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Suicide -(Continued from Pnge 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 forgot* ten and when newspapers a fewyears ago attempted to locateJones 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 • his . few wants when he was 111, and neighbors saw that he - was not left alojie- for -More than short time during his periodic illnesses. ■Jones : was. found dead in bed,a bullet wound through his head and a pistol by 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 hewould not live:to be 80 years old. His 30th birthday would have been on Feb. 3, 1955. He had told his neighbors many times that he would rot become an invalid and be dependent on others for his care, and his death' was not u surprise to most of them, they said.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 to a Baytown hospital Nov. 1 aftersuffering a sc-vcrc hemorrhage, and remained there until last wock when he reutmed home.He suffered another hemorrhagehis second wife, his own murder and litigation over his wife's estate and his will, delayed its opening until 1912, • Rice, a native of Massachusetts came to Texas in the late - 1830s, arriving in Houston penniless although he had 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 mam. 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 in 1396, Rice had already set aside $200,000 for the institute, but her death delayed its establishment. : .• Under the Texas community; 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 and named Patrick residuary legatee of 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.. . .... - . T .1
Newspaper Details
Baytown Sun
Baytown, Texas, US
Wed, Nov 17, 1954
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Greg O.
USA 25 Apr 2019
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