Johannes Justus Rice

When I last wrote about this story, I was seeking the father of my 3rd great grandfather Martin Luther Rice. I could find a Martin L. Rice age 7, listed in the 1850 U.S. Federal Census living in Indiana with his parents Justus and Barbara Rice along with 4 other siblings, notably a Justus (Jr.) age 8 and Peter N. Rice age 5.  In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Justus (Sr.) and Barbara Rice were living in Stephenson County, Illinois with four more children, none of which were the five listed in the 1850 census. Three of them are under the age of 10 so were born within the last decade and one, Washington Rice, age 14 could have been omitted from the 1850 Census or belonged to a close relative. I have yet to find an 1860 U.S. Federal Census record for Martin L. Rice. Then in the 1870 U.S. Federal Census, I have found a record for Martin who is now living in Clinton, Iowa with two of his brothers Justus and Peter N. Rice.

So to sum up all those dates and figures, I have one record possibly tying my Martin Luther Rice to father Justus Rice and a second record tying two others they share in common to both Martin and Justus. I would like to find another record at least connecting Martin to Justus Rice. Since I have done a pretty thorough search on my 3rd great grandfather Martin Luther Rice, I set my sights on Justus Rice.

Above is the first record I turned up which is a marriage record in Clark County, Ohio, the same place Martin Luther Rice is recorded as being born. Two things stick out to me. The first is that the groom's name is Johannes Justus Rice with Justus Rice written after in parenthesis and that the bride's name is Anna Barbara Winter with Barbara Winter written after in parenthesis. The second thing is of course that the maiden name of Barbara is listed as Winter.

Next I turned up 1973 land patent records for NW Iowa, not too far from where sons Martin, Justus Jr. and Peter N. Rice would be in 1970. The 160 acres of land was patented under the name Justus Rice on section 26 of Osceola county and officially deeded to him in 1875. A search in a book written in 1914 on the history of Osceola county happened to turn up a brief history of section 26 and recorded that "Justice R. Rice left at an early date." In my past experience, county history books are notorious for misspelled names and even wrong dates mostly because they are written not by the family I'm researching but various local editors not privy to accurate details. Thus I'm not too worried about the misspelled name.

Above is another curious record I turned up for a J. Justus Rice and a Barb but it is in a German language newspaper dated 26 May 1880. I don't understand German and Google translator makes it sound like it might be referring to a wedding. The date is concerning to me if it is a wedding as Justus and Barbara were married in 1839 as seen above and in the 1880 census, Barbara is listed as a Widow. Perhaps a funeral? If anyone can translate it, I would be in your debt.

Beyond that, I haven't turned up anything more and am left with only my musings. While I feel good that Johannes Justus and Barbara Winter Rice are my 4th great grandparents, I won't call it conclusively until I get a little more proof. Also, knowing that Justus proved up on some land in the mid 1870's and then "left at an early date" leaves me pondering where he went. I have tried searching for cemetery records but haven't found one for either Justus or Barbara. That isn't too unusual as a lot of tombstones from that era were marble or other materials that have weathered so badly they were never able to be transcribed in modern times. I have started trying to track down other children of Justus and Barbara in hopes of turning up a clue but many of them sort of blend in or disappear. Only one of them, Justus Jr. has been fairly easily tracked to California.