John Brice III (September 22, 1738 – July 1820) was an American lawyer, businessman and political leader from

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

. He served on the

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

state council and as mayor of Annapolis.

Early life

John was born in Annapolis and was one of the sons of John Brice, Jr. and Sara (Howard) Brice. Like many fellow Marylanders, he attended

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the Unive ...

, and studied law at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in London, being admitted to both in November 1757. He was back in Annapolis by June 1761, where he continued his legal studies. He married Mary MacCubbin in 1766 in the

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

but after the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

was accounted a member of the

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

Church.

Revolutionary War

Brice was an active supporter of the revolution, and when a new government was established he served on the Governor's council in 1779 and 1780. The council acted as an upper house of the legislature. In the election of 1781 he tied with Stephen West, to whom he lost his seat by drawing lots. He was mayor of Annapolis in 1780 and 1781.

Legacy

The home that John lived in still stands at 211 Prince George Street in Annapolis. It is a few doors away from his father's house which is locally known as the ''Little Brice House''. The home is privately owned by St. John's College.

References

1738 births 1820 deaths Mayors of Annapolis, Maryland Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge 18th-century mayors of places in Maryland {{AnnapolisMD-stub