GEORGE RICE

William and Carrie Rice's son George Rice (photo, below right) was born in Texas on August 12, 1878. George Rice married Lula Myrtle Knudson on December 23, 1903 in Brown County, Texas. George and Lula Rice had four children: Callie Janet Rice; Nannie Beth Rice; Carman Rice; and, George Rice, Jr.

Lula Knudson Rice was the daughter of John and Nancy Knudson. Lula's paternal grandparents were born in Norway.

The genesis of George and Lula's relationship is worthy of mention. While a young man, George moved with his parents to their farm near Blanket, Texas. From the moment that he moved to that farm, George began hearing stories about the Knudson sisters, who lived nearby. These girls (Lula and her sisters) were said to be very attractive.

George determined to meet and date one of the Knudson girls. However, at the time that George came to reside near Blanket, the sisters were attending summer school in another locale. George had to wait for their return. When the girls returned, George managed to meet and date Lula: they married soon thereafter.

George and Lula Rice moved to Jayton, Kent County, Texas. For a while George had a partnership in a Jayton drug store; thereafter, he had a partnership in a dray line.

An active member of the Republican party, George was appointed Jayton postmaster by a Republican president. George's grandson, Robert Whitaker, heard that George was appointed postmaster because George was the only person in Kent County who would admit to being a Republican.

Although at that time the postmaster job was a political appointment that was customarily revoked when a new party gained the presidency, George continued to serve as postmaster even after a Democratic president (Franklin Roosevelt) was elected because the local Democrats could not agree on a replacement. George served as postmaster until his death; George's widow ran the post office for some time after George's death because the local Democrats continued to disagree about a replacement.

George's nephew, Lee Rice, Jr., recalled that his Uncle George was a smooth-tempered, well-respected man who did his job and then went home to his family. George Rice's daughter Carman recalled that her father did not curse, even in the face of discomfort. Carman recalled that George once put on some Aqua Velva shaving lotion immediately after shaving: George responded to the sting of the lotion by shouting, "Dad-gum; makes a fella' wish he had a tail to switch."

George died in Jayton on June 20, 1933.

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