiliation was provided by The Fifteenth Legislature of Minnesota, 1873.
Committees:
-
Corporations
-
Joint University and University Lands
-
Public Buildings
-
Soldiers Orphans
-
State Reform School
Elected:
11/7/1871
Residence:
Saint Paul
Term of Office:
1/2/1872 to 1/6/1873
Counties Represented:
Ramsey
Occupation:
President, Minnesota and Pacific Rail Road Co. (St. Paul and Pacific Rail Road Co., and St. Paul and Chicago Rail Road Co.)
Party:
Not Available
Committees:
-
Public Lands
-
State Library
Elected:
11/6/1866
Residence:
Saint Paul
Term of Office:
1/8/1867 to 1/6/1868
Counties Represented:
Ramsey
Occupation:
Railroad President; Minnesota and Pacific Rail Road Co. (St. Paul and Pacific Rail Road Co., and St. Paul and Chicago Rail Road Co.)
Party:
Democratic
Committees:
-
Joint State Railroad Bonds Special
-
Railroads
-
State Library
-
Ways and Means
Body:
Senate
District:
01
Elected:
11/3/1863
Residence:
Saint Paul
Term of Office:
1/5/1864 to 1/1/1866
Counties Represented:
Ramsey
Occupation:
Railroad President, Minnesota and Pacific Rail Road Co. (St. Paul and Pacific Rail Road Co., and St. Paul and Chicago Rail Road Co.)
Party:
Not Available
Committees:
-
Corporations
-
Railroads (Chair)
-
State Library
Body:
Senate
District:
01
Elected:
11/3/1863
Residence:
Saint Paul
Term of Office:
1/5/1864 to 1/1/1866
Counties Represented:
Ramsey
Occupation:
Railroad President, Minnesota and Pacific Rail Road Co. (St. Paul and Pacific Rail Road Co., and St. Paul and Chicago Rail Road Co.)
Party:
Not Available
Committees:
-
Corporations
-
Railroads (Chair)
-
State Library
Body:
Territorial House
District:
03
Elected:
9/2/1850
Residence:
Saint Paul
Term of Office:
1/1/1851 to 3/29/1851
(unfinished term)
Counties Represented:
Ramsey
Occupation:
Lawyer; Rice, Hollinshead and Becker Law Firm
Party:
Not Available
Committees:
-
Finance
-
Judiciary (Chair)
[He was excused from serving as Chair and stopped being a member of the Judiciary Committee on January 29, 1851 when it was re-organized.]
Reason for unfinished term:
Resigned
Session Notes:
He and six other members of the House resigned in protest over the 1851 apportionment bill. They argued the census count was incorrect. For more information on the resignations, see Minnesota in Three Centuries, Vol. 2, p. 456 and the links in the Other Information section below.
Articles & Books About
-
"Rice, Edmund." The Fifteenth Legislature of Minnesota. St. Paul: Press Printing Company, 1873, p. 12.
-
Neill, Edward D. Section on the 1851 Apportionment Bill. The History of Minnesota: from the Earliest French Explorations to the Present Time, Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott and Co., 1873, p. 548-549.
-
Resignation of Seven Territorial House Members Over the Apportionment Bill. Minnesota Journal of the Territorial House of Representatives, March 29, 1851, p. 191.
-
"Hon. Edmund Rice." Memoirs of the State Officers; and of the Nineteenth Legislature of Minnesota, by C.L. Hall. Minneapolis: Johnson & Smith, p. 49-50.
-
Rice, Edmund. Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
These files are available in the Legislative Reference Library.