# Caleb Rice

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{{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](/source/Mayor_of_Springfield%2C_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](/source/Boston%2C_Massachusetts) | year =1916}}</ref>  Sheriff of<br>[Hampden County, Massachusetts](/source/Hampden_County%2C_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](/source/Boston%2C_Massachusetts) | year = 1895}}</ref>   
|successor2=Patrick Boies<ref name="DavisPage169"/>
|office3=Member of the <br>Board of Selectmen<br>of<br>[West Springfield, Massachusetts](/source/West_Springfield%2C_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](/source/Boston%2C_Massachusetts) | 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](/source/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](/source/Boston%2C_Massachusetts) | 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](/source/Conway%2C_Massachusetts)  
|death_date={{death date and age|1873|3|1|1792|4|4}}   
|death_place= 
|party= 
|profession= Attorney, businessman
|alma_mater=[Williams College](/source/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](/source/List_of_mayors_of_Springfield%2C_Massachusetts) of [Springfield, Massachusetts](/source/Springfield%2C_Massachusetts), when it became a city in 1852, and the first president of [MassMutual](/source/MassMutual) Life Insurance Company, now a [Fortune 100](/source/Fortune_100) company.<ref name="TheNEMagV.28-1903p209"/>

==Early years==
Caleb Rice was born on April 4, 1792, in [Conway, Massachusetts](/source/Conway%2C_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](/source/List_of_mayors_of_Springfield%2C_Massachusetts) of [Springfield, Massachusetts](/source/Springfield%2C_Massachusetts), when it became a city in 1852, and he was also the first president of [MassMutual](/source/MassMutual) Life Insurance Company. Rice also served as the third Sheriff of [Hampden County, Massachusetts](/source/Hampden_County%2C_Massachusetts), and on the Board of Selectmen of [West Springfield, Massachusetts](/source/West_Springfield%2C_Massachusetts),<ref name="CopelandPage222"/> Additionally, Rice served for five years in the [Massachusetts House of Representatives](/source/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](/source/Edmund_Rice_(1638)) an early immigrant to [Massachusetts Bay Colony](/source/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](/source/Edmund_Rice_(1638)) (circa 1594–1663)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{succession box | title=1st [Mayor](/source/List_of_mayors_of_Springfield%2C_Massachusetts) of [Springfield, Massachusetts](/source/Springfield%2C_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](/source/Massachusetts_Mutual_Life_Insurance_Company)
| before=None 
| after=  
| years=June 1851 – March 1, 1873}}
{{succession box
| title =President of the [Springfield](/source/Springfield%2C_Massachusetts) 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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Caleb Rice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caleb_Rice) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caleb_Rice?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.