Benjamin Franklin Rice (May 26, 1828 – January 19, 1905) was a Republican

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from

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, among several states, who represented that state in the

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during the

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years from 1868 to 1873.

Biography

Rice was born in East Otto in

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in southwestern

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. After private schooling, Rice studied law, and upon his admission to the bar, began practicing in

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, Estill County,

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. From 1855 to 1856, he served as a member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

. In 1856, he served as a presidential elector for the Republican

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pledged to

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. Two years later, he married Nancy Jane "Nannie" Riddell. In 1860, they relocated to

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, and Rice soon joined the Union Army as a

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during the

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. Eventually, he gained promotion to the rank of

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and was a

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with the

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. In 1864, Rice settled in the capital city of

Little Rock Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

, Arkansas, where he resumed his law practice. He was active in organizing the

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and was appointed chair of a committee that, in 1868, prepared the state's code of practice. Upon the readmission of Arkansas to the Union, Rice was elected by the

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to the Senate. At one point, he held the chairmanship of the

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, now the

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources The United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to energy and mineral resources, including nuclear development; irrigation and recl ...

. On returning home, Rice resumed his law practice. In 1875, he moved to

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for health reasons. He then returned to

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in 1882, where he continued his law practice until his death. He died in

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

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, and is interred there at Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

References

Retrieved on March 24, 2009

External links

* 1828 births 1905 deaths Politicians from Cattaraugus County, New York People from Estill County, Kentucky Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Politicians from Washington, D.C. Republican Party United States senators from Arkansas Arkansas Republicans People of Minnesota in the American Civil War Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) 19th-century United States senators 19th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly {{Arkansas-politician-stub