Webster County Family Album
Webster County Family Album


This photo was probably taken in the 1920s. It shows the children of James Monroe Rice (1829-1876) and his wife Sibbie (Givens) Rice (1832-1883) of Lisman.
James Monroe Rice was a farmer, Confederate soldier, and a Mason. He died fairly young of pneumonia, as so many men did in those days. Charles Rice's great grandfather, Thomas Kearney Rice (1853-1933), stands in the center. His brother Edward Cosby Rice (b. 1862) is the big fellow on the left, while his brother Wade Hampton Rice is on the right.
Rice Brothers
Charles Rice presumes the girls are their sisters, probably Fee (Rice) Lisman (b. 1868) and maybe Virginia (b. 1860). My great aunt, the late Frances (Rice) Kelly of Louisville, thought the girls may have been some Baker cousins, but I think it more likely they were their sisters.

The Lisman and Dixon area Rices mostly descend from two brothers -- James Monroe Rice's father, Edward Rice (1798-1878), and James Rhodes Rice (1793-1852). The brothers married sisters, James R. Rice marrying Elizabeth Vonn Nichols, and Edward Rice marrying her younger sister, Macy Nichols. James R. Rice and Edward Rice were sons of James and Rachel (Taylor) Rice of Bertie, N. C. The brothers came to Kentucky in 1821. I cannot trace the family beyond their grandfather, William Rice (b. 1720s? d. 1762). Maybe someone else has had better luck.

There is an old story that when James and Edward Rice had first come to Kentucky, they rode past a two-story log house. Seated on a woodpile was a pretty young girl. Edward supposedly turned to his brother and said, "Jim, someday I'm going to marry that girl." The house belong to Noah Nichols, also from Bertie County County, N. C. The girl was his daughter, Macy. Whether it's true or not, it makes a romantic story.

Submitted by Charles Rice


This project was inspired by the terrific
Sumner County TN Family Album.
Back to the Webster County Family Album index