Benjamin Franklin RICE, Congress, AR (1828-1905)

RICE, Benjamin Franklin, a Senator from Arkansas; born in East Otto, Cattaraugus County, N.Y., on May 26, 1828; attended private schools; studied law; admitted to the bar and practiced in Irvine, Estill County, Ky.; member, State house of representatives 1855-1856; presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1856; moved to Minnesota in 1860; during the Civil War served in the Union Army as a captain and was promoted to judge advocate in the Minnesota Volunteers; settled in Little Rock, Ark., in 1864 and resumed the practice of law; active in organizing the Republican Party in Arkansas; appointed chairman of the committee to prepare a code of practice for the State in 1868; upon the readmission of the State of Arkansas to representation was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from June 23, 1868, to March 3, 1873; chairman, Committee on Mines and Mining (Forty-second Congress); resumed the practice of law in Arkansas; because of ill health moved to Colorado in 1875; moved to Washington, D.C., in 1882, where he continued the practice of law until his death; died in Tulsa, Okla., January 19, 1905; interment in Oak Hill Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present