Brice, Edward

The following data is extracted from Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement.

Edward Brice is the owner of an excellent farm situated on section 7 of Raymond Township and thereon he is successfully engaged in general agricultural pursuits and dairying. His birth occurred in Raymond Township, December 2, 1858, his parents being Thomas and Alice (Drought) Brice. The mother was a native of Ireland but was only two weeks old when she was brought by her family to the new world. Her parents first settled in Canada, where they remained until she was twelve years of age. Mrs. Brice then came to Racine County with her brother, making the journey in an ox cart. The entire district was wild and undeveloped and the Indians were still numerous in the neighborhood. There was much wild game to be had and the entire district was covered with its native growth of timber and grasses. The brother built a log house and prepared the place for his parents who came the following year. Thomas Brice, the father of our subject, was born in Ireland and on coming to the new world spent a year at Coney Island, after which he removed to Racine County. He was about sixty-five years of age at the time of his death, his birth having occurred in 1824 while in 1889 he passed away. His wife, who was born in 1825, died in 1908, having reached the ripe old age of eighty-three years. In their family were eleven children, of whom the following are yet living: Emily, the widow of Joseph Field and a resident of Manistee, Michigan; Jane, who married John Mathias and after his death was married to Wesley Ash but is again a widow and makes her home in Raymond Township; Eliza, the widow of William Killips, of Waukesha County; Amelia, Edward; Sherman, who married Eliza West and after her death married Matilda Christensen, his home being in Raymond Township; and Frank. In his political views the father was a stalwart republican, always giving earnest support to the party. He belonged to the Baptist church while his wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Both were early pioneers in this district although Mrs. Brice was here for some years before her husband's arrival, coming in 1838 almost before the seeds of civilization had been planted in the district. There was no phase of frontier life with which she was not familiar-the log cabin with its fireplace and tallow candles and the uncut forests. All these were features of the district when she arrived and her father, George Drought, who came the following year, bore an active part in promoting the pioneer development of the region.

Edward Brice obtained his education in the district schools and worked on the farm through the summer months, the winter seasons being devoted to the acquirement of his education. When his textbooks were put aside he gave his entire attention to farming and following his mother's death he and his sister and brother purchased the old home place on which he yet makes his home. The farm comprises one hundred and six acres of rich and productive land which he has brought to a high state of cultivation where his practical and progressive methods are manifest in the excellent crops which he annually raises. He has put up new buildings and part of the modern equipment of his place is a large silo. In connection with general farming he does some dairying and both branches of his business are proving profitable. In fact in all matters relating to the farm he displays sound judgment and unfaltered enterprise and his success is the result of his labors. In politics he is a republican but is inclined to the independent forces and he has never sought nor desired office, preferring to concentrate his entire time and attention on his chosen occupation.

Source: Racine, Belle City of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement

  Go Back