page_title: Alexander H. Rice
section_title: Governor of Massachusetts
hierarchical_section_title: Alexander H. Rice / Governor of Massachusetts
caption_attribution_description: Portrait of William Gaston
context_page_description: Alexander Hamilton Rice was an American politician and businessman from Massachusetts. He served as Mayor of Boston from 1856 to 1857, a U.S. Congressman during the American Civil War, and as the 30th Governor of Massachusetts from 1876–78. He was part owner and president of Rice-Kendall, one of the nation's largest paper products distributors.
  Educated at Union College, Rice was for many years involved in the paper business, and entered Boston politics in 1853. As mayor, he helped broker an agreement that began development of its Back Bay area. His Congressional service included the introduction of the failed Crittenden Compromise, oversight of naval affairs during the Civil War, and resistance to Radical Republican actions. As governor, he promoted social reform legislation and reductions in working hours.
context_section_description: Rice refused to stand for reelection, and then left politics for a time, devoting himself to his business interests.  In 1872, after the Boston fire, he served on a relief committee that assisted in dealing with its aftermath.  In 1871, Rice was one of a number of contenders for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts, a contest which was dominated by Benjamin Butler and won by William B. Washburn.  In 1875, he won the nomination, and defeated incumbent Democrat William Gaston in the general election.  He served three one-year terms before retiring from politics for good.
  Legislation enacted during Rice's tenure included a child labor law mandating a minimum age of fourteen for factory work.  He generally supported legislation improving social conditions, but was unsuccessful in enacting a proposed reorganization of the state's major charities.  He also let stand the state's "local option" alcohol law, for which he was criticized by temperance activists.  He also chaired a committee formed in 1876 to oversee the rescue from demolition of the historic Old South Meeting House.  As a result of the committee's work, ownership of the building was passed to a nonprofit dedicated to its preservation.
  One issue that had dominated Rice's race against Gaston in 1875 concerned the juvenile murderer Jesse Pomeroy.  Pomeroy, then fourteen years old, had been convicted in December 1874 of first degree murder for killing a girl earlier that year, and had been sentenced to death.  There was public clamor favoring his execution, especially after he attempted to escape from prison. Gaston, despite two rulings by the Governor's Council that clemency be denied, refused to sign the execution order, an unpopular move that probably cost him votes.  Rice also refused to sign the execution order, but his Council eventually recommended commutation of Pomeroy's sentence to life in solitary confinement.
  Rice died at the Langwood Hotel in Melrose, Massachusetts, on July 22, 1895, after a lengthy illness. He was buried at Newton Cemetery.
caption: William Gaston, engraved portrait published 1895
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