By Evelyn Howell Sapp

My mother, Lucille Rice Howell, told me that when her grandfather, Monroe Rice, and his wife, Sarah, along with their family, left Tennessee, their aim was to go west and settle. However, when they got to Blount County, Alabama, one of the wagons broke down. Jake, LaFayette, was trying to repair the wagon and fell on his leg, and he was crippled to some degree for the rest of his life. They decided to stay there and settle after some people told them there was much good land along the Mulberry River. The land could be entered and settled. They all settled in what we know now as the Ricetown community.

In those days, communities were named after families who first settled there, such as Gambletown, now called New Union. They built homes of logs. In time, they also built a church and used it as a school. On the farm, there was a spring which they called the Spout Spring, with an unusually strong stream. The spring is still there, although the area is very overgrown and would be difficult to access. The spring is probably artesian. The spring lies on or near the property line of two different plots of acreage, and over the years there has sometimes been some dispute over who owned the Spout Spring property.

John Rice and his wife, Margaret, did not have any children. He became blind before he died.

Preston and LaFayette married sisters. Their brides’ maiden names were Willoughby. Thus, their children were double first cousins. Preston built a pretty house that sat upon a hill. It still stands today, but no one lives in it now, and it has become very run down. Sam Frye’s grandson, Sam Gibbs, inherited the property. The Ricetown Cemetery is located behind this house. Sam Frye and his wife, Sallie Fannie, raised their family in this house. Sallie Fannie was LaFayette’s daughter. I do not know about Jennie Haun.

I remember Mother taking us to see Rebecca Whaley, Mother’s aunt, in Birmingham. Mother called her Aunt Beck. She also took us to see Aunt Mary, who lived in Cullman. She married a person with the last name of James. Mother loved her relatives and wanted to know them.

My grandfather was William Rice. He had been a Civil War soldier. He married Elizabeth Sanders. Elizabeth was a quiet woman who taught her daughters how to do beautiful needlework. She was a wonderful cook. She died as the result of her clothing catching fire while washing clothes on an outdoor wash pot. My mother witnessed this and tried to put the fire out, and she had scars on her hands as a result. She dreamed of her mother all her life and truly believed that her mother came to her often in her dreams. William did not have any slaves, but a colony of Black people had settled across the river, and he hired some of the men to work in the fields at gathering time. Mother said he would give these field hands meat from the smokehouse, for they butchered quite a few hogs and cured the meat each year.

My mother’s brother, Sam, had already married before my mother was born. She said he would come home every Sunday to see his mother. Alice Rice White, Sam’s daughter, and Mother were about the same age. She stayed with them almost more than she did at home. Alice and Mother said they had a playhouse in the root cellar of the old home. They would sew doll dresses.

In Grandfather William’s house, they had a long table in the kitchen. My grandmother and her daughters would bake numbers of potato pies during gathering time, and the boys would run in and get whole pies and eat them on the way back to the field. Sometimes they did not take time to eat. In the fall, Grandfather would go to town and stock up on barrels of staples, such as flour, sugar, and other things, to tide them through the winter. They also made homemade soap.

My mother’s family was a large one. They grew up on a farm, but they did not all make farmers.

Three of the children moved to Texas and lived out most of their lives:

• Edward became a dentist.
• Luther farmed.
• Mary married twice.

My mother made one trip to see Luther. When she got off the train, she at first did not recognize her brother Luther because it had been so many years since they had seen each other. Rice men usually became bald at an early age. They planned a reunion here in Alabama, and it was the only time they ever got together, but they had a wonderful time. It was the only time I ever saw Uncle Luther. When Luther was a young man, he was a real marksman with a gun and kept the family supplied with wild game to cook. They ate squirrel dumplings often. I have a picture of him and his bird dogs.

When Mary’s first husband died, she came back here and lived with our family for several years. She did not have any children.

When Ed retired from dentistry, he also came and lived with us. He had lost quite a lot of money in the stock market. When he died, his daughter, Kathryn, brought his body back to Ricetown Cemetery. He and his wife had been divorced for some time. Our mother took care of the burial arrangements.

I look back and remember all the Rices who came and stayed with us at times, and I wonder how my mom and dad were so liberal toward all of them. Mother’s cousin, who called her “Little Mary,” never did marry. She would stay with us for weeks at a time. She was a typical “old maid,” and I am sorry, but we laughed at her behind her back.

By Evelyn Howell Sapp

For a period of time in the 1920s, there were no Rices living in Ricetown. Sallie F. Frye and Lou Rice Howell were living at Blount Springs, and “Uncle Rabbit” in the Uncle Remus stories had come back to the “Briar Patch.” The Fryes and Howells moved back to the farm.

We, the Howells, moved back in 1933. I cannot give a day-to-day account of the years from that time until the present, but I can summarize a brief history by comparing life then and now. The lifestyle of all concerned has made a drastic change.

During the 1930s, we had no paved roads, telephones, or running water, except the “spout spring,” which had enough water for all of us if we had a way to pipe it to the houses. Electricity was brought into the community in the late 1930s, and in time we acquired telephones, city water, paved roads, and other things that have made life easier. Everybody used coal and wood for heat. We cooked on wood stoves, and these also helped heat part of the house. Most of the people raised and preserved a greater part of their food at home. They had chickens, cows, hogs, and large gardens, as well as fruit trees. It was a common thing to see towels spread on tin roofs with apples drying to be used in the winter.

My dad carried the mail from Blount Springs and pastored country churches. Mr. John Reid was the postmaster. Marvin Cox and Sam Cox drove the school buses. The children went to Mountain Brook to elementary school. The first school had been at Ricetown Church, then moved to Blount Springs. As the churches moved, so did the schools. Finally, the school was moved to Sulphur Springs, and they built a school just for that purpose. In later years, the schools were consolidated with others at Hayden, Alabama. When we were ready for junior and senior high school, we had to go to Cullman or Hanceville. When my brother started school, Hayden had become an accredited school, so he finished high school there.

Every Friday on the farm, we swept the yards. In the fall, the leaves were deep. We had to burn large piles of them. On the south side of the house, Mother had pretty beds of flowers. I look back now and wonder how she managed to do this because everything was done the “hard way,” and she had a large family.

My grandmother Howell came and spent the last few years of her life with us. My dad built a room and back porch for her on the back of our house.

We had a large cellar under the house and, in the early fall, started filling it for winter. In one corner was a sand bed for potatoes, and in another was an apple barrel. We had a tree of fall apples, and we wrapped each one in torn newspaper. On winter nights, we sat by the fire and ate the mellow fruit.

My mother had crocks of kraut, cucumbers, pickles, and jars of canned fruit and berries. We had smoked ham and bacon in the smokehouse, chickens and cows, so we were never hungry. We did work hard.

We had no telephones, but the dinner bell at Uncle Preston’s would ring each day to tell the farm hands when it was time to eat. If it rang any other time of day, it was a signal for help, and people came running.

We were happy with our way of life because we did not know any other. We had preaching once a month in the one-room Ricetown School House.

Around the turn of the century, Blount Springs was a very popular resort town. People came from near and far to drink the sulphur water for their health, enjoy the good Southern food, and enjoy the social life of music and dancing.

People began moving closer to Ricetown, and the cemetery was expanding. My Uncle Preston had died. Sam Frye, my brother-in-law, bought his property and moved into the house. His daughter, Nettie Lou Frye, and his daughter, Lillie Belle Gibbs, live there today, 1991, and give a warm welcome to people visiting the cemetery. Relatives come from distant states and like the way the cemetery has been kept up.

Sam Frye became concerned about people having to stand outside in all sorts of weather for a funeral, and he said that a chapel should be built. The idea caught on and spread fast. Plans had to be made, and funds had to be collected. Volunteers moved right in and helped. Lou Rice Howell came to my house for a donation. Sam gave hours to the project and enjoyed it.

My father, Jake, died in 1927, the last one of the four to go. He was buried along with his brothers on the land they pioneered and loved.

This history is dedicated to their memory, and also to Sam Frye, who built the chapel.

Around 1949, the leaders of the Ricetown community appointed a committee and planned a chapel. It was made of blocks and built in 1951. They used the old bell from Ricetown Church, which had rung on Sunday mornings and tolled to notify everyone of deaths through the years. The committee also got some benches made, and Mrs. Nettie Rice Merrill donated a piano. Marvin Cox, who was taking care of the grounds, asked that Decoration Day be made an all-day program. Since then, we have met all day every fourth Sunday in May.

In 1980, the people contributed and voted to have brick walls added to our chapel. Volunteers worked for several days under the leadership of Bud Barber and James Reid. Bud was a brick mason by trade and donated his time and expertise to the project. He is a descendant of Henry Sanders. Bud Barber’s wife was from the Reid family. The ladies of the community carried lunch and served the workers. Before this time, tables had been built under the trees, and Mr. B. M. Ogletree also had built a beautiful pulpit for the chapel.

The members of the committee who have served for several years are Nettie Lou Frye, Evelyn Howell Sapp, Marvin Cox, Mae Frye Dooley, Gene Sawyer, and Cranston Cox.

Mr. Horace Dooley served as Decoration service leader after Rev. Mac Howell’s death. He lost Mr. Dooley, and Robert Gardner, who also served. At the present time, Tim Frye and Bertis Russell are in charge of the singing.

Marvin Cox kept the grounds for a number of years. At the present time, the family are the caretakers.

Some of the Rice relatives still live in the area. Many newcomers love Ricetown and help in the upkeep of the cemetery, as well as on our Memorial Day. Ricetown is now their community, too.

Family Group Sheet

Husband: James Monroe Rice

Born: 10 Aug 1803, in Tennessee, USA
Married: 12 Oct 1828, in Blount, Tennessee, USA
Died: 18 Aug 1865, in Ricetown, Blount, Alabama, USA
Father: James Rice
Mother: Rebecca Borden

Wife: Sarah Headrick

Born: 16 Dec 1810, in Tennessee, USA
Died: 16 Nov 1888, in Ricetown, Blount, Alabama, USA

Children

1. Jennie Rice

Sex: Female
Born: 1830, in Tennessee, USA
Died: 1880, in Ricetown, Blount County, Alabama, USA
Married: 1849, in Knox County, Tennessee
Spouse: Andrew Haun

2. John Rice

Sex: Male
Born: 27 Mar 1833, in Tennessee, USA
Died: 5 Aug 1916, in Ricetown, Blount County, Alabama, USA
Married: 20 Dec 1855, in Knox, Tennessee, USA
Spouse: Margaret Compton

3. William M. Rice

Sex: Male
Born: 2 Sep 1836, in Tennessee, USA
Died: 17 Apr 1914, in Ricetown, Blount County, Alabama, USA
Married: 14 Jan 1869, in Blount, Alabama, USA
Spouse: Mary Elizabeth Sanders

4. David Preston Rice

Sex: Male
Born: 12 Jan 1841, in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Died: 25 May 1903, in Ricetown, Blount, Alabama, USA
Married: 6 Jan 1869, in Blount, Alabama, USA
Spouse: Frances Adelaide Willoughby

5. Rebecca A. Rice

Sex: Female
Born: 1842, in Tennessee, USA
Married: 31 Aug 1871, in Blount, Alabama, USA
Spouse: Monroe Whaley

6. Martha Rice

Sex: Female
Born: 6 May 1845, in Tennessee, USA
Died: 7 Jan 1910, in Ricetown, Blount County, Alabama
Spouse: Not listed

7. Mary M. Rice

Sex: Female
Born: 29 Mar 1848, in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Died: 2 Jun 1933, in Cullman, Cullman County, Alabama, USA
Married: 10 Mar 1869, in Blount, Alabama, USA
Spouse: James Marion James

8. Marcus Lafayette Rice

Sex: Male
Born: 1850, in Tennessee, USA
Died: 9 Sep 1926, in Ricetown, Blount County, Alabama
Married: 7 Jun 1872, in Blount, Alabama, USA
Spouse: Katherine Willoughby

Written by Evelyn Howell Sapp
Daughter of Lou Rice Howell
Daughter of William Rice

After the Rice brothers bought the land along the Mulberry River, sickness and disease came to the families. During this period of history in the Ricetown community, many of the diseases now curable had not been conquered by modern medicine. Typhoid fever, colitis, diphtheria, and tuberculosis, to name a few, swept through the community, killing babies as well as some adults. The Ricetown Cemetery was a place set aside to bury the dead on short notice. It was sometime in the 1850s that the first person was buried in what is now known as Ricetown Cemetery. At the time the first person was buried there, the cemetery had not been named. The oldest known marked grave in the cemetery belongs to Edward Sanders, in 1859. Mr. Sanders was the father of Elizabeth Rice, wife of William Rice. There are several graves marked with large rocks or stones. No one knows who they might have been. It is believed, however, that perhaps some of the graves may have been workers of the Rices. The Rices did not own slaves, since they purchased the land, for the most part, after slavery was abolished.

The cemetery is located on a beautiful hill behind the former Preston Rice home. As time passed, many generations of Rices and their descendants continued to bury there, as well as other people in the Ricetown community.

Some other families that settled in the Ricetown community over the years include Cox, Reid, James, Gardner, Clark, Frye, Hedrick, Allred, Dial, Sawyer, and others. Some of the names have married into the Rice family over the years. Men and women from these families served our country in the Armed Forces. There are veterans from the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and some of the more recent conflicts.

Mr. Sam Frye and his wife, Sallie Fannie Rice Frye, lived in the Preston Rice house, and the family farmed the land. They donated and made deeds for an additional strip of land, adding to the existing cemetery. This deed was recorded in 1948. The deeds at that time named Mr. Marvin Cox and Rev. M. E. Howell as trustees. When Rev. Howell passed away, his son, Dr. Malcolm Howell, succeeded his father as trustee. Mr. Sam Frye’s daughters still lived in the home that belonged to their father and that was originally built by Preston Rice at the time this history was written. Lillie Belle and Nettie Lou always looked forward to the cemetery annual Decoration Day on the fourth Sunday in May each year and gave a warm welcome to those visiting the cemetery. This was written in 1991, and both are now deceased and are buried in the Ricetown Cemetery.

On the fourth Sunday in May each year, the relatives and friends all return and lovingly place flowers on the graves of loved ones. In the early years, they met and “cleaned the mounds” of the graves the week before Memorial Day. The friends and relatives would meet on Sunday afternoon because at that time there was no building to meet in. Finally, the families decided to build a shed-like structure for the service. The families used some old lumber that came from the dismantling of the old Ricetown School and Church building. The structure had a dirt floor. Attendees sat on planks that were fastened to the walls. Reverend Mac Howell, husband of Lou Rice Howell, was the leader and either preached or had someone come and preach the service. He took great interest in the beautification of the grounds. He, along with his children and grandchildren, set out shrubs and the magnolia trees that are on the grounds today. Reverend Howell had rooted these plants at his home before they were transplanted. The magnolia trees were limbs from trees in Reverend Howell’s yard that were buried in the ground and, once rooted, cut from the original trees and transplanted.

Prior to the cemetery having grass, the land was bare and was swept clean, and the weeds were cut with hoes. Grass was sown when power mowers became more accessible, and plans were made to keep the cemetery on a more regular schedule. From then until the present, an offering has been taken annually, and other donations have been given for the upkeep of the grounds and the chapel building.

Around 1948 and 1949, the leaders of the Ricetown community formed a committee to plan a more permanent structure for the annual meeting. The concept was a chapel building that was to look more like a church structure. The building was to be made of block, be one large room, have a large front door, church pews, and heat and electric lighting. After all that, no one at that time had air conditioning in the community. In 1951, the building was completed and dedicated to the community. There was a steeple placed on the front of the church, and the bell from the former Ricetown School and Church was put inside the steeple. The same bell that is mounted near the front entrance today was used in the community for emergencies during the 1950s and early 1960s, when the community still had no telephones.

A piano was needed for the chapel, so Mrs. Nettie Rice Merrill donated a piano. Mr. Marvin Cox, who was the groundskeeper for many years, asked that the fourth Sunday in May be made an all-day event. Since then, lunch has become an annual event. A large table was built, and many wonderful dishes are brought each year.

In the meantime, the trustees felt the chapel building seemed to be lacking something, so they contacted Mr. B. M. Ogletree, a local carpenter and cabinetmaker, to build a beautiful pulpit for the chapel.

Members of the committees and trustees who have served over the years are Nettie Lou Frye, Evelyn Howell Sapp, Marvin Cox, May Frye Dooley, Gene Sawyer, Danny Sapp, Joy Sapp, Sam Gibbs, Bud Barber, Cranston Cox, Ruby Cox, Tim Frye, Johnny Frye, Carolyn Frye, Leon Henderson, Kirk Barber, Lou Gene Barber, Bertis Russell, and others too numerous to name.

After the death of Rev. Mac Howell, Mr. Horace Dooley assumed the song leader duties at the morning service until his death in 1988. After that time, Robert Gardner assumed responsibility until his passing. Currently, at the time of this record of history, Rev. Larry Wallace has taken on the role. Rev. Wallace is the grandson of Rev. Howell and the great-grandson of William Rice.

Mr. Marvin Cox was the groundskeeper for many years until his death. Johnny and Carolyn Frye took over after Mr. Cox until Johnny passed away. At the time of this writing, Cranston “Duke” Cox and Ruby Cox take great care of the grounds.

Some of the Rice descendants still live in the general area. Many newcomers love Ricetown and help with the upkeep of the cemetery, as well as attend the annual Memorial Day service and lunch on the grounds. After all, do you not believe the brothers would have wanted it to be that way?

Presentation by Evelyn Sapp
April 11, 1989

Blount Springs was one of Alabama’s fashionable spas of yesteryear. Today, it is but a ghost town of the long-ago place that entertained thousands of people. Some were fun lovers; others were health seekers. Many came to get away from the heat of the city. Many came from South Alabama to get away from “the chills and fever country.” The temperature is always cool at night, even in hot weather.

It all began in 1828, when J. H. Harris and G. Perrine purchased the property to make a renowned watering place. It almost became the “Alabama Fountain of Youth.” After constructing a three-story, 40-room hotel in colonial style, bands would meet the trains to welcome guests. Several other hotels were built later. The guests drank water from the different springs. There were seven different kinds of springs in one area, the most popular being the Red Sulphur. It was said to contain more sulphuretted hydrogen and lithium than any other water in the state. The guests took hot baths in it, thinking it would help rheumatism and other ailments. The rates were as follows: $2.00 per day and $10.50 to $12.50 per week. Cottages began to spring up everywhere. Brett Randolph of Greensboro built the first family cottage close to the springs.

In 1850, the property deeds to the large hotel were held in the name of George Goffe. The Goffe House, as it was first known, was later changed to the Duffee House. Matthew Duffee’s daughter, Mary Gardon Duffee, whom we remember as “Molly,” acted as hostess in charge of social affairs.

Another hotel built during this time was called Jackson Inn, or Jackson House. A Dr. Robinson practiced medicine and surgery there.

In all these hotels, slot machines were in use. Businesses at Blount Springs included a saloon, a bottling company, a boarding house, five general stores, a cotton gin, a lawyer, three physicians, a livery stable, a blacksmith, a post office, a telegraph office, and a railroad agent. There were probably others of which I am not aware.

Blount Springs was incorporated in 1885. James Cox was the first mayor, and Thomas Jones was Justice of the Peace. Later, Blount Springs property was bought by the Sloss brothers, who ran the Sloss Furnace in Birmingham. They renovated the big hotel in a “big way,” installing gas lights, building bathhouses, and piping freestone water into the hotel. They hired a gardener from Louisville and also brought French chefs from New Orleans. They built a billiard parlor indoors and a bowling alley at the springs. The resort took on new life. To celebrate, they gave the most brilliant affair that had ever been staged at the springs. By 1888, the summer population reached 3,000.

In 1903, the Sloss holdings were sold to Mel Drennen, who constructed a dam along Cold Creek with boating, etc., in mind. It is still intact. He hired Alvin Sinclair to manage the hotel. Mr. Sinclair kept up the old standards of hospitality. He hired a young woman by the name of Annie Rice Hamilton, a cousin of mine, as hostess. However, the hotel burned in 1914. Mrs. Hamilton retrieved an old buffet, and Mr. Drennen gave it to her. It is now at the home of my cousin, Mrs. Gibbs, in the Ricetown community. Mr. Sinclair died in 1918 with a ruptured appendix while en route to Birmingham by train to the hospital. His store also burned the same night.

During the Blount Springs heyday, several Black families were brought in to assist arrivals from the depot to the hotels. Some were hired to slaughter cattle to cook; there was no delivery service then. A slaughter pen was built along Cold Creek with easy access to water. Several of these Black families stayed but lived on one particular mountain and colonized their own community on Hayden Mountain.

The railroad was later relocated east of Blount Springs, and this actually sounded a death knell for the resort town. Improved modes of travel also contributed to its decline.

Adding a postscript to this era is a footnote about Molly Duffee. She retreated to the mountains and became a recluse. She wrote poetry and essays for a Birmingham paper. One of the Black families, the Isaac Point family, lived by her and looked after her. She came to my cousin’s house, the Frye family, 74 years ago when their baby was born. She sat down and wrote a poem dedicating it to the baby. When this family moved back to the farm, the poem got lost in the shuffle. In it she said something about, “You were born today, little one, in a busy little hamlet, but before you get old, the resort will be grown up in blackberry briars.” How prophetic!

My memory of Blount Springs is during the late 1920s and 1930s. Many summer cottages had been built on the mountain ridges. There were quite a few families that had become permanent residents, my parents being among them. My father carried the mail from Blount Springs for 40 years. My uncle at that time was still running the only remaining hotel, one that he had built—a three-story structure. We looked forward to Friday and Saturday afternoons, when our weekend neighbors would arrive. Our neighbor was Roy Osborne, a businessman who worked with Black loan, Standard Oil, and Osborne Trucking. Others whom I remember were Judge Joel Brown of Montgomery. From Birmingham came the Badhams, Willoughbys, Lights, Burdettes, Burgesses, Fitzhughs, Hoberts, Coles, and Gladdens, and from Cullman came the McCoys and Lees.

The Avondale Mills built a camp for their families to enjoy. We played, hiked, explored caves, etc., with the children. We also enjoyed open-air concerts by bands, and especially did we enjoy the wonderful Jordan family, not dreaming that one day they would become famous.

During my childhood, there were two churches, four stores, a library, a garage, a post office, Avondale Camp, and a restaurant. Actually, there was just one church, Methodist. The Baptists went to church in the school. The children were brought in from the country; the grades were 1–9. There was also a Black school and church.

Some of our activities as children were hunting chestnuts all over the hillside before the blight killed the trees, hiking all over Duffee’s Mountain, and staring off “Lover’s Leap,” retelling the legend, which probably was not true. It was a huge quarry where lime rock was crushed and shipped out by train. We would look at the ruins of Molly Duffee’s home with awe. We had heard that so many of her poems had burned with the house. We also took our guests and friends to the pivot rock, which is still a wonder of nature to see.

How excited we all were that the blackberry briars would be cleaned out and that this place, so dear to some of us, would be a thriving place again!