Edmund RICE, Congress, MN (1819-1889)

RICE, Edmund, (brother of Henry Mower Rice), a Representative from Minnesota; born in Waitsfield, Vt., February 14, 1819; attended the common schools; moved to Kalamazoo, Mich., in November 1838; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1842 and commenced practice in Kalamazoo; register of the court of chancery in 1841; master in chancery in 1845; enlisted to serve in the Mexican War in 1847; commissioned first lieutenant of Company A, First Regiment, Michigan Volunteers; moved to St. Paul, Minn., in July 1849; clerk of the State supreme court, third circuit, in 1849; member of the Territorial house of representatives in 1851; practiced law until 1856; elected commissioner of Ramsey County in 1856; president of the Minnesota & Pacific Railroad Co. 1857-1863 and of the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad 1863-1872 and trustee of the latter in 1879; president of the St. Paul & Chicago Railroad 1863-1877; served in the State senate 1864-1866 and 1874-1876; member of the State house of representatives in 1867, 1872, 1877, and 1878; elected mayor of St. Paul and served from 1881 to 1883; again elected mayor in 1885 and served until February 1887, when he resigned; elected as a Democrat to the Fiftieth Congress (March 4, 1887-March 3, 1889); was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1888 to the Fifty-first Congress; retired from public and political activities; died at White Bear Lake, Ramsey County, Minn., on July 11, 1889; interment in Oakland Cemetery, St. Paul, Minn.

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