His Congressional service included the introduction of the failed Crittenden Compromise, oversight of naval affairs during the Civil War, and resistance to Radical Republican actions.

His father, a Brighton native, owned a paper manufacturing business in Newton, and both parents had deep colonial roots.

[1] In 1853, Rice entered local politics, winning election to the Boston City Council, representing the eleventh ward.

[8] During his tenure, an agreement was reached between the city, state and owners of a tidal waterworks concerning development of the Back Bay, then a smelly swamp laden with trash and sewage.

[18] He introduced the Crittenden Compromise to the House in January 1861; his speech on this last-ditch attempt to prevent civil war received a lukewarm reception.

[19] After the war, he was elected as a Third Class Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States in recognition of his support for the Union.

[21] In 1871, Rice was one of a number of contenders for the Republican nomination for Governor of Massachusetts, a contest which was dominated by Benjamin Butler and won by William B.

[14] Legislation enacted during Rice's tenure included a child labor law mandating a minimum age of fourteen for factory work.

[14] He generally supported legislation improving social conditions, but was unsuccessful in enacting a proposed reorganization of the state's major charities.

Gaston, despite two rulings by the Governor's Council that clemency be denied, refused to sign the execution order, an unpopular move that probably cost him votes.

Rice also refused to sign the execution order, but his Council eventually recommended commutation of Pomeroy's sentence to life in solitary confinement.

Later renamed the Rice-Bancroft School, the building, located at Dartmouth and Appleton Streets in Boston's South End, now houses residential condominiums.