Looking through a box of old Rice family papers that we recently acquired, we found some real treasures. There are some remarkable letters written by Will Rice, who was in New York for the Albert Patrick murder trial, to his brother Jonas back in Houston. I was also able to scan some family photos, including these two lovely portraits of Will Rice. (This just about doubles the number of images that we have of him.)
Here he is looking pensive in the “map room” of the family’s summer home:
And here’s an elegant formal portrait:
I feel like I hardly need to say it, but this is very exciting. It’s going to take some time to sort through it all, but it just isn’t every day that material like this turns up. We are very grateful to the family.
Bonus: One of my favorite things in the box so far is a perfectly preserved 1912 catalog from the Peerless Motor Company. I believe that these cars were pretty swell. The catalog certainly is.
