Merced County Biographies

MRS. LUCINDA RICE

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
        Held in high esteem by all who know her, Mrs. Lucinda Rice is recognized 
as one of the guiding spirits for the betterment of conditions in Winton, Merced 
County. A native of Bracken County, Ky., she was married near Blue Lick Springs, 
Nicholas County, Ky., to Joseph William Rice, born in Robertson County, that 
state, on September 29, 1860. They moved to Morton County, Kansas, but finding 
it too dry there moved back to Kentucky and settled in Bourbon County, near 
Paris, remaining until 1906, when they located in Pueblo, Colo., where Mr. Rice 
farmed leased land. In 1911 they came to Winton, Cal., and bought land in Merced 
Colony No. 3, put in alfalfa and built a home in Winton, which is still known as 
the Rice home. Selling their first piece of land they invested in a peach 
orchard of thirteen and one-half acres south of town, which Mrs. Rice still 
owns. Mr. Rice died on October 9, 1923. They had five children: Margaret C., 
Mrs. C. J. Cassell, mentioned elsewhere in this history; Irvin Galbraith, the 
eldest, proprietor of a general store in Manzanola, Colo.; Iva Ray, married to 
Nathan Wheeler, a machinist near Pueblo, Colo.; Bessie May, the wife of Franklin 
Poteet, a machinist in Pueblo; and Bernie E., who died at the age of fourteen.
        Mrs. Rice was the first acting postmaster at Winton, preceding H. A. 
Logue, the first regularly appointed postmaster. By popular consent Mrs. Rice 
was allowed to distribute the mail, thus making her the first official. She is 
an active member of the Presbyterian Church at Winton, Mr. Rice serving as an 
elder from the date of the organization of the denomination in Winton, of which 
both Mr. and Mrs. Rice were factors. She was one of the organizers of the 
Woman's Improvement Club and has never relinquished her interest in its 
activities. She was also instrumental in the organization of the Winton Center 
of the Merced County Farm Bureau and the local Home Department, and took an 
active part in establishing the Parent-Teachers Association. Hers is truly a 
benign influence which is felt in all things for the betterment of the community 
in general.
 
History of Merced County, California � Los Angeles, Historic Record Co., 1925
page 822-823