Butte County
Biographies
CHARLES ALLEN RICE
CHARLES ALLEN RICE.—One in whom industry and energy have been dominant characteristics since his early youth, and one who exemplifies these qualities today in the steady, faithful discharge of his work, is Charles Allen Rice, foreman of the Chico Gas Works. He was born in Lancaster, Schuyler County, Mo., May 9, 1875. His father was William H. Rice, a native of Kentucky, who later moved to Missouri. The mother was Nancy C. Hires, born in Tennessee, the daughter of a carpenter and builder. In the fall of 1875 they had come to Chico, Cal., where William Rice did contracting and building, and operated harvesters. He died in 1908, his wife having passed away in 1889. Of their five children, four grew up: Lizzie, Mrs. Boysol, of San Jose; James Henry, deceased; Charles A.; and Flora, of Glen Ellen, Cal.
Charles A. Rice was reared in Chico, from the age of six months. He was educated in the public schools. After he reached the age of fourteen he “paddled his own canoe,” working at horticulture, in orchards, etc. In 1897 he entered the employ of the Old Chico Gas and Water Company, as pipefitter, following this work in both the gas and water departments. In 1901, when the gas plant was sold to the old California Gas and Electric Company, he continued in the gas manufacturing department, and since then has been in charge of the gas plant, as foreman. The company is now the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Originally the gas was made from coal, but since 1900 it has been made from crude oil, the storage-holder capacity being 100,000 cubic feet.
Mr. Rice was married, in Chico, in 1904, to Miss May Belle Moore, born in Oroville. They have five children: Leila Murl, Charles Allen, Naoma, Zelma Belle, and Harold D. Mr. Rice belongs to the Woodmen of the World. He is an exempt fireman, as a member of the Emergency Western Hose Company.
Transcribed
by Sharon Walford Yost.
Source: "History of
Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1274, Historic Record Co, Los Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Sharon
Walford Yost.
Golden Nugget Library's Butte County Biographies