Biographies R
The Rice Family of Greenville
The story of the Rice family of Greenville and their business activities is a remarkable story of a successful family enterprise established in the last generation and now carried on as a partnership by three living sons.
S.E. Rice, founder, was a native of Muhlenberg County. In his early manhood he farmed in the county, and began buying tobacco while still on his farm. He moved to Greenville in 1891, joining the tobacco business owned by his cousin, the E. Rice Tobacco Company. In 1906 the S.E. Rice Tobacco Company was established for the manufacture of twist, plug and smoking tobacco, with Mr. Rice occupying the presidency of the firm at its founding and continuing in that capacity until his death in 1924.
Since his death his sons have carried on the business and expanded into other branches with success. They manufacture “Rice's Best,” “R.T. Martin Jr.,” “J.B. Twist,” “Rough Country Twist,” “Fox Ridge Twist,” “Kentucky Colonel,” all twist tobaccos, “Elk's Choice” and “Royal Blue” smoking tobaccos, and “R.T. Martin Greenville,” a machine made plug chewing tobacco. Their product is channeled into the market through the jobbing trade.
In 1928 the Rice brothers established the Central Supply Company in Greenville, a firm dealing in mill supplies, heavy hardware and mine equipment. Another business enterprise owned by the Rice brothers is Martin-Rice and Company of Greenville, a firm of jobbers of tobacco, cigars and chewing gum. For 15 years the Rice brothers owned controlling interest in the Nave Cummins Company, a wholesale grocery house at Providence, Kentucky, but they disposed of this business to the minority stockholder, Mr. Cummins, in 1941, because they were unable to give it their personal attention. In their various enterprises they employ approximately 125 persons.
L.E. Rice, elder of the brothers, studied medicine, attending the Hospital of Medicine in Louisville. He worked his way through school by selling tobacco during the summer months. After receiving his M.D. degree he decided to work a while longer in the tobacco business to accumulate sufficient funds to begin his medical practice. According to Dr. Rice, he hasn't yet become able to begin his medical practice.
He first went to Nashville, Tennessee, and in assocation with three others established the Cumberland Tobacco Works, which has continued a thriving business, although Dr. Rice did not remain there very long. He returned to the family business, and has remained actively engaged in its management since that time.
He married Hattie Neagle of Warren County. They are parents of three children: Mary Helen, now a medical student at Vanderbilt University; Nell Grigsby, student at the University of Kentucky; and L.E., Jr., who was killed in Germany on March 7, 1945.
Dr. Rice, a Republican, served as mayor of Greenville from 1921 to 1925, during which administration the first hard surface streets were laid in the city. He is a member of Phi Chi medical fraternity, and the Benevolent and Protectice Order of Elks. He is an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.
B.G. Rice, another of the brothers, graduated from Valparaiso University at Valparaiso, Indiana, as an accountant, a profession which he has put to good use in the family business. He entered as a bookkepper and now manages the Central Supply Company. He married Kate Powell of Greenville, Kentucky and they have three children: Mary Catherine, now Mrs. Hughes Wallace of Sturgis, Kentucky; Nancy Lee, now Mrs. Leslie Ellis; and Jane, now Mrs. C.P. Johnson.
Like his brother, B.G. Rice is an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and a Republican in politics.
Clayton J. Rice, after completing high school at Greenville, attended the University of Kentucky, from which he was graduated with a degree in civil engineering. After working two years with the Illinois Central Railroad Company he too returned to Greenville to enter the family business. He became manager of the loose leaf department until the death of the fourth brother, R.E. Rice, in 1939, when he became head of the manufacturing department.
He married Helen Puryear in 1914. They have two children: Dorothy, who attended Randolph Macon College and is now wife of Edward Harvey of Central City, and mother of one son, Edward, Jr.; and C.J. Rice, Jr., who attended the University of Kentucky and Harvard School of Business, and is now a sergeant in the finance department of the Army of the United States.
C.J. Rice is also an elder in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, but departed from the family pattern by affiliation with the Democratic party. He is a member of the Greenville County Club.
The late R.E. Rice entered the business in early manhood to become the “manufacturer.” He died November 3, 1939.
There are two sisters in the Rice family, Mrs. Maude Shaver and Mrs. Harry E. Eaves of Greenville. Mrs. Shaver has three children: Ben R. Shaver, vice-president of the Air Filter Corporation of Louisville; Robert E. Shaver, professor of civil engineering at the University of Kentucky; and D. Andrew Shaver, general manager of the General Baking Company at Louisville. Mrs. Eaves has one son, Harry E. Eaves, Jr., head of the H.E. Eaves Insurance Company of Greenville.
Of the many interesting sidelights in the origins of the Rice family in Kentucky, one particularly stands out. David Rice, great-great-great-grandfather of the Rice brothers, was one of the founders of Transylvania University in Lexington, where he settled after leaving his Virginia home. William Rice, great-grandfather of the Rice Brothers, was the first of the family to settle in Muhlenberg County. He had fourteen sons and four daughters. One of his sons, Clayton Jefferson Rice, was the grandfather of the Rice boys.
In their various projects and continued formulae of success the Rices are writing important chapters in the legend of their region.
Source: Wallis, Frederick A., and Hambleton Tapp, eds. A Sesqui-Centennial History of Kentucky. Vol. 2. Hopkinsville, KY: Historical Record Association, 1945. Pages 1088-1090.
Updated July 9, 2018