Boone Chastain Rice was my Great Grandfather

(Boone C. Rice, second row, second from the left)

As I had stated before, I have spent many hours researching Boone Rice. The four short paragraphs I attached with the picture this week, barely touches the surface. The real story of Boone Chastain Rice is to follow.

To tell the story of Boone we must first go back to my 4th Great Grandfather, James Rice. James was born in 1736, Halifax,VA and he married Alice Hix, she was born 1742. Alice had a brother John Hix who married James Rice sister Sibeller Lydia Rice. This is the way they did things back then, families intermarried. The Rice's married into the Bailey family over seventy-five times over a period of one hundred years. There were alot of Rice names that came from the Hix side of the family, Joshua, Lydia, Sabra, Hiram, Morris, and other's. Myself and many other descendents of James Rice do not know who James Rice descends from exactly. Who his Daddy is.

But we do know, and my DNA proves, that he is a descendent of Thomas Rice and Ann Marcey Hews, who, at age eleven, came to this country in 1656 aboard the ship"Bristol". Yes, the ship named after the famous Port of Bristol, England. Which was the largest import and export of emmigrants and slaves of that period. Thomas was indentured to the Captain of this ship and did serve out his indenturement and was awarded land for his servitude. Although Thomas was from Wales, he did have other family in England. Thomas had gone back to England to accept a large inheritance, and on his travel back aboard ship, he was killed in 1711. (From my notes............Thomas was born in England of Welsh extraction. The Wales family had a coat of arms with the motto, "Fides non Timet" (Loyalty, not fearing). The Welsh spelling for the surname was Rhys. After settling in Hanover Co., VA and having 12 children, he received notice of an inheritance in England. He never arrived there and is believed to have been assassinated at sea. No will in England mentioning him has as yet been located...............and more notes............"A record in Gloucester, Virginia, home of the early Gwynns,indicates that a Thomas Rice owned 30 plus acres in that county. [Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 32, pg 259.] p. 46 . . . "The Hanover Rices claim a coat of arms said to be the same as that of the Rice and Thomas families which stem from Sir Rhys ap Thomas, a natural son of George Plantagenet. This line had a peerage granted by Bloody Mary in 1555. Earlier figures of interest in the lines are Sir Griffith Rice, Catherine Howard, who descended from William, the Conqueror, and Vryan Reged, lord, of South Wales. [Coat-of-arms data; for genealogy of Welsh Rice family, see A History of Wales by Sir John Edward Lloyd, condensed in Rice and McGhee Families History.]") The Rhys family of Wales can be searched on the internet. You will find they had many Castles and fought many Wars to protect their territories, the Rhys name dates back to around 1100 A.D........more notes..........The Welsh Rices of Dynevor Castle - from Shelby Rice Sutton of St. Georges, Delaware This goes back to the 11th century to give the background of those ancient Welsh princes whose given name was Rhys (Rice). There were times in the pre-Norman period when the Deheubarth kings were unable to maintain their hold on all parts of the kingdom. Rhys ap Tewdwr, the last independent Deheubarth king to rule the whole kingdom, was killed in a 1093 skirmish with Normah forces. His death marked the end of an era. By the early years of the 12th Century The three provinces of Deheubarth became part of a territory of lordships ruled by Normans who enjoyed a power derived by conquest from the Welsh kings they displaced. Rhys ap Tewdr left a son, Gruffudd ap Rhys, brought up in exile in Ireland, Gruffudd returned to try and regain his father's kingdom. He managed to secure a foothold in Ystrad Tywi from which he launched a powerful Welsh campaign after the 1135 death of Henry I. Gruffudd fell during early stages of the struggle and his three elder sons were in due course eliminated. A fourth son, Rhys ap Gruffudd, survived. By 1171 he had secured control not only of the greater part of Ystrad Tywi, but the whole of Credigion and parts of Dyfed. The same year Henry II, anxious to secure settlement of the Welsh problem, recognized the position Rhys had won for himself. Rhys, from his chief castle at Dinefwr, ruled a Deheubarth which - though less extensive than the pre-Norman kingdom was still a major political entity. The earliest surviving redaction of Welsh law emanates from Deheubarth and is very probably to be attributed to the years of Rhys' supremacy. …At this gathering - proclaimed the previous year throughout Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland - Rhys set two contests, one for the poetry and another for "the harpers and the crowders and the pipers and various classes of music" and chairs were awarded to the winner of each contest. It was after the 1189 death of Henry II and Rhys's failure to secure rapport with Richard I that major conflict broke out. Rhys turned first to those lordships on the perimeter of his principality and then to the frontier central sections, but the ageing warrior's vigorous campaigns did not solve these issues. Before Rhys ap Gruffudd's 1197 death, Deheubarth itself was rent by the conflict which arose between his sons. It seems likely Rhys intended his eldest son, Gruffudd, should succeed him as ruler of the entire kingdom, which he had ruled from Dinefwr, but within a few weeks of the Lord Rhys's death Gruffudd's position was challenged by three of his brothers, Maelgwyn, Rhys Gryg and Maredudd. Maredudd and Rhys Gryg were the first to gain possession of Dinefwr, but on July 2, 1201, Maredudd was killed fighting against the Normans. Rhys Gryg managed to hold on to Dinefwr, but Gruffudd seized Cantref Bychan and its main castle at Llandovery. Then on July 21 Gruffudd died at Trate Florida, leaving two young sons, Rhys Ieunac and Owain. IN spite of their youth, the two sons continued the struggle against their uncles to hold on to at least some of their father's territory. During the next few years Dinefwr changed hands often but Rhys Gryg gradually asserted a hold on Ystrad Tywi. There were no surnames in the days of the Welsh "Rice" princes. The name "Rhys ap Tewdwr" means Rice, son of Tewdwr, with Rhys (or Rice) and Tewdwr both being first names. Thus Gruffudd ap Rhys is Gruffudd, son of Rhys, and his son, in turn, is Rhys ap Gruffudd. All their descendants could just as legitimately claim as a surname Tudor (Tedwdwr) or Griffith (Gruffudd), instead of Rice (Rhys). Later, when surnames became obligatory, some descendants adopted the Rice surname...........more notes......In the later part of his life, he owned a small plantation in the lower part of what is now called Hanover County, Virginia. He received this land from King George II by deed, dated April 29, 1693, for 1, 200 acres of land in Hanover County, on both sides of Cub Creek and Dirty Swamp, bounded by the lands of Col. Davis Meriwether, James Goodall and Richard Brooks. Tragedy overtook Thomas Rice when he let his wife, with nine sons and three daughters, and went to England to receive a considerable estate which had been left to him. He did not return. The sailors reported that he died at sea. It is supposed that he was assassinated. Nothing was ever heard regarding the inherited English estate. "His family was left destitute in a strange land....." "The family being left without an earthly father, were distressed, but they were, in the good providence of 'God, provided for." Memoirs of the Reverend David Rice, published by Thomas T. Skillman, Lexington, Kentucky. 1824, pg. 420. (B.R. 55K 46, rare Book Division, Congressional Library, Washington, D,C

James Rice had a brother Jonathan, and sisters Nancy and Sibeller Lydia. James and Alice had eight children, Nancy, James Jr., Frances, Hiram, Martha "Patsy", Sabra, and of course my 3rd Great Grandfather Jonathan. Jonathan, I call him Senior, was born 1760. He married his first cousin Rebecca Hix, daughter of John Hix and Sibeller Lydia Rice. This was not unusual for family to marry family, especially cousins. He may have grown up with her, and may have been the only woman within 100 miles that he liked. My Pappy, Lloyd Rice wrote "I married the girl that lived down the road". He married her because they grew up together, and live so close. They were married 62 years, not counting the years they grew up together. (From my notes.......Jonathan was the wealthy member of the family. Many were named after him for 3 generations. Inventory of property held 2-17- 1825. His will is in Will Book C Pg 160, Their home was in Logan Co Ky near the Robertson Co Tn State line. Several of his children died in infancy The children of Jonathan and Rebecca had fair intellects especially Jonathan Jr. Jonathan moved to Logan Co Ky in the late 1790's. Jonathan Jr. moved to Polk County, Mo. around 1835.) Jonathan was in the Mill business in Logan County, KY. Because of his wealth, he was left out of his father, James Rice, will. James Rice first settled in Robertson County, TN, and later moved to logan County, KY. We had family that lived on both sides of the River, as the river was the dividing line. James Rice is listed with the D.A.R. as America Revolutinary soldier, and I assume his venture to TN, was his miltary land grant tenured after the War. ( More Notes....You must realize by now that migration for what was to become America, led from Jamestown, down to Virginia and the Carolina’s. Then when Daniel Boone built the “Wilderness Path “, in to Kentucky, and Tennessee. All of the migration to Missouri came mostly from Kentucky and Tennessee. At that time, part of Kentucky belong to Virginia, before Kentucky became a state in 1797. There are a lot of Rice's in Kentucky, who settled there before statehood. The Rice’s migrated from Virginia, I suspect after the American Revolutionary War. Military/Pension Land Warrants were used a lot in Kentucky. These warrants were issued to soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War, instead of pay they got land warrants. Some of the Land Warrants were issued by the British, to those that help them fight the war, as if they really had a right, after that war, to give land away. History will show, that the very reasons that started Wars, those problems, seem to linger long after these Wars had ended. This also led to the War of 1812, when we finally kick the British boot out. These Land Warrants could be sold or given to others, many were given to other family members. They were like cash tender. By 1825, the warrants were no good in Kentucky., and Missouri and Illinois became public-domain, where you could buy 100 acres of land for $4. This was part of the Louisiana Purchase, 1803. Sometimes the land would be auctioned off. “Squatters” were people that settled land before a territory had become a state. After statehood, these people were offered to buy the land for $1.25 an acre up to 160 acres, and some of these folks lost their land in auctions.)
Jonathan Sr. and Rebecca had five children, Elizabeth "Betsy", Lydia, Nancy, Joshua Morris, and of course my 2nd Great Grandfather Jonathan. Jonathan Sr. died in 1825. Young Jonathan, born 1801, would have been twenty- four years old. I'm sure he accrued his fathers wealth and learned the trade of running a Mill. It was then in 1835 that Jonathan migrated to Polk County, Mo. According to my Uncle Jacks notes, Jonathan and his friend James Albert "Boone" Chastain and Boone's wife Elizabeth Porter Chastain made the trip, followed by several slaves. Both Jonathan and Boone were early settlers of that county. I assume that Jonathan and his friend Boone started a sawmill business. Boone was killed in a sawmill accident around 1838, and he is buried next to where the old sawmill once stood.
Let's get a visual on this whole situation. Elizabeth has her house, Jonathan has his house. Elizabeth has her slaves, and Jonathan has his. Elizabeth is now half owner of the Sawmill, and she is eighteen years old. Jonathan is twenty years older than Elizabeth. According to records three years pass before Jonathan marries Elizabeth, in 1841. I'm sure he took care of her during those years. But first they were friends, then business partners, and then husband and wife. What a story! They named there first born, my Great Grandfather Boone. Why? Because Boone was a dear friend, husband? Who knows, but the story of Boone Chastain is interesting. He was full French. I suspect that Elizabeth was full French also. That is why my DNA reflects so much French blood. Boone Chastain had a Great Grandfather by the name Pierre "Peter" Chastain who married Susanne Soblet.......(My notes.........Pierre and Susanne had 5 children when they fled from Charost across the Jura Mountains to Vevey, Canton Vaud, Switzerland to escape religious persecution. After September 1698, the family departed Vevey for The Hague in the Netherlands. From there they moved to London, England. Pierre became active in gathering a group of French Huguenot refugees for colonization in Virginia. They arrived with a group of 207 passengers from Gravesend, England on 19 April 1700 aboard the ship Mary and Ann of London, to the James River on 12 July 1700 and settled in Manakin,Goochland, Virginia about 20 miles up the James River. The group was given a 10,000 acre tract of land. Susanne died in February of 1701.) You can search the French Huguenot story on the internet. It's interesting! There was alot of French Huguenots that came to America, but Boone Chastain's family was first.

You already have the rest of Boone's story......well almost!

Lloyd Rice tells this story
"Shadows Over My Shoulders"
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Boone Chastine Rice b Dec 15 1844 in Ky., d 6 May 1913 Rogers Mill county, Ok. married Dec 5 1880 Barbara Amelia McMehen born Canada-Irish July 1857 d Dec 1 1925 Walnut Grove, Mo.

Children:

James Boone, born May 12, 1882, said to have been killed in a gunfight.



Mary Barbara (Mabel) b Jan 30 1884 married Charles Harless, had two sons. When the Rice family first migrated to Roger Mills County, Mabel was only 15 years old and she taught the school there at Clabber Hill.

twin Lloyd M b June 1885, my Grandfather, married Ira Belle Word. Ira Belle's Grandfather Orville Word, married Eliza Wilcox Hays. Eliza was one of the Great Grandaughter's of Daniel Boone.

twin Leslie M b June 1885, married Susie Noble, children: Barbara, Eddie, Bob,and Joe.

Robert M (Bobby) b June 1888 d 12/21/1921 died during WWI
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Biography of Boone C. Rice

Boone C. RICE was born in Polk County, MO, December 15, 1844. His father, Jonathan RICE, was a native of Logan County, KY, and came to Polk County, MO, in about 1830. The subject of this sketch was educated in the common schools of his native county, and at an early age, began farming. In 1863, he enlisted in Company L, 15th Missouri Cavalry, under Col. John Allen and was on Price's last raid through Missouri and participated in the battle of Big Blue, and other engagements. After the war, he returned to Polk County and went to farming on the old homestead, and also engaged in buying mules for the Southern market. Mr. RICE came to Walnut Grove in 1878, and worked for B.Y. ACUFF and J. BROWN till August 1880, when he opened up a drug store for himself, the firm being RICE & KING. The firm was dissolved by mutual consent in October 1882, and Mr. RICE made a trip to Texas, returning in December following. Mr. RICE was married December 5, 1880, to Miss Barbara McMEHEN, daughter of James McMEHEN, one of the most prominent citizens of the northwest part of Greene County. Mr. and Mrs. RICE have one child, a boy names James B., born May 12, 1882. Mr. RICE is a Freemason in good standing, and his wife belongs to the M.E. Church South. They have many warm friends, and are highly esteemed by all who know them. Mr. RICE has been quite successful in business and retains the confidence of people among whom his business career has been known.
Source: "History of Greene County, 1883", R. I Holcomb, Editing Historian, Biographies.

Daniel Rice comments: I have corrected this Biography, originally written by Goodspeed publishing and then transcribed again by R.I. Holcombe.. It says that Boone was with the 15th Missouri Calvary, CSA , this is not true. There was a 15th Missouri Calvary Army of the Northern Sub-District of Arkansas, Surrendered 11 May 1865 by M. Jeff Thompson to MG G. M. Dodge, commanding the Department of Missouri. Paroled at Jacksonport, Ark, 5 Jun 1865. The 15th fought many battles in Missouri. But by 1863, the Union Troops were in control of Missouri. There were no more CSA units in Missouri. Boone Rice enlisted on Nov. 1, 1863 in Co. L, 15th Regiment., Missouri Vol. Cavalry. Discharged on July 1, 1865.This is reflected on Boone’s discharge of which I have in my possession. Boone was seventeen years old when he entered service and nineteen years old when discharged. Boone may have been in the “Battle of Price’s Last Raid”, but not as a Confederate. It was General Sterling Price's last attempt to take Missouri back from the occupying Union Army in the fall of 1864. Price marched out of Arkansas with eight ragged brigades totaling about 12,000 men, led by some of his most competent generals, including Jo Shelby, James S. Fagan, John S. Marmaduke and the “Swamp Fox,” Jeff Thompson. He hoped many more Missouri boys would join him as he marched through the State, but this hoped for support (part of which he imagined to be members of a shadowy Confederate underground sometimes known as the “Knights of the Golden Circle”) never really materialized.

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Daniel Rice comments: There were some prominent stock men (cattlemen) in Walnut Grove township. I believe B.C. Rice , in this biography, made the trip to Texas to sell cattle or mules, selling to the Southern Market. Then eventually, I believe is why he settled in Roger Mills County, Ok. To homestead a cattle ranch. By 1880, there were no more cattle drives to be found. Moving cattle was now in the hands of the great railroad system. The Railroad had bypassed the town of Orleans, close to where Boone lived. Eventually Orleans became non-existent. Boone is now forty-five years old, but he needed to move on. Boone brought his cattle with him to Oklahoma in 1889. They lived in tents for almost two years, in the Arbuckle Indian Territory, close to Purcell, Ok., and then participated in the “Oklahoma Run”, in 1892. During this time he leased land to grow feed for his cattle. Lloyd M. Rice wrote " In a few minutes he (Boone) came back to the second wagon, pulled by four horses and driven by my twin brother. The wheel horse was saddled and one of us rode it while the other drove. Sometimes one rode a horse and herded the cattle following behind the wagons", "The Land is again a cattle ranch. However, there are no small boys chasing coyotes to their dens in this modern age". To put this in perspective, Lloyd and Leslie were only five or six years old when they made this trip. Here was one twin boy on a horse, and the other twin pulling at the reins of a covered wagon. Even though the “Run” had been announced in 1889, due to government bureaucracy, the run did not take place till 1892. There were problems getting some of the Indians off the land, and some of the Indians got first choice of properties, which had to be formalized. The land also had to be surveyed, which took a substantial amount of time. Maybe Boone thought it was going to happen quickly, which it didn’t, but at any rate, they lived there in limbo for some time. I have been told by reliable sources, that almost twenty-five thousand settlers lined on the Texas side of the territory, and they ran south to north. The U.S, Calvary was there, and fired the gun to start the “Run”, and yes, there were those who jumped the gun, now called “Sooner’s”. It would be almost another fifteen years before any roads were built around Roger Mills County. When Boone settled on the land, they made a “dugout” to live in until they built the house. When, my brother Tim, and my father visited there in the mid-seventies, the old dugout was still visible, the windmill was still standing. It must have taken months getting the lumber to the land to build the home. The lumber was hauled one hundred and fifty miles from the end of the railroad. It is overwhelming for me to think of this land with no roads, no fences, wild prairie grass growing to shoulder length while on horseback. Daniel Rice and notes from Uncle Jack

Prior to the passage of the Organic Act of 1890, an Indian Commission of three men were appointed to work with the Indians and persuade them to take their lands by allotment. The surplus would then be opened for settlement. The Indian Commission worked with the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes at Fort Sill for several years, and finally the Jerome Agreement was signed. The Tribes were allotted their homesteads, and the remainder of the rest of the area would be available for settlement by others. The lands of the Cheyenne - Arapaho country were to be decided by a "land run", a race for claims in the reservation. This run was held April 19, 1892. Daniel Rice

When driving between Lone Wolf in Kiowa County and Granite in Greer County, on Highway 9, or west out of Sentinel on Highway 55, even the natives of the area has trouble imagining six million Texas Longhorn cattle with hundreds of trail bosses, chuckwagons, and remudas of 40 to 50 horses ambling through and grazing contentedly in the lush, green grass during the period from 1866 until 1885. In addition to the many enormous drives, cattle herds also traveled in fewer numbers until 1892 when homesteaders located and began fencing Oklahoma Territory. Local lore and history tells about the Great Western Trail traversing this area with it's origin at Bandera, Texas, just to the NW of San Antonio, about 450 miles south of the Red River, and it's destination of Dodge City, Kansas, about 45 miles north of Indian Territory. Some historians called the trail the old Doan Trail, because it crossed the Red River at Doan's crossing. Others called it the Old Dodge City Trail, because it ended at Dodge City. Some even confused it with the Chisholm or Chisum Trail, which actually lay further east near El Reno. Oklahoma State Highway Department called it the Old Texas Trail on their map published in 1933.
The Great Western cattle Trail was only a few miles west of Elk City, and the Rice Homestead. After the land had been settled in 1892, there were others who used the old trail. Lloyd M. Rice wrote: Father had a windmill on the place, which furnished an everlasting stream of pure, cold water. So, all the freighters, all the hunters of homes, all the outlaws, all the people who were running from "you guess what" came by our Homestead...at different times we met Frank and Jesse James, Temple Houston and others who were nameless. They stopped, drank our water, watered their horses and slept in my fathers house, ate his bread and went on their way. Daniel Rice

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Boone C. Rice Register of Land Office at Mangum, OK
Homestead Certificate #4320 and application #17623
Legal Description is
SE1/4NW1/4, NE1/4SW1/4 AND the Lots numbered 2 and 3 of Section 18-12-21.
containing 152 and 56/100 acres.

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Original Civil War Discharge By Daniel Rice
Boone C. Rice served with:

15th REGIMENT MO CAVALRY.

Organized November 1, 1863, from 7th Regiment Enrolled Militia. Attached to District of Southwest Missouri, Dept. Missouri, to April, 1865. District of North Missouri, Dept. Missouri, to July, 1865.

SERVICE.--Scout and patrol duty in District of Southwest Missouri till April, 1865, and in North Missouri till July, 1865. Actions at Mt. Vernon September 30, 1864; Moreau Bottom, Jefferson City, October 7; Booneville October 9-12; Big Blue or State Line October 22. Engagement at the Marmiton, or Battle of Charlot, October 25. Mine Creek, Little Osage River, Marias des Cygnes, October 25. Newtonia October 28. Affair near James Creek April 27, 1865 (Co. "C"). Mustered out July 1, 1865.
Lost during service 1 Officer and 6 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 35 Enlisted men by disease. Total 43.
Source of Data: "A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, V.III" by Frederick H. Dyer, c1908, p.1311
Daniel Rice Comments: His Military record indicates he showed up the first day with the clothes on his back, a good horse and saddle. He was also sick for a two week period in 1864.

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Census Information

1900 Roger Mills County Census Elk Township in Household 472 was
B.C. Rice, head, born Dec 1844, 54 years old married 20 years, born MO, dad born in KY, mom born in KY, farmer and can read and write
Barbara, wife, born July 1857, 42 years, married 20 years bore 5 kids, 5 kids living, born in Canada-Irish.
Lloyd M, son, born June 1885, 14 years born MO twin
Leslie M, born June 1885, 14 years born MO twin
Robert M born June 1888, 11 years, born MO


1910 Census Roger Mills County, Kiowa Township, Household 39, E.D. (Enumeration District 241, Moad is census taker in April 1910 and sheet 2-B
Boon C. Rice 63 years m. 28 years
Barbara is 49 and married 28 years, had 5 kids, 5 living
Robert M 21 years
Lloyd M and 22 years old married 1 year
Ira daughter-in-law 18 years married 1 year
James B son 5/12 1882

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Tidbit's
100 years ago

Cheyenne Sunbeam Newspaper 9-5-1902

The county commissioners appointed B.C. RICE as Justice of the Peace for Kiowa Township, Ok. Sept. 5, 1902
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Early History, Walnut Grove Township, Greene County, Missouri From "History of Greene County, Missouri," St. Louis: Western Historical Company, 1883.

"The first death was that of Boone Chastine, of Kentucky, who died in 1838, and was buried at the present site of a saw mill."
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Obituaries

BOONE C RICE
Born 15DEC1844
Married 5 DEC 1880
Died 6 MAY 1913
Buried Grandview Cemetery
Beckham County, OK
Husband of Barbara A. McMehen
B.C. Rice, an old and highly respected citizen who lived 12 miles north of town, died in Elk City Tuesday. Mr. Rice had been sick for several weeks a short time ago his condition became so serious that he was brought to town so he could be under the constant care of the physician. His condition became more serious Tuesday and an operation was performed but without relief and he grew weaker until death relieved his sufferings.
Funeral services were held at the residence on east Third Street Wednesday afternoon conducted by the Masonic Lodge of which e was an honored member. Burial at the Grandview Cemetery. He leaves a wife and five children all grown. Mrs. C.E. Harless, a daughter from Kansas City was here to attend the funeral.
8 May 1913 Elk City Newspaper



It appears that on Boone C. Rice's grave there is a military stone. There are no dates on the stone but this info says that the stone says.
TRL 15 MO Cav.- TRL means Troop or Company L

Barbara McMehen Rice
Born July 1857
Died 1 DEC1925
Buried Grandview Cemetery
Wife of Boone C Rice
Daughter of James and Harriett Rebecca McConnell

Mrs. M. Reger received a sad message last Tuesday afternoon stating that her sister, Mrs. Rice had died suddenly at Walnut Grove, Missouri, that day. Mrs. Regers left Wednesday for Missouri and returned Saturday night with the corpse and relatives.
Mrs. Barbara Rice died Dec 1, 1925 at Walnut Grove, Missouri. Her remains were shipped to Elk City Saturday night and her funeral was preached by Rev. Webb of Elk City at the Grandview School house Sunday. She was laid to rest in the Grandview Cemetery Sunday afternoon. A large crowd of relatives and friends from Cheyenne, Sandstone, Bella Vista, Elk City and Grandview attended the services. She leaves to mourn her passing a mother of Walnut Grove, Missouri; a sister, Mrs. Regers of Grandview; a brother, two sons, Lloyd and Leslie Rice of Oklahoma and daughter Mrs. Harliss of Texas and many other relatives and friends.
December 10, 1925 Elk City News

(These family members buried at Grandview Cemetery, Elk City, Ok.)

Rice Barbara A. (McMehen) 12/01/1925 W/O Boone C. D/O James & Harriett Rebecca (McConnell)

Rice Boone C. H/O Barbara (McMehen)

Robert M. 12/21/1921 S/O Boone C.& Barbara (McMehen)
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Now that I have laid down some History of Boone Rice. Let's speculate on him making the biggest decision of his life. Concerning the Civil War. Boone C. Rice had to make a decision. Would he join the North or the South in the Civil War. This was probably the most important decision in his life. It was, by all accounts, a decision of life or death. His father, Jonathan, was not around in 1863, to give him any kind of guidance. His mother Elizabeth, when Boone was to go to war, would be left home with Margaret age 13 being the oldest, and young Logan Joshua at age 11, the oldest boy. Jonathan’s father, Jonathan, in Kentucky, had many slaves. Jonathan and Elizabeth also were large slave holders in Polk County, Mo. The Civil War events that unfolded leading up to 1863, leads me to believe his decision to join the Union Army was two-fold. Even if he was a Southern sympathizer, Missouri was now controlled by the Union troops. Also, the Emancipation Proclamation was written in 1862. Quite simply, slavery was to be abolished. Polk County was his home, and the home of his mother and father before him. If these were the laws of his home, he had to adhere to them, no matter what his belief was. This was a difficult time for Boone and others, who had to make these decisions. Hatred was rampant from both sides of this issue. By the end of the war in 1865, people were sick of the feuding, and the dying. Upon surrendering, General Robert E. Lee said “ I can not stand to see one more of our young boy’s die, as so many have”. I seldom think about Boone. What he thought, and how he felt leaving his mother with his younger brothers and sisters. Would he make it back, to help her, and be healthy? When he returned from the war, he stayed with his mother till she died some 15 years later, and did not marry until after her death. It seems that Boone became a pillar for his mother, and then later for his brothers and sisters, and even later for his own family when they moved to Oklahoma. He was a man respected by his family and by his community.

Boone’s story is unique, and a big part of history. I am so proud of what he accomplished in his lifetime, and proud to be his Great Grandson. God Bless Him!

Please Enjoy these remnants of Boone, as I have over the years collecting this history. I hope you know him alot better, and please pass this to your children.....and their children.

Daniel

P.S. There is this song that reminds me of Boone. They played the song alot after 911, and our troops went off to War. Five for Fighting "Superman". Maybe I'll do the WORD family next week...:)