Representative Theron Moses Rice

Theron Moses Rice (September 21, 1829 – November 7, 1895) was a U.S. Representative from Missouri and a member of the National Greenbacker Party. He was born in Mecca, Trumbull County, Ohio, on September 21, 1829. Raised in the Western Reserve region of Ohio, he pursued his early education at an academy in Farmington, Ohio, and later attended Geauga Academy in Chester. At Geauga Academy he became acquainted with future President James A. Garfield and Garfield’s future wife, Lucretia Rudolph (later Lucretia Garfield), who were fellow students during the same period.

After completing his studies, Rice qualified as a schoolteacher and taught school in Ohio. While engaged in teaching, he studied law under the tutelage of attorney John Hutchins. He was admitted to the bar in June 1854 and commenced the practice of law in Mahoning County, Ohio. Seeking new professional opportunities in the expanding West, Rice moved in 1858 to California, Moniteau County, Missouri, where he continued his legal career and established himself in the community in the years immediately preceding the Civil War.

During the American Civil War, Rice was an active supporter of the Union. From June to October 1861 he served in a home guard unit in Missouri commanded by Colonel Allen P. Richardson. During this period of service he was offered the position of second in command with the rank of lieutenant colonel, an appointment he declined. Subsequently, he took a more direct role in the Union war effort by recruiting a company of volunteers that was mustered into service as part of the 26th Missouri Volunteer Infantry. Rice served with this regiment until the end of the war, participating in all of its principal engagements, including the Siege of Corinth, the Battle of Iuka, the Battle of Missionary Ridge, and General William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea. Over the course of his service he advanced through the ranks to command the regiment with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and in the summer of 1865 he led the unit to St. Louis, Missouri, where it was mustered out of service.

Following the war, Rice returned to civilian life and resumed the practice of law, settling in Tipton, Missouri. His legal abilities and standing in the community led to his selection as a judge of the Missouri Circuit Court, a position he held from 1868 to 1874. In this judicial capacity he presided over a broad range of civil and criminal matters during a period of reconstruction and economic adjustment in Missouri, further enhancing his reputation as a lawyer and public servant.

Rice entered national politics as a representative of agrarian and monetary reform interests. He was elected as a member of the National Greenbacker Party to the Forty-seventh Congress and served one term from March 4, 1881, to March 3, 1883, representing Missouri. As a Greenback congressman, he participated in the legislative process during a significant period in American history marked by debates over currency policy, economic recovery following the Panic of 1873, and the interests of farmers and laborers. In Congress he represented the concerns of his Missouri constituents within the broader Greenback movement’s advocacy for an expanded paper currency and relief from deflationary pressures. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1882 and concluded his congressional service at the end of his term.

After leaving Congress, Rice returned to private life and again took up the practice of law, this time in Boonville, Cooper County, Missouri. He continued his legal work there for the remainder of his life. Theron Moses Rice died in Boonville on November 7, 1895. He was interred in Tipton Cemetery in Tipton, Missouri, reflecting his long association with central Missouri as a lawyer, judge, soldier, and public official.