Texana Thursday: 4 Things You Might Not Know about William Marsh Rice

“Willy’s Statue” is also the gravesite of William Marsh Rice (Kathy M. Slaughter photo)

Rice University today enjoys a strong academic reputation and a premier location near the Texas Medical Center and Hermann Park. In 2012, the university celebrated its centennial, and to see the university’s growth and development is an interesting story.

William Marsh Rice, the university’s benefactor and namesake, had an interesting story of his own.

1. Rice wanted to create an institute in Houston.

Rice was born in 1816 in Massachusetts and left school at age 15 to begin his career. He began as a general store clerk and soon bought businesses of his own.

In 1837, Rice moved to Houston. At the time, Texas was an independent republic, having won its independence the previous year from Mexico. He was active in several ventures and was very successful.

Rice was married and widowed twice, with no children. He decided that upon his death, the bulk of his fortune would be used to create an educational institution in Houston.

2. Rice’s murderers almost got away with it.

Rice moved in 1896 to New York City. Others wanted his money. Charles F. Jones and Albert T. Patrick conspired to murder Rice.

Jones was Rice’s valet. Patrick was a lawyer who had forged documents to acquire the Rice estate. On September 23, 1900, Jones chloroformed Rice, who was asleep in his bed. Rice was 84 and in relatively good health until his murder.

James A. Baker was Rice’s lawyer in Houston. He knew of Rice’s plans to create an institute with money from his estate. Upon learning of Rice’s death, Captain Baker, as he was known, went to New York City and demanded both an autopsy and investigation.

3. Rice’s estate was saved.

In time, authorities arrested Jones and Patrick. Jones got a plea deal in exchange for his testimony about what happened. Patrick received the death sentence but the New York governor commuted it in 1912—the same year classes began at what was then known as the William Marsh Rice Institute. (The university changed its name in 1960 to Rice University.)

As an aside, Captain Baker got his nickname because he had been a captain in the Houston Light Guard, a drill team and service organization. His grandson, James A. Baker, III, served as White House chief of Staff to presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

4. Rice is memorialized at “Willy’s Statue.”

In the university’s academic quadrangle facing Lovett Hall sits a statue of Rice, dedicated in 1930. His ashes were interred under the statue.

The caption at the front of the statute, under his name and birth and death dates, is in Latin, and reads, “Hail forever and forever hail.”