Wallace Rice

For the gangster, see Wallace Rice (gangster).
Wallace Rice
Rice in 1911
Born
Wallace deGroot Cecil Rice

(1859-11-10)10 November 1859
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Died15 December 1939(1939-12-15) (aged 80)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Education
Occupations
Years active1885–1935
Known forDesigning the flag of Chicago
Spouse
Minnie (Hale) Angier
​
​
(m. 1889, divorced)​
Children2
Website[[1]]

Wallace deGroot Cecil Rice (10 November 1859 – 15 December 1939) was an American lawyer, writer, and vexillographer. Based for most of his life in Chicago, Rice was a prolific writer and editor; however, he is most famous as the designer of the municipal flag of Chicago.[1]

Biography

Flag of Chicago designed by Wallace Rice ca. 1939

Wallace Rice was born 10 November 1859, to John Asaph Rice (1829–1888) and Margaret Van Slyke (Culver) Rice (ca 1829–1891) in Hamilton, Canada West, while his parents were temporarily residing in Canada. His father John Asaph Rice was a hotelier in Chicago, owner of the Tremont House and co-owner of the Sherman House Hotel, and noted collector of rare books, manuscripts, and Americana.[2][3] As a boy, Rice attended grammar school at Racine College. After graduating from Harvard University in 1883, Rice was admitted to the bar in Chicago in November 1884. He married Minnie (Hale) Angier on 8 August 1889 in Chicago, Illinois, and they had two sons, John and Benjamin.[4] Rice was divorced from his wife Minnie prior to 1920 and he never remarried.[5][6]

Rice was a newspaperman in Chicago writing for the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Herald American, and was a literary adviser and editor for several Chicago-based publishing houses.[4] In 1917, he designed the Flag of Chicago.[7] He compiled a number of stories and anecdotes from newspapers around the country. One of his major anthology works was in collaboration with Clarence Darrow in the editing of Infidels and Heretics published in 1929. He was also an accomplished author in his own right, writing historical pageants, including one celebrating Illinois' centennial and another for the semi-centennial of Birmingham, Alabama.[1][8] He was also a poet and essayist. Rice died on 15 December 1939 in Chicago.[1]

Selected publications

Genealogy

Wallace deGroot Cecil Rice was a direct descendant of Edmund Rice, an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony, as follows:[9]

  • Wallace deGroot Cecil Rice, son of
  • John Asaph Rice (1829 – 1888)
  • Anson Rice (1798 – 1875), son of
  • Asaph Rice (1768 – 1856), son of
  • Amos Rice (1743 – 1827), son of
  • Jacob Rice (1707 – 1788), son of
  • Jacob Rice (1660 – 1746), son of
  • Edward Rice (1622 – 1712), son of

References

  1. ^ a b c "Wallace Rice, Lecturer and Author, is Dead". Chicago Daily Tribune. December 16, 1939.
  2. ^ John Asaph Rice (1829-1888)
  3. ^ Bangs-Merwin and Company. 1870. Catalogue of Mr. John Asaph Rice's Library to be Sold at Auction 21 March 1870 and the Five Days Following, at Bangs and Merwin, 694 & 696 Broadway, New York. Joseph Sabin and Sons, Printers, New York. 556pp. Note: The collection, including many rare and one-of-a-kind items, fetched $42,262.69 at auction.
  4. ^ a b p. 1237 in: Leonard, J.W. (ed.) Volume 3: Who's Who in America 1903-1905 (3rd edition), Marquis Publishing Company, Chicago.
  5. ^ 1920 United States Census, Chicago Ward 23, Cook (Chicago), Illinois; Roll: T625_334; Page: 14B; Enumeration District: 1318; Image: 1129.
  6. ^ 1930 United States Census, Chicago, Cook, Illinois; Roll: 486; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 1640; Image: 184.0.
  7. ^ "The Municipal Flag of Chicago" (PDF). T.E. Whalen, 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2011.
  8. ^ Rice, Wallace (October 24–27, 1921) The Pageant of Birmingham
  9. ^ The Descendants of Edmund Rice: The First Nine Generations (CD-ROM), 2010. Edmund Rice (1638) Association, Sudbury, MA