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Suicide-. (Continued from Page. One)‘of the older residents here at that time, knew of his past, but it was not generally' discussed and; he ; never mentioned it to anyone. Eventually, ’ the story was forgotten and when newspapers a fewyears ago attempted to locate Jones; to interview him in connection with, a series of ;articles about the Rice murder, they did not succeed.Jones had not lived in seclusion, but he did not cultivate friends and seldom visited neighbors or relatives. A.nephew Robert Busch of Houston attended to • his1, few wants .when he was ill, and neighbors.saw that he was not left alone- for. more than short time during his periodic illnesses. ■Jones ; was found dead In bed, a bullet wound through his head and a pistol bv his side, by Lester Knox, . a neighbor who went to look in on the ill, old man. before he went-to work on the graveyard shift'at Baytown refinery.Jones had fulfilled a vow that he would not live to be SO years old. HJs SOih birthday would have been on Feb. 3, 1955. He had told his neighbors many times that he would not become .an invalid on cl be dependent on others for his care, and his death ■ was not u surprise to most of them, theysaid.In recent weeks,: he had told them that soon he would end his life. He had been in extremely bad health for the past year, suffering from a combination of kidney and heart, ailments. He was taken toa Baytown hospital Nov. 1 after suffering a sc-vcrc hemorrhage.and remained there until last week when he reutrued home.He suffered another hemorrhage Tuesday, and in looking back over the day's events, neighbors surmised that he had made careful plans for his death last night. They said he had given the Knoxes the name and telephone number of his nephew, and told them to notify the nephew if anything happens to inc.When the nephew called at his home Tuesday, he sent him to the Knox home to request that they look in on Mr. Jones about 9 p.m. It was believed that Jones died of the bullet wound about 10 minutes before 9 p.m.Baytown police said Jones apparently had held a minor before his face while lying on his back in bed. but a pistol to hi* head and pulled the trigger. The bullet entered above Jiis right -car and enrcrged above the left.Two notes, one directing that Earlhman funeral home be called, and the other a dressed to Lester Knox, were found on n tabic beside his bed.The murder of Rice was one of the most widely publicized in the nation’s history.Rice was about $4 years old when lie was killed while asleep in his New York apartment. Ha had made wills and written otherlegal instruments directing thathis vast estate bo used to endow the William M. Rice Institute for Advancement of Literature Science and Art.Rice received a charter for the school in 1891, but the rlrnth ofDECKERDRIVE IN THEATRE $IONITE-PRINCE VALIANT 'J? SAILOR OF KINGTHURSDAY ONLYFEATURE NO. 1 -GEORGE BENTAFFAIRS OF MONTE CARLO”FEATURE XO. ‘2 -JOHN WAYNE• inPALS OF SADDLEhis second wife, his own murderand litigation over his wife’s estate • and his will, delayed its opening [ until 1912. \ .Rice, a native of Massachusetts came to Texas in the laie; 1830s, arriving in Houston penniless al-‘ though he bad formerly owned a store in the New England state.- He took e. job as a store clerk -and • rose' rapidly until he was .a partner in the firm of Rice and Nichols, exporters, importers and wholesale grocers.At the close of the Civil War, Rice left Texas a wealthy man.. Thereafter he lived in New York, but his . dream was to establish Rice Institute in Texas and give it a firm financial foundation.Before his second wife died hi-189G, Rice had already set aside' $200:000 for the Institute, but her death delayed its establishment.. ;Under the Texas community;1, property law, .Mrs. Rice attempted to distribute her half of the estate. Rice contested the will on . grounds that he and his wife were not residents of Texas and had not been since the Civil War. The case was ready for trial when Rice was murdered.Patrick, a former Texan, was a New York attorney associated with a law firm handling Mrs. Rice's will.He claimed at Rice’s inquest that he had prepared a new will which revoked plans for the institute andnamed Patrick residuary legateeof the entire estate.The will was found to be a forgery and Patrick was charged with forgery a month after Rice’s death. The following February he and Jones were charged with murder.In April the two were indicted.In his court testimony. Jones said he had brought about Rice’s death by undermining his health with medicines, some of which were prescribed by a physician and some by Patrick.He said he met Patrick on the evening of Sept. 23, 3900, snd they went to Rice’s apartment where they found him sleeping. Jones said he * placed a cone containing a chloroform-soaked sponge over Rice s face and left it there for 30 minutes.Jones returned to his home fn Pclly and quietly began a new life. lie lived with his . brother, Horace, in the olcl home of his parents just off Travis street until the house burned several years ago. They then built the big frame house at 200 Travis. He never married. He nnd his brother were constant companions, with Jonesdirecting their business affairs until Horace Jones died a few yc-ars ago.After World War II. Jones began developing the real estate holding which had been in his family. The Jones property also was in the. center of recent oil activity in the Goose Creek oil field. During a brief.oil boom three years ago,six or seven producing wells were located near the old family home-, stead. Although not considered, wealth. Jones was regarded ns very well-to-do by his neighbors.lie was a familiar figure on the streets of Baytown. Children ?n his neighborhood knew him as -The old gentlemen who buys us ice cream.11 At Christmastime, he gave the neighborhood children a dollar eachfor spending money.Eccentric in his personal habits, he would not employ servants anddid his own housework, cookingand other domestic chores. After, his health failed, Mrs. Knox provided his meals.Almost stone deaf, and in very serious condition many times in * the past year, he still refused tohave anyone spend the night with him or carr for him at home during the day, When ho could no longer care for himself, ho went to a hospital and remained until he felt able to earn lor himself.Neighbors who had taken his meals to him. snirf they would look in on him occasionally, but seldom offered to do more for him • because ho was independent and resented any suggestion that he might be helpless or needed assistance of any kind.He paid for his meals, and was not hard to please, the neighbors said.
Newspaper Details
Baytown Sun
Baytown, Texas, US
Wed, Nov 17, 1954
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Greg O.
USA 24 Apr 2019
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