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Rice family papers
MS.R.045
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Irvine Libraries
Title: Rice family papers
Creator:
Rice family
Identifier/Call Number: MS.R.045
Physical Description:
4.8 Linear Feet
(9 boxes and 4 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1812-1972
Date (bulk): 1875-1919
Abstract: This collection comprises materials from the James S. and Cora Rice family of Tustin, California, and other relatives, including
Harvey M. Rice, father of James and an Ohio author and legislator; Nettie Rice, sister of James and the first wife of James
Irvine I; and the family of J.H. Martin of Carson Valley, Nevada. It also includes material from the Polish-born Shakespearean
actress Helena Modjeska who had a summer home in the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange County. The collection includes correspondence,
documents, ephemera, newspaper clippings, and photographs.
Language of Material:
English
.
Collection open for research.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and University Archives.
Rice Family papers. MS-R45. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California. Date accessed.
For the benefit of current and future researchers, please cite any additional information about sources consulted in this
collection, including permanent URLs, item or folder descriptions, and box/folder locations.
Gift of Harvey M. Rice, 1966
Processed by Phil Brigandi, 2001.
The Rice family was an important ranching family in Orange County and figured prominently in the growth and development of
Tustin. The family is especially noteworthy for its connections to the James Irvine family and to the actress Helena Modjeska.
Harvey M. Rice (1800-1891) was born in Massachusetts and settled in Cleveland, Ohio in 1824, when the community was still
a small, frontier town. He worked as a teacher, a newspaper editor, and later as an attorney. In his retirement, he wrote
historical sketches and travel pieces, including
Life from the Pacific Slope, or First Impressions, which documents an 1869 overland journey to California. He served as an Ohio legislator in the 1830s and as a State Senator
in the 1850s. He was noted for having written Ohio's original "common school" law in 1851, a bill later copied by other states.
Harvey was honored in later years for his pioneering work in public education, and a statue honoring him was erected in Cleveland
in 1899.
Harvey and his wife Maria's daughter, Henrietta Maria (Nettie) Rice (1841-1874), was the first wife of James Irvine I (1827-1886),
the founder of the famous Irvine Ranch in Orange County, California. She was the mother of James Irvine II (1867-1947), who
was responsible for much of the development of the ranch in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Harvey and Maria Rice's son, James S. Rice (1846-1930), worked in the furniture business in Cleveland with one of his older
brothers for 11 years before coming to Southern California in January 1877. His first California venture was raising stock
on the Irvine Ranch in partnership with his brother-in-law, James Irvine I. After approximately one year he bought land near
Tustin, where he planted oranges. Later he bought 50 acres on First Street, near Tustin, which he planted in grapes. During
the Southern California real estate boom of the late 1880s he subdivided and sold much of his ranch, but for many years he
retained a 12-acre parcel for oranges. At various times he was also engaged in growing walnuts, celery, and sugar beets in
Orange County, and was involved in the early development of Laguna Beach. In 1872, while still in Ohio, James married Coralinn
(Cora) Barlow (1850-1919). Cora was a noted singer and actress, and James was well regarded for his musical talents, whistling,
and imitations. They often performed for benefits and social events in Orange County and became close friends of the country's
most noted actress of the day, Polish-born Helena Modjeska, who also lived in Orange County. Cora's brother, Charles Barlow,
settled in the Bakersfield area, where he went on to serve as the local Congressman.
James and Cora Rice had four children: James W., Merrill, Harvey, and Percy F. James W. (ca. 1874-ca.1950) followed in his
father's footsteps both as a rancher and as a musician. In approximately 1905 he acquired his own ranch on 17th Street in
Tustin. In 1908 he married Reubel Martin (b. 1883), the daughter of Nevada pioneers, who had been educated at Mills College
in Oakland. James W. and Reubel had two children, James W. Rice, Jr. and Harvey M. Rice (1913-1974). Reubel Rice's father,
J. Henry Martin, had settled in the Carson Valley in Nevada in the 1860s. He was a farmer and a teamster, and he engaged in
various business activities in Carson City and in the mining camps of western Nevada and eastern California, including Bodie,
California. By the 1880s Martin was active in politics and served as State Senator, representing Douglas County in the late
1890s. He married Katie F. Child, whose family seems to have settled in Nevada in the 1850s.
Merrill (ca.1876-ca.1919) inherited some of his parents' musical talents but seems to have become estranged from his family.
Harvey (1879-1900) was considered a promising young man, but he died at the age of 21 due to consumption. Percy F. (1882-1950)
became an inventor and patented several devices, including improvements for printing presses, radio tuners, and automotive
transmissions. He lived in Orange County for most of his life.
| 1824 | Harvey M. Rice settles in Cleveland, Ohio. |
| 1851 | Harvey M. Rice drafts Ohio's common school law. |
| 1866 | Nettie Rice marries James Irvine I. |
| 1866 | James S. Rice enters the furniture business in Cleveland in partnership with his older brother. |
| 1870 | Harvey M. Rice publishes Letters from the Pacific Slope, describing his first visit to California in 1869. |
| 1872 | James S. Rice marries Coralinn (Cora) Barlow. |
| 1874 | James S. Rice makes his first visit to California. |
| 1877 | James S. and Cora Rice move to Southern California; after living briefly on the Irvine Ranch, they settle in Tustin. |
| 1887 | James S. Rice subdivides his property and places it on the market as Rice's Addition to Tustin. |
| 1888 | J.H. Martin runs for the Nevada State Senate. |
| 1896 | Harvey Rice loses an arm in a shooting accident. |
| 1896 | J.H. Martin is elected to the Nevada State Senate to represent Douglas County. |
| 1899 | Reubel Martin enrolls at Mills College. |
| 1899 | A statue in honor of Harvey M. Rice is unveiled in Cleveland. |
| 1903 | Percy Rice invents an automated paper feeder for printing presses, his first important invention. |
| 1920 | James S. Martin serves as Chairman of the Orange County Democratic Central Committee. |
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises materials from the James S. and Cora Rice family of Tustin, California, and other relatives, including
Harvey M. Rice, father of James and an Ohio author and legislator; Nettie Rice, sister of James and the first wife of James
Irvine I; and the family of J.H. Martin of Carson Valley, Nevada. It also includes material from the Polish-born Shakespearean
actress Helena Modjeska who had a summer home in the Santa Ana Mountains of Orange County. The collection includes correspondence,
documents, ephemera, newspaper clippings, and photographs.
This collection is organized into four series.
- Series 1. Rice family material, 1812-1972. 2.4 linear ft.
- Series 2. Helena Modjeska material, 1879-1970. 0.2 linear ft.
- Series 3. Martin family material, 1822-1907. 0.5 linear ft.
- Series 4. Photographs, 1854-1961. 1.7 linear ft.
Additional material on Helena Modjeska may be found in the Helena Modjeska Collection (MS-R37).