John Blake Rice

John Blake Rice ( born May 28, 1809 in Easton, Talbot County, Maryland, † December 17, 1874 in Norfolk, Virginia ) was an American politician. In the years 1873 and 1874, he represented the state of Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives; previously he served from 1865 to 1869 as mayor of Chicago.

Career

John Rice enjoyed only a limited education. From 1829 to 1861 he worked in the theater business. At first, he was as an actor in several states on the go. Later he also became theater manager. Since 1847, he was in Chicago initially as entertainers and actors and then worked as a theater manager. When his theater burned down in 1850. he moved temporarily to Milwaukee in Wisconsin. In 1851 he returned to Chicago, where he built a new theater.

In 1857, he retired as an actor from the stage; In 1861 he gave the theater management. Instead, he suggested, as a member of the Republican Party launched a political career. Between 1865 and 1869 he was the successor of Francis Cornwall Sherman Mayor of Chicago. His term as mayor was not without controversy. He was considered a conservative Republican and opposed legislative proposals to improve the situation of the workers in his city. He was, for example, against the introduction of the eight-hour day. His behavior sparked labor unrest. The City Council overruled him then. Rice was well as some members of the city council with illegal activities such as gambling or prostitution associated. In 1869, he was replaced by Roswell B. Mason.

In the congressional elections of 1872 John Rice was the first electoral district of Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington DC chosen, where he became the successor of Charles B. Farwell on March 4, 1873. He could exercise his office until his death on 17 December 1874.