Charles Elmer Rice Papers

              MSS 1
Charles E. Rice Collectioi
3 cubic feet
Final inventory
Collection Synopsis
Provenance: The Ohio Historical Society acquired the Charles E.
Rice Collection in 1920, 1932, 1939 and 1941. Works Progress
Administration ( WPA) workers produced an item list and card index
to most of the collection during the 1940' s. Allen T. Price wrote
a more complete inventory in 1967. Kay Weisman re- processed the
collection in July 1979. The present inventory supersedes all
previous inventories and indexes.
Property rights: The Ohio Historical Society owns the property
rights to this collection.
Copyrights: Copyrights to this collection have - not been dedicated
to the public, Consideration of the requirements of copyright is
the responsibility of the author and publisher.
Access: This collection is open under the rules and regulations
of the Ohio Historical Society.
Citation: Researchers are requested to cite collection name,
collection number, and the Ohio Historical Society in all footnote
and bibliographic references.
Transfer: One document box of photographs and other pictorial
material was transferred to the Library Picture Collection in the
1940' s; one half- hollinger box of pictorial material, and two
picture scrapbooks were transferred to the Audiovisual Department
in October 1979.
Related material: The Library Division holds two genealogical
works by Rice, and a catalog of a 1917 auction which lists part
of his autograph collection.
Biographical sketch: Charles Elmer Rice was born ca. 1860 in
Alliance, Ohio, the son of Dr. W. P. and Rachel Hole Rice. A
dentist by profession, Rice began collecting autographs ca. 1890
and continued this avocation until his death in 1939. His interest
in longevity and genealogy is evidenced by the material within this
collection as well as by the several family histories he authored.
A newspaper clipping in box lO/ folder 6 indicates that his family
tree had been traced back to the year 100 A. D.
Scope and content: The Charles E. Rice Collection is primarily a
collection of autographs of Ohio political figures from 1735 to
1924. It consists mainly of correspondence and legal documents,
but also includes biographical sketches, Society of Friends minutes
and records, newspaper clippings, and financial documents.
Rice arranged his first five autograph volumes by the office or
function which made the person prominent including members of the
1802 Ohio Constitutional Convention, the Supreme Court of Ohio,