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(Continued from Page One) • his second wife, his own murder of the older residents here at that and .litigation* over his wife's estate time, knew:of his past, but it was and his will, delayed its opening not generally discussed and. he until 1912,never mentioned it • to anyone. RjCef a native of Massachusetts Eventually; the. story was forgot- came to Texas in the late - 1830s, ten and when newspapers a few arriving in Houston penniless al-ycars ago attempted to , locate though: he had formerly owned a Jones:; to interview: him in con-, store in the New England state, nection- with a series of articles .*. He took e. job as a store clerk about the ■ Rice murder, they did and • rose rapidly until he was a not succeed. . partner in the firm of Rice andJones had not lived in seclusion, Nichols, exporters, importers and. but ho did, not cultivate friends wholesale, grocers, and seldom visited neighbors or At the close of the Civil War, relatives. A.nephew Robert Busch Rice left- Texas a wealthy man. of Houston attended to • his. few Thereafter he lived in New York* wants .when he was ill, and neigh- but his .dream was to establish hors saw that lie was not left Rice Institute in Texas and- give alone- for more than short time it a firm financial foundation^ during his periodic illnesses. ‘ Before his second wife died inJones : was found dead ;In .bed,. 1896, Rice had already . set • aside a bullet wound through his head $200,000 for the institute, but herand a pistol by his side, by Lefiter death delayed its establishment.. Knox, a • neighbor who went to Under the Texas communitylook in on the ill, old man before property lew, Mrs. Rice attempted he went-to work on the graveyard to distribute her half of the shift at Boy town refinery. estate. Rice contested the will bnJones had fulfilled a vow that he groini'ds that he and liis wife were would not live to bCL 80 years old. not rG5jdonts of Texas-and had not His 80th birthday would have been bepn sijiCf; the qvjj War. The case on Feb, 3, 1955. He had told his WfiS rea(fy for trial when Riceneighbors many times that he murderedwould rot become .an invalid and * . . TVv-m wa«-abe dependent on others for his Patrick, a foimei ‘.:Aiju vici'CuuiruL uu uiijuic* j.vjl iiio ~care, and his death was not u New York uUornev assoLiated vdli surprise to most of them, they a.la« flrm ha'ldllng Mrs- Rice-said. Will ...In recent weeks, he had told , He claimed at Rice s inquest thatJ II iLT-iiJii. vu«.-rvo, • iiav* ^.uiu .------- - - , ~___, . i_them that soon he would end his he. had prepared a new will which We. He had keen in extremely bad revoked plans for the institute and health for the past year, suffering named Patrick residuary legatee from a combination of kidney and. of the entire estate, heart, ailments. He was taken to The will was found to be a forg-a Baytown hospital Nov. l after lt;n*y and Patrick was charged with suffering a severe hemorrhage, forgery a month jjflcr Rice s acaub and remained there until last week The following Jeoruary he ana when he reutrued home. Jones were charged with murder.He suffered another hemorrhage Jn April the two were_ indicted. Tuesday, and in looking bock over In his court testimony. Jones said the day's events, neighbors sur- hfc had brought about Rica’s death t-iiar ko hnH marl* rarrfn\ bv undermining his health with
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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