James S. Rice

James Stephen Rice (1846–1930) was an American businessman and rancher who was a pioneering resident of Orange County, California and a civic leader in Tustin, California. Early life and education in Ohio James Stephen Rice was born 31 October 1846 in Cleveland, Ohio to Harvey Rice (1800–1891) and Emma Maria (Fitch) Rice (1812–1889). Rice was educated in the public schools in Cleveland and attended Case Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio, graduating with a BA degree in classical studies in 1866. Rice married Coralinn Frances Barlow (1849–1919) of Cleveland on 2 October 1872, and they had four children. From 1866 to 1877, he was in business with his half-brother Percival Wood Rice and his brother-in-law Proctor Rollin Burnett, who were proprietors of the Rice & Burnett Company a crockery and home furnishing business in Cleveland. Life and career in California James Stephen Rice and his family moved to Orange County, California on 18 January 1877, first residing near the head of Newport Bay in one of the former ranch houses owned by José Antonio Andres Sepúlveda (1803–1875), the owner of Rancho San Joaquin. Rice began ranching by working for his brother-in-law James Irvine who had purchased the Rancho San Joaquin from Sepúlveda in 1864 and established the Irvine Ranch.