The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1901-11-12
Or. ]. Marcus Rice, Who Won Re-
noWn in Professional, Civic
and Military Positions Dies At
ter Three Months Illness
DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
IN THE CIVIL WAR
He Served as Surgeon of the
25th Massachusetts Regiment
and Later with the 18th Army
Corps and Medical Director of
the Army of the James

DR.. Joseph Marcus Rice died last
night at $40 o'clock at his home, 81
Pleasant Street. He had been ailing
for about three months and had been
confined to his bed for two weeks. The
last time he went out was on Oct. 30,
when he attended the meeting of the
Board of Pension Examiners, of which
he was president, and dropped in for
few minutes at the reunion of the
Twenty Fifth Massachusetts Regi-
ment, with which he went as surgeon
in the Civil war
For over so years DR.. Rice has been
prominently connected with the city
of Worcester. He was city physician
before the War. After the war he was
coroner, and then, when the title of the
office was changed, medical examiner.
He was also for many years on the
consulting staff of the City Hospital
AS surgeon in the Civil war he saw
over three years of service,w wound
ed once at the battle Of Roanoke ISL
and, and rose to the rank Of medical
director of the Eighteenth Army Corps
and of the Army of the James.
Outside Of his profession, DR.. Rice
| had dealt considerably in Worcester
real estate and was identified with sew
eral enterprises In other lines He was
always known as ]. Marcus Rice, and
a friend who mad ik.sosEn him for years,
when asked last night for what name
| the initial ~" stood had to plead ig-
norance 1t stood for Joseph, the name
of his father.
]. Marcus Rice was born July 81, 1927,
of New England parentage, in Milford,
Otsego County, N. T., the country made
famous by J. Fenimore Cooper in his
novels of Indian and frontier life In
his early days DR.. Rice had met the
novelist and retained pleasant recol-
lections Of him.
His father, Joseph Rice, was law
yer. He died at the age of 49, leaving
his mother with two small children,
Of whom ]. Marcus, the younger, was
then one year old. Although left in
straitened circumstances, the mother
managed to educate her children. Her
son was graduated from Castleton
Medical College in Vermont and then
was sent to Europe where he studied
in medical schools and hospitals in
London and Paris. In 1854, he came to
Worcester and began the practice of
his profession. He was elected city
physician, which office he held for sew
eral years. He was also an officer of
the Worcester branch Of the Massa-
chusetts Medical Society.
When the 25th Massachusetts, infan-
try was organized in Worcester and
the surrounding towns, DR.. Rice en-
listed as surgeon, the date of the mus
ter being Sept. 16, 1861.
He acted in the capacity Of surgeon
to the regiment for two years. He par
ticipated in the battle of Roanoke Is
land and while attending to the !
wounded soldiers received a wound in
the chest which disabled him for sew
eral weeks. At Newbern, N. c.. March
a. 1862, he was again at his post and
was with the regiment in all Of it's en- /
gagements until Oct %, 1862 when, !
while serving with a portion Of the |
command on outpost duty near New
bern, he was captured by the rebels
and sent to Libby Prison, Richmond.
Va. AS all medical officers were at that
time held as hostages, DR.. Rice was
retained until Nov. "a, when, with 95
others, he was exchanged. Thence till
the close Of the war, DR.. Rice was en-
ployed in various responsible positions,
serving as brigade. division, and oper-
ating surgeon, and on the staffs of
Gen Stannard Maj. Gems. w. F.
Smith, Ord, Weitzel, and Benjamin F.
Butler, as acting medical director and
medical inspector Of the 18th Army
Corps and as medical inspector of the
Army of the James under Gen. Butler.
He was with the federal troops before
Richmond when it fell into the hands /
of the Union Army.
The estimation Of Surgeon Rice by
his officers is best shown by the fact |
that his application to be mustered out 1
at the expiration of his term of enlist /
ment was endorsed by Medical Direct !
or Strawbridge and Maj. Gen. Weitzel, !
and through Gen, Buffers headquar- /
tiers. to this effect, that "the services !
of this officer are so valuable that his
application is returned in the hope
that he will retain his present position, |
with the assurance that he shall be /,
out at any future time, |
should he so desire"
At the close of the war DIR. Rice was |
detailed as health officer of the port of |
Norfolk, Va. where there was much !
alarm at the approach Of yellow fever |
After several applications, he was |
finally relieved. and, returning home, /
his practice. In 1858 DR.. Rice, !
accompanied by his wife, made an ex-
tended European trip. partly for peas
IRE and partly for study. Since that
time he has remained in practice in |
Worcester. While in Europe he was I
elected member Of the American |
Medical Association of Paris and a fell /
low of the Royal Geographical Society |
of London.
In politics DR.. Rice was an active
Republican. In 1879, on the resignation |
of Col John D. Washburn, he was elect
ed representative to the General Court |
and served for two years. He con-
tinued in the position of medical ex-
aminer until Gov. Russelps administra- |
ton, when he was superseded by DR.. |
p B. O'Keefe, who is now In Provi- |
dence.
DR.. Rice formerly lived on Salem