BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
Peoria City and County, Illinois
The S. J. Clarke Publ. Co.
1912
 

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COLONEL JAMES MONTGOMERY RICE, patriot in the war for the Union, political, military, and economic thinker, high-minded citizen, earnest worker within and without the church for the cause of religion, was born in Monmouth, Illinois, Mar. 8, 1842.  Believing that an honorable ancestry should be a spur to effort Colonel Rice took price in tracing his family lineage through a line of men, forceful, democratic, patriotic, and Christian men, found fighting generation after generation for "God and the right."      James Rice, born in England of Welsh parentage, having probably been in the battle of Sedgemoor (1685) crossed the Atlantic to the New World.  After William and Mary were established on the throne, leaving his family in Virginia.  James Rice went back to receive his father's estate, but being captured by pirates on the return voyage, was never heard from again.  For three generations the family lived in Virginia, moving in each generation one step westward, finally removing over the mountains to Kentucky, where in 1812 was born George Poague Rice, father of James Montgomery Rice.  George Poague Rice, educated for the ministry, was compelled, through failing eyesight, to take up a more active life and became by turns farmer and merchant in and near Oquawka, Illinois, being a member of the well known mercantile firm of Phelps & Rice of Oquawka.  Caroline Montgomery, who he married in 1841, was a descendant of John Montgomery, Major of the Scotch-Irish army of King William(1688-90).  Coming to this country, Major Montgomery organized the white brick Presbyterian church in Newcastle, Delaware, composed entirely of immigrants who came with him, and became its first elder.  His son, Alexander, was the father of William Montgomery colonel and later general in the Revolutionary war, and a member of congress while Washington was president.  Lieutenant Colonel John Montgomery, son of General Montgomery, was the grandfather of Caroline Montgomery, mother of James Montgomery Rice.      James Montgomery Rice spent the first fifteen years of his life on the farm, attending private or country schools or receiving instruction at home.  After 1852 when the family was established at Oquawka, at that time one of the promising cities of the state, he attended an academy there.  At eighteen he entered Monmouth College.  At the end of his freshman year he was stirred by the attack on the Union, and though hardly convalescent from a dangerous illness, enlisted, Aug. 20, 1861, as a private of Company E, Tenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry.  He was immediately made corporal and detailed to Grant's headquarters, where he served for two months as store-keeper.  During the winter of 1861-2 his regiment guarded gun-boats in process of construction at Mound City, Illinois.  Stationed, in February, 1862, at Bird's Point, Missouri, he took part, on March 1, in an engagement near Sykestown, and in April in the battles of Hamburg and Pittsburg Landing.  On May 3 he participated in the advance on Corinth and the battle there; proceeding thence to Tuscumbia, Alabama.  He was sent, Aug. 31, 1862, to Nashville.  All communication with the north was cut off for two months during Bragg and Buells' campaign in Kentucky; clothing and food almost gave out; acorns and ear corn, one ear per day, formed their chief diet.  The Fourteenth Corps thus earned its badge, an acorn, and the title of the "Acorn Corps."  During the battle of Stone River, the regiment held Fort Negley.  On the 6th of March, 1863, Mr. Rice was made sergeant to rank from January 8.  He was at New Fosterville July 20, and at Bridgeport, Alabama, August 24.  On the 1st of October, 1863, his command held the bridge at Bridgeport during the terrible battle of Chickamauga.  On the 21st of November, they crossed the Tennessee on pontoons, supporting Sherman's victorious attack on Bragg's right at Mission Ridge.  A week later occurred the engagement with Hardee at Chickamauga Station; thence the troops marched to Ringgold and on to the relief of Knoxville, Tennessee, which was invested by Longstreet, and later went into winter quarters at Rossville, Georgia.      In December, Colonel Rice was recommended for a commission.  He passed the examination and in January, 1864, was detailed to brigade headquarters.  On the 2d of May, he moved with Sherman toward Atlanta, taking part in the battle of Buzzard's Roost on the 9th, and of Resaca on the 15th; marching the following day toward Rome, which was taken on the 18th, and going then to join the main army at Ackworth, June 3.  He was in the forward movement until the capture of Atlanta.  On the 27th of June he was in the attack on Kenesaw Mountain.  The command crossed the Chattahoochee, July 18, with severe loss.  Then came the battle of Ezra Church and the capture of Jonesboro.  Meantime his term of enlistment had expired, and the war being virtually settled, Colonel Rice returned to the north, after being honorably mustered out.  September 18, 1864.  During his three years of service, he had not lost a single day from duty.      Always of a studious, thoughtful turn of mind, the young college boy had made use of the many idle hours camp life affords to continue his college studies by himself or with his companions, studying Greek, German, Latin and Surveying, and reading many volumes of history.  On his return north, he entered the law school of the University of Michigan and took his degree there two years later.  The following year he came to Peoria, and till his death, continued a prominent member of the Peoria bar.  In 1877 he was city attorney.  In 1883 he was admitted to the district court of the United States, the southern district court of Illinois, and the circuit court, and in 1890 to the United States supreme court.  In 1878 and for many years thereafter, he was a member of the State Bar Association and for several years previous had been a member of the Chicago Bar Association.  In 1879 he became one of the principal organizers, the treasurer, and a director of the Peoria Law Library Association.      Four yeas after his coming to Peoria Colonel Rice had married Miss Eliza Lillie Ballance, daughter of Colonel Charles and Julia M. Ballance.  Mrs. Rice was of exceptional character and from this time until her death in 1895, their lives were closely bound together and were mutually helpful and inspiring.  Mrs. Rice is remembered for her personal charm, combining a witty and lively disposition with deep earnestness of Christian character.  She was a leader in many of the charitable movements carried on by the women in her church and Peoria.  There survive this union five children: Lillian Ballance, the wife of Major Wilson Chase, United States army, and her two children.  Daniel Morgan Brigham and Caroline Rice Brigham; Caroline Montgomery; Mary Virginia; Montgomery Gordon, city attorney and clerk at Libby, Montana; and Willis Ballance, married to Ruth Little Mason, an electrical engineer and assistant United States patent examiner, at Washington, D. C.      Colonel Rice was a broad thinker, keenly interested in many lines of public life, and the force of his influence was always directed toward improvement in political, military, religious and social matters.  He was a recognized leader in the republican party.  In 1869, secretary and active manager for the republican county central committee for Peoria county, he served in 1871 as member of the state legislature that revised the statutes following the adoption of the present state constitution.  From that time on, the weight of his disinterested, high-minded thought had a steady effect upon local political affairs.  At various times he wrote articles on political questions that were broadly published and aroused nation-wide attention.  In recent years he became a republican insurgent or progressive.      After the Civil war Colonel Rice took a keen interest in military matters.  In 1879, he assisted in organizing and was a charter member of Bryner Post G. A. R., becoming its first adjutant.  In 1894-6 he was special aide on the staff of the commander-in-chief of the G. A. R., appointed for the purpose of promoting military training in schools and colleges, in which connection he wrote articles upon the subject for the "Army and Navy Journal" and other papers.  He belonged to the Society of the Army of the Cumberland and was a charter member of the Illinois Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.  He was also a Knight Templar Mason, his membership being in Peoria Commandery No. 3.     Colonel Rice attained special prominence in connection with his services in the national guard.  He enlisted May 30, 1875, on the reorganization of the National Blues, becoming first sergeant, and in 1876, second lieutenant.  This was the best drilled company in the state.  In the great railroad strike of 1877, it went on duty for four weeks, when Colonel Rice acted as adjutant of a battalion of four companies and had the principal management and direction of the whole affair in Peoria, which he managed without loss of property or life.  Sent to St. Louis, he took forcible possession of the railroad trail at Havanna to prevent delay and compelled the railroad company to clear the track.   Colonel Rice's labors in behalf of the improvement and recognition of the national guard have placed him among the men to whom the nation owes a debt of gratitude.  He took special interest in rifle firing, believing that what a soldier most needed in battle was to know how to "hit what he shot at."  Through his efforts the militia of the state was brought to a very high standard of efficiency in rifle shooting.  He was the author of a "Range Manual for Military Rifle Practice," which was the standard authority in many states and was used by many other states and by many regular troops.  He was the author of "Small Arms Practice for the National Guard" (1892), which was accepted as authority in Illinois and other states.  In 1877 he was commissioned captain and special aide on the governor's staff with orders to act as assistant inspector of rifle practice.  He was made lieutenant colonel and inspector of rifle practice of the Second Brigade during 1879, and in 1887 acted as assistant adjutant general of the Second Brigade during the riots in East St. Louis.  The same year he was commissioned lieutenant colonel and assistant inspector general of the Second Brigade; and in 1890 was commissioned colonel and general inspector of rifle practice, which office he held until his resignation in 1896.  In 1897 he was indorsed almost unanimously by the leading republicans of Illinois and by the national guard officers throughout the country for the position of assistant secretary of war.      His next step was to urge the recognition of the national guard as a means of national defense and its proper organization so as to make it practically useful for that end.  In 1884 when the National Guard Association of Illinois was organized, Colonel Rice was made chairman of the committee on constitution and by-laws.  He delivered addresses on rifle practice and on the proper support of the civil power which were published by the association and widely copied (See "United Service Magazine," Philadelphia, Aug. 18, 1884).  In 1887, as chairman of the legislature committee, his article read before the convention, on "Military Training in the Army and the National Guard" was published in the Century Magazine (October, 1888), and was largely commented upon in that (See also April, 1889) and other magazines and military journals.  The principle for which Colonel Rice contended for twenty-years, was, that the national guard is a national defence, organized for twenty years, was, that the national guard in a national defence, organized of the people, by the people, and for the people; this he successfully maintained against apathy and opposition from every quarter, by his articles in leading magazines and papers, military and popular, of the country, and by active and laborious service with the guards in the field and camp.  He developed the principal that the national guard as organized, may be called by the president into the service of the United States; that, when in the service, they are to be governed by the same rules and regulations, and to have the same rights, privileges, and duties as the regular troops; and that they may be required to do duty "wherever ordered, within or without the territory of the United States."  This principal, so necessary to the pubic welfare in time of national danger, was successfully maintained by several articles in the "Army and Navy Journal" and elsewhere, and is now a part of the United States law.      In religious matters Colonel Rice was broad in his sympathies but strong in his convictions.  Accordingly his counsel and his power for organization was sought in the conduct of many local and national enterprises for social betterment.  In the Presbyterian church he was a faithful and active member.  Serving first as president of the board of trustees of the Second Presbyterian church at Peoria, in 1886 he became a member of the session and was ruling elder at the time of his death, as well as a faithful teacher in the Sunday school.  He was many times a delegate to the Presbytery and was commissioner to four general assemblies of the church.  In this capacity, he became known throughout the country as the author of "the Peoria Plan" for electing and organizing the standing committees of the Presbyterian Church which had till that time been appointed by the moderator, or chairman, of the assembly.  The plan, after years of opposition, was adopted, and has secured the decentralization of the church government, taking the power from the hands of a few leaders and giving it to the representatives of the churches.  In this connection one of the most prominent Presbyterian journals of the country calls it "The joy of the church."  Aside from his service through his church, Colonel Rice was relied upon by many other worthy undertaking for his moral and personal support.  He was president of the Peoria Young Men's Christian Association for two years, secured its incorporation, and was the author of its constitution and by-laws.      On April 11, 1912, in the midst of a busy and useful life, at the age of three score and ten, he passed suddenly from us, a man high-minded, strong, courageous, patient, tender and true, one who has left a deep impression for good in many lines of progress, relating to the political, social, military, economic, and religious development of the country.  All Peoria named him as one of the city's leading and honored citizens, who had exerted a powerful influence upon those enduring forms of progress which have their inception in thought and research, in clear reason and keen perception, and in high character, and which are intimately manifest in resultant and beneficial action.

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