THEODORE RICE (REISS, REUSSE)

 

     Theodore Rice - formally spelled "Reiss" and originally spelled "Reusse", b August 26, 1828 in Hessian  Province, Germany, d January 15, 1884 of pneumonia at his located one and a half miles west of Perry, Falls County, Texas and buried there in Reusse Cemetery - immigrated to America ca 1847, and then settled in the community first known as Peyton, and later renamed Perry. By 1860, a brother, George Reusse, and an uncle, John V. Reusse, with his wife and several sons, had also settled in Falls County, Texas.

     Theodore obtained the job of clearing land for Judge Albert Perry, who had received a grant for a league of land in 1835 at Viesca - left the area during the Run -Away Scrape - returning to Falls County in 1852 from Grimes County, in exchange for one acre of land for each day's labor. In only 165 days, Theodore was deeded 165 acres of land from the Jonathan C. Peyton survey, in the Gregoria Basquez eleven-league grant.

     Theodore, George, and a cousin cut and hewed the logs for their homes, using cedar pins to fasten them together. This one-room cabin became the nucleus for additions of four rooms, and other improvements through the years, for which lumber was hauled from Houston. There was a cellar in which Theodore stored goods, including shoes, food, and hardware, hauled from Houston, to sell to neighbors. There was a fireplace room with three fireplaces. After his marriage, Theodore built a milk room, where he milked 25 to 30 cows daily - using the milk for drinking, cooking, cheese-making, and as hog and chicken feed. He built a three-foot square pit, three and one-half feet deep, lined it with clay, for cooking purposes.

     On January 21,1858 in Falls County, Texas, Chief Justice Frank W. Capps performed a marriage ceremony for Theodore Rice (Reiss) to Catherine Elizabeth Koch (pronounced "Cook"), b June 22, 1841, d November 20, 1879 after the birth of their tenth child - a sister of George Koch, who also settled in Falls County.

     On June 27, 1862, Theodore Rice enlisted in the Confederate States Army, and was discharged on May 25, 1865 at Millican, Texas - returning to his family in Falls County at that time after the Civil War.

     Theodore and Catherine planted orchards, berries, and pecan trees, in addition to their garden and other edible crops. He raised cotton, and they wove the baskets of different sizes used for picking, transferring the cotton to the gin, and for storage.

    Settlers held their first church services in the Theodore Rice Home, where, on June 30, 1872, a Methodist Church was chartered and called Peyton Methodist Church, with the Rice, Fedra (later Fedro), Bischnow, Wolff, Clark, and Schultze families as charter members. Their first building, erected in 1876, was also used for the Peyton School on Sandy Creek until the railroad caused the growth of the community, and in 1883 was renamed "Perry" in honor of Judge Albert G. Perry. The church moved to its present location in 1884, and became the Perry Methodist Church.

     The Rice was lived in and kept in good repair for about eighty years, and was a tourist attraction before it burned in October 1945, while it was occupied by a daughter, Mary (Rice) Collins.

     The known children of Theodore and Catherine Elizabeth (Koch) Rice were all born in Falls County,  Texas, and were:      John F. Rice, b ca 1859 - married in Falls County, Texas on September 9, 1880 to Martha Binnicker (called "Mattie").

     George Rice, b ca 1860 - no further information.

     Mary Rice, b ca 1863 - married a Mr. Collins. She was living in the of her parents when it burned in 1945.

     Albert Rice, b 1866 - no further information.

     Elizabeth Virginia Rice, b July 17, 1867 - married January 16, 1888 to Porter R. Mullens, b June 6, 1865 - a son of Isaac Porter and Nancy Adeline (Morgan) Mullens.

     Anna Cristine Rice (called "Annie"), b February 8, 1871, d June 4, 1956 and buried in Perry Methodist Church Cemetery in Falls County, Texas - married in Falls County on January 25,1893 to August T. Neumann, b January 13, 1868, d November 16, 1952 and buried in Perry Methodist Church Cemetery. They had a son, Theodore Neumann, b January 2, 1894, d February 15, 1897; and a daughter Lillian Neumann, who married Edgar A. Havekost, of Waco, Texas, and had Patricia Havekost who married Earl Conrad Hancock, Jr. - a Falls County native; and a son, Roger Havekost, who is a lawyer in Austin, Texas.

     Josephine Rice, b ca 1874 - no further information. .

     William T. Rice, b December 26, 1876 - married January 19, 1901 to Anna Paralee Goodman, b July 18, 1880 - a daughter of G. H. Goodman and his wife, Peachie (Mullens) Goodman - a daughter of Isaac Porter and Nancy Adeline (Morgan) Mullens.

     When the new wave of German settlers arrived in the Perry Community and surrounding area of Falls County in the early 1880's, it was Theodore Rice who gave them shelter until their own homes were built. Although most of his descendants are scattered, including a great grandson, Dr. Charles Rice, D. D. - a Methodist Minister - the imprint of this family on the Perry area of Falls County, Texas is indelible.

 

 

Copyright Permission granted to Theresa Carhart for printing the biographies of these Falls County Families to this Web page.
"Families of Falls County", Compiled and Edited by the Falls County Historical Commission, page 385 column 1 and 2 and page 386 column 1.  
Member of Falls County Historical Commission.