Frederick Rice

  General Notes:

Mr. Rice was one of our earliest pioneers, having come with his parents to Wayne county in 1819. They first located near Tylertown and 2 years later purchased the farm 1/2 mile west of New Pittsburg. Here our subject, though, but a boy of 6 began the hard struggle of pioneer life. Every foot of the land was under heavy timber and altogether unimproved. The sentences of his boy life were punctuated by the ring of the axe and the halo of his youthful days was the blaze of the brush fires. The log cabin with its narrow windows and broad hearthstone constituted for him the holy shrine of home and hard labor was the school in which he not only developed a strong man hood but also a strong character. His education so far as letters are concerned was obtained in the log school-house, but unclassical as it may have been, he fully learned the lessons of industry, honesty and integrity and by the higher mathematics of experience summed them up to mean success. He helped to build the first cabin in New Pittsburg and on his trips to the County seat, Wooster, passed but three houses by the way. He had faith in "fertile soil and honest toil" and chose farming as a vocation, and notwithstanding the cares of a large family, all of whom were always well cared for and provided with reasonable education, he accumulated quite a competence and owned at the time of his death between five and six hundred acres of choice farming lands.
Like his father before him he was a religious man and often we have heard him tell how among the first buildings erected after the few log cabins had been built was a log church on his father's farm where preaching was had at long intervals. He united with the church, when nearly 30 years old under the pastoral care of Rev. Kline and was an active and faithful member until his death. He was married on the 5th of March, 1840 to Miss Diana Firestone and there were born to them 12 children, 4 sons and 8 daughters.

Frederick married Diana Firestone, daughter of John F. Firestone and Rachel Roller, on 5 Mar 1840 in Franklin Twp, Wayne Co. OH. (Diana Firestone was born on 20 Feb 1823 in Wayne County, Ohio, died on 15 Mar 1915 in Chester Twp, Wayne Co. OH. and was buried in New Pittsburg Cemetery, Wayne Co. OH..)

  Marriage Notes:

Married by John Allison, JP