All the merchandise from his store was lost at sea,[failed verification] and Rice was forced to start anew in Houston as a clerk.

[2] Rice made his fortune by investing in land, real estate, lumber, railroads, cotton, and other prospects in Texas and Louisiana.

[3] He invested in business firms in Houston; in 1895 he was listed in the city directories as "Capitalist.

While living in Houston, Rice served on the Harris County Slave Patrol.

After an 1886 or 1887 meeting with a C. Lombardi, Rice decided that the benefits of his wealth should be enjoyed by the children of the city where he made his fortune.

The Institute's charter was signed by all the original trustees, except for Rice, on May 18, 1891, and certified by the State of Texas the following day.

Its executor was O. T. Holt, assisted by Albert T. Patrick, formerly an attorney in Houston, but working in New York at the time.

He made bequests to a number of relatives and friends of Rice and of his own, hoping to involve as many interested parties as possible.

[2] On September 24, 1900, James Baker received a telegram from Jones, stating: Mr. Rice died last night under the care of a physician.

[2]Despite the contents of this telegram, a second communique, from Rice's bankers, warned that the multi-millionaire had died under peculiar circumstances, and that his body was to be cremated.

Shortly thereafter, a bank teller noticed a suspiciously large check bearing the late Rice's signature and made out to Rice's New York City lawyer, Albert T. Patrick, but with Albert's name misspelled "Abert".

A subsequent investigation led by the District Attorney of New York resulted in the arrests of Patrick and of Jones, who had been persuaded to administer chloroform to Rice while he slept.

[8] Court action would later prove that Jones and Patrick had conspired to murder Rice on September 23.

[9] Rice left the bulk of his estate to the founding of a free institute of higher education in Houston, Texas.

In his will, Rice mandated that the university to bear his name would be for "the white men and women of Houston."

This request was eventually overruled, and Raymond L. Johnson — Rice University's first black student — was admitted in 1964.

[10][11] A film, The Trust, depicts the story of William Marsh Rice's murder and the role of his attorney, James A. Baker Sr., in uncovering the truth.