[HI-FOOTSTEPS] Hi-Statewide Co. Bios (Rice)

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Statewide County HI Archives Biographies.....Rice, William Hyde July 23, 1846 - June 15, 1924
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
J. Orr orr at hawaii.com October 7, 2009, 3:04 pm

Source: The Story of Hawaii and Its Builders. Published by The Honolulu Star Bulletin, Territory of Hawaii, 1925.
Author: Edited by George F. Nellist

WILLIAM HYDE RICE, “The Grand Old Man of Kauai.” “One of the best loved 
citizens of Hawaii,” they said at the death on June 15, 1924, of William Hyde 
Rice, distinguished political leader and former governor of Kauai.
  Beloved by the native Hawaiians, for whose educational, political and 
spiritual uplift he had worked for decades, and by people of all other races, 
Mr. Rice was known throughout the territory as a friend of the people.
  Mr. Rice served Hawaii and loved Hawaii. He was one of the best Hawaiian 
scholars of the present generation, speaking and reading the language 
fluently, and was an acknowledged authority on Hawaiian legends and 
traditions. For more than 50 years he had collected native legends, and in his 
later life undertook the task of translating them from his manuscripts in the 
original Hawaiian. In 1923 the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum published his 
book, “Hawaiian Legends,” widely known by students of Hawaiian lore.
  A descendant of old missionary stock, Mr. Rice was always interested in 
church activities and Christian work among the natives. His grandfather, Jabez 
Backus Hyde, was one of the first missionaries to the Indians near Buffalo, 
New York, and his father and mother, William Harrison Rice and Mary Sophia 
(Hyde) Rice, came to Hawaii as missionaries in 1840. They were first stationed 
at Hana, Maui, but later were moved to the school for the children of 
missionaries established at Punahou in Honolulu in 1842. There William Hyde 
Rice was born on July 23, 1846, and when he was a small child the family 
removed to Lihue, Kauai, where Mr. Rice’s father was manager of Lihue 
plantation until his death in 1862. His mother, Mary (Hyde) Rice, maintained 
the family home at Lihue, where she died in 1911 at the age of 94.
  William Hyde Rice’s early education was obtained at the boarding school 
conducted by Rev. Daniel Dole at Koloa, Kauai. He later attended Oahu College, 
Punahou, and Braton’s College in Oakland, Calif. When he left school he was 
manager of the ranch at Lihue plantation under Mr. Paul Isenberg, a position 
which he held for two years.  Becoming interested in the sugar industry, Mr. 
Rice served as a director of Lihue plantation from 1900 to 1917 and was 
president of the William Hyde Rice Co., Ltd., which owns Kipu plantation and 
Lihue ranch. He was also president of the Honolulu Stockyards Co. for five 
years. He was a fancier and breeder of fine horses and cattle.
  Although his own inclination might have kept William Hyde Rice a country 
gentleman and a developer of the agricultural life of his community, he was 
early called to political service. He was sent to the House of Representatives 
under King Kamehameha V in 1870, the youngest man to serve. He was also a 
member of the House in 1873, 1882, 1887, 1888 and 1890 under the monarchy, and 
a member of the senate in 1895, 1896, 1897 and 1898 under the Republic of 
Hawaii.
  He was one of the thirteen committeemen who waited on King Kalakaua, giving 
him 24 hours to sign the constitution, and he also served in the famous 
convention which drew up the constitution for the Republic of Hawaii, which 
later was used as the foundation for the Organic Act. While Kalakaua still 
reigned, Mr. Rice was decorated by the King with the Order of Kalakaua and the 
Order of Kapiolani. When Queen Liliuokalani ascended the throne she appointed 
Mr. Rice Governor of Kauai, an office he held through the overthrow of the 
monarchy and during the period of the provisional government. As Governor of 
Kauai he was noted for his executive acts of friendship for the natives and 
his kindly, wise statesmanship. Hawaiians throughout the territory deeply 
loved their great friend.
  Mr. Rice generously supported missionary and church work, being an active 
member of the Lihue Hawaiian church for decades, and for years he was 
president of the Territorial Sunday School Association. In educational affairs 
he was also a leader. He was the presiding officer of the Kauai Teachers’ 
Association, now the Kauai Education Association, for several terms and to him 
is given much of the credit for the establishment of modern school buildings 
on Kauai. He also served as commissioner of education for Kauai.
  In connection with his agricultural interests, Mr. Rice imported many pure-
bred animals to Hawaii. His cattle were among the first Hereford and Ayrshire 
stock brought to the Islands. In 1870 Mr. Rice exported to California the 
first Hereford cattle imported into that state. He had obtained his stock from 
Australia and New Zealand. He also shipped to Japan some fine horses, among 
them a number for the special use of the Emperor. On one occasion he was 
presented with a pair of magnificent bronze vases from the Emperor of Japan, 
inlaid in gold with the imperial crest. He was also the recipient of many 
special courtesies on the occasion of his visit to Japan in 1904.
  In 1872 Mr. Rice married Miss Mary Waterhouse of Honolulu, the daughter of 
John Thomas Waterhouse. Their children are William Henry, Charles Atwood, 
Arthur Hyde, Harold Waterhouse, and Philip L. Rice, Mrs. W. H. Scott, who died 
in 1923; Mrs. Ralph L. Wilcox, and Mrs. L. L. Sexton. Mr. Rice’s death 
occurred June 15, 1924. His business interests are now being managed by a son, 
Senator Charles A. Rice.


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