{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}} {{Infobox officeholder |name=Caleb Rice |image=Caleb Rice.png |caption= |order= |office= 1st Mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts |term_start=1852 |term_end=1853 |predecessor= Board of Selectmen |successor= Philos B. Tyler |office2=3rd<ref name="EncyofMassV.4-1916p53">{{Citation | last=Cutter | first=William Richard| title = Encyclopedia of Massachusetts, Biographical—Genealogical, Volume IV| page = 53 | publisher=American Historical Society (Inc.)| location = New York, N. Y., Boston, Ma | year =1916}}</ref> Sheriff of<br>Hampden County, Massachusetts |term_start2=1831 |term_end2=1851 |predecessor2=John Phelps<ref name="DavisPage169">{{Citation |last=Davis | first=William Thomas| title = Bench and Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Volume II | page = 169 | publisher=The Boston History Company | location = Boston, Ma | year = 1895}}</ref> |successor2=Patrick Boies<ref name="DavisPage169"/> |office3=Member of the <br>Board of Selectmen<br>of<br>West Springfield, Massachusetts<ref name="CopelandPage222">{{Citation |last=Copeland | first=Alfred Minott| title = Our County and Its People: A History of Hampden County Massachusetts, Volume 3| page = 222 | publisher=The Century Memorial Publishing Company | location = Boston, Ma | year = 1902}}</ref> |term_start3=1826<ref name="CopelandPage222"/> |term_end3=1830<ref name="CopelandPage222"/> |predecessor3= |successor3= |office4= 1st President of the<br>Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company<ref name="TheNEMagV.28-1903p209">{{Citation | last=Putnam | first=Henry H.| title =The New England magazine| volume= XXVIII|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j7oVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA209| page = 209| publisher=America Company| location = Boston, Ma | date =April 1903}}</ref> |term_start4=June 1851 |term_end4= March 1, 1873 |predecessor4=None |successor4=E. W. Bond<ref name="TheNEMagV.28-1903p209"/> |birth_date=April 4, 1792 |birth_place=Conway, Massachusetts |death_date={{death date and age|1873|3|1|1792|4|4}} |death_place= |party= |profession= Attorney, businessman |alma_mater=Williams College |spouse= Marietta Parsons Rice (m. 1826) |children= Joseph Rice (1828–1831); Benjamin Stebbins Rice (1829–1831); Elizabeth D. Rice (b. 1835) |signature= Caleb Rice Signature.png |footnotes= }}
'''Caleb Rice''' (1792–1873) was an American politician and businessman. He was the first Mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, when it became a city in 1852, and the first president of MassMutual Life Insurance Company, now a Fortune 100 company.<ref name="TheNEMagV.28-1903p209"/>
==Early years== Caleb Rice was born on April 4, 1792, in Conway, Massachusetts. He was the son of Joseph Rice and Betty (Dickerson) Rice. Rice married Marietta P. Parsons, daughter of Israel Parsons, in 1826.
==Career== Rice served as the first Mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts, when it became a city in 1852, and he was also the first president of MassMutual Life Insurance Company. Rice also served as the third Sheriff of Hampden County, Massachusetts, and on the Board of Selectmen of West Springfield, Massachusetts,<ref name="CopelandPage222"/> Additionally, Rice served for five years in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from Springfield.<ref>Ward, Andrew Henshaw. 1858. A genealogical History of the Rice Family: Descendants of Deacon Edmund Rice, Boston: C. Benjamin Richardson, Publisher. 379pp. [https://books.google.com/books/download/A_genealogical_history_of_the_Rice_famil.pdf?id=DKxOAAAAMAAJ&output=pdf&sig=ACfU3U3MH1Wk2ycAAqUP5Xs5hm4Uw5cqBg&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0 Download PDF]</ref> He died March 1, 1873.
==Genealogy and family relations== Rice was a direct descendant of Edmund Rice an early immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony as follows:<ref>Edmund Rice (1638) Association, 2010. Descendants of Edmund Rice: The First Nine Generations. (CD-ROM)</ref>
* '''Caleb Rice''', son of ** Joseph Rice (1768-1823), son of *** Israel Rice (1742-1833), son of **** Joseph Rice (1712-1789), son of ***** Phineas Rice (1682-1768), son of ****** Joseph Rice (1638-1711), son of ******* Edmund Rice (circa 1594–1663)
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-off}} {{succession box | title=1st Mayor of Springfield, Massachusetts | before=Board of Selectmen| after=Philos B. Tyler | years=1852–1853}} {{succession box | title= 3rd Sheriff of<br>Hampden County, Massachusetts | before=John Phelps| after=Patrick Boies| years=1831–1851}} {{s-bus}} {{succession box | title = 1st President of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company | before=None | after= | years=June 1851 – March 1, 1873}} {{succession box | title =President of the Springfield Aqueduct Company | before= | after= | years=1864 }} {{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Caleb}} Category:1792 births Category:1873 deaths Category:Williams College alumni Category:American chief executives Category:American businesspeople in the insurance industry Category:Mayors of Springfield, Massachusetts Category:Members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Category:People from Conway, Massachusetts Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:19th-century mayors of places in Massachusetts Category:19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court