Pueblo County, Colorado
CAPT. JAMES RICE

Contributed by Karen Mitchell.

The town of Pueblo was yet, as it were, in its infancy when Capt. Rice came there in 1868. He built the first brick storehouse in the place, and was himself the first Mayor of the town. The Captain was born in the State of Vermont, at Hartford, December 29, 1830. After his schooldays, he learned the trade of a machinist, subsequently working at his trade at various places in Vermont for several years. He was married in Greensboro, Vt., July 9, 1861, to Miss Carrie E. Stevens. He served through the late war; first as a musician in the Fifth Vermont Volunteers, and latterly as a Captain in the Eleventh Vermont. After the close of the war, he located in business at Providence, R. I., where he lived until coming West in 1868. In April of that year he settled at Pueblo, where he opened a tobacco store. In 1870, he began the business he is now engaged in—dealing in books and stationery. He then erected the building which he now occupies, and which also contains the post office. Capt. Rice assisted in organizing the town of Pueblo. He was one of the first Trustees, and was Mayor of the town during the first three terms of that office. He was a member of the Legislative Council, representing the counties of El Paso and Pueblo in 1875 –76. In November, 1880, he was elected Regent of the State University of Colorado, which office he now holds. Capt. Rice has ever been a public spirited man; and he has labored much for the general interests of Pueblo, for which he receives and well deserves the esteem of his fellow-citizens.  History of the Arkansas Valley, Colorado O L Baskin & Co., Chicago, 1881



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