Alexander H. Rice, Governor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton_Rice

Alexander Hamilton Rice (August 30, 1818 – July 22, 1895) was Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts from 1856–1857, a U.S. Congressman during the American Civil War, and the 30th Governor of Massachusetts from 1876–78.

Biography

Born in Newton, Massachusetts, to Thomas and Lydia (Smith) Rice. He received business training in his father's paper mill at Newton and he apprenticed in a mercantile house in Boston. He graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York, in 1844. Upon graduating, he became a paper manufacturer and dealer with Wilkins, Carter and Company in Boston.

In 1853 Rice was elected a member of the City of Boston's Common Council. He became the President of the Common Council in 1854.

Rice served as the first Republican mayor of the City of Boston from 1856 to 1857, and a founder of the Republican Party in Massachusetts. During his tenure, the area known as Back Bay was developed.

He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1859–1867, serving as chairman of the Committee on Naval Affairs from 1863–65.

He died at the Langwood Hotel in Melrose, Massachusetts, on July 22, 1895.