WILLIAM HYRUM (HYRUM SMITH) RICE

The Rice Family Saga begins with the first post (RICE FAMILY LEGACY)
My great Grandfather was William Hyrum (Hyrum Smith) Rice born May 5, 1844 in Nauvoo, Illinois. My great Grandmother was Olive Emily Smith born December 12, 1845 in Pottawattamie County, Iowa.

Hyrum left Nauvoo at a young age (4 years) with his family to go to the Salt lake Valley. He lived with his father until he was about 17 or 18 years old when he left home to find work. He loved working with horses, as did his father and brothers, and wanted to live on a ranch. Hyrum worked for many years as a freighter and bought a piece of land called Round Mountain. He built a ranch house and used the land for a way station for freighters, stage coaches, and mail carriers on horseback. He also ran a herd of horses on Black Pine Mountain. His way station was also used by traffic coming from Oregon, Northern Calif. and Idaho heading to Utah. When the railroad was built, it basically put Hyrum out of business and he sold the ranch and moved back to Almo, Idaho. Hyrum drifted away from the Church and dropped the Smith from his name. He was a good and kind man when he was sober, but was abusive when drunk which was often after Olive's death. One day the family was going to visit the neighbors when Olive met with a tragic accident. She climbed into the buckboard wagon and reached down to lift her little three year old daughter into the wagon. Just as she leaned over, the horse reared and lunged and Olive was thrown from the wagon . She suffered a compound fracture of her arm. Her son Nathaniel rode furiously for hours to get the doctor but by the time he got to the house it was too late to save her. Infection set in and she died leaving several children. Hyrum had a difficult time keeping the family together and so the three youngest children were sent to live with their aging Grandmother Smith.
Hyrum was a restless man and moved several times to find work, finally ending back in Almo where he and several children moved in with my Grandfather Nathaniel and his new bride Alice Jane. She had an instant family. Eventually Hyrum lived alone and it is not known for sure where or when he died. It was probably while staying with one of his daughters.