Frederick Rice remembered as Wooster’s Revolutionary War patriot

Born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1753 to German immigrant parents, Frederick Rice was one of three children raised in a growing colonial community. At the age of 22, he enlisted in the fight for American independence under Capt. John Beery and participated in several skirmishes including action on Staten Island during the Revolutionary War.

Rice later joined Capt. David Marshall’s company of spies, spending the final three years of the war operating against Native American forces along Pennsylvania’s western frontier. Though direct personal military records have not yet been located, Rice was likely attached to the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment, a Continental Army unit confirmed to have wintered at Valley Forge during the harsh winter 1777-78. That connection strongly supports the longstanding family and local tradition that Rice endured that difficult encampment under Gen. George Washington’s command.

When the war ended, Rice returned to the Bethlehem area and married Catherine Lauffer. Together, they raised 11 children while operating a grist mill on 300 acres of land. Like many veterans seeking opportunity on the expanding frontier, Rice eventually looked westward. In 1815 he moved his family to Wooster Township in Wayne County.

In 1821 President James Monroe personally signed a patent deed transferring 320 acres of land to Rice. The land Rice purchased later became part of what is now the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

Rice divided his 320-acre property between his sons Barnhard and Simon. Barnhard’s stone house, now known as the Barnhart-Rice Home, has been restored and still stands on the OARDC grounds. Simon’s original brick home also survives today, though it has not been restored or opened to the public. After becoming a widower in 1823, Rice lived there with Simon for the remainder of his life.

In addition to farming, Rice worked as a miller and owned a stone mill. Even in later years, he remained fond of exploring and hunting, often leaving home for extended periods. Like many veterans, he hoped to build a stable and prosperous life after the war — and unlike many, he succeeded. Rice became a respected frontier farmer, family patriarch and early settler whose descendants helped shape Northeastern Ohio.

By the 1840s, surviving Revolutionary War veterans were increasingly honored as living links to the nation’s founding generation. Rice appears to have been widely respected in Wayne County as one of those remaining patriots whose service symbolized sacrifice, endurance and the birth of the United States.

Rice lived an exceptionally long life for his era. He died in 1848 at the age of 94 while living with his son Simon. He was first buried at the Evangelical Church cemetery in Wooster, but when Wooster Cemetery opened in the early 1850s, Rice and other family members were reinterred there.

Today, Rice holds a unique place in local history as the only Revolutionary War patriot buried in Wooster Cemetery.

Editor's note: The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Wooster-Wayne Chapter is submitting a series of articles about Revolutionary War patriots buried in Wayne County. This is the seventh of the series. Email Jolene Dyer at jolene.dyer@gmail.com with questions or comments.