Luther Rice

File:Nat-bap-windows.png, John Leland, John Mason Peck, Adoniram Judson, and Rice|Figures from U.S. Baptist history in the stained glass windows of National Baptist Memorial Church, Washington, D.C. Clockwise from top left: James Madison, John Leland, John Mason Peck, Adoniram Judson, Luther Rice]]

Rice was born March 25, 1783, in Northborough, Massachusetts, to Amos Rice and Sarah (Graves) Rice.{{cite web | url= http://www.edmund-rice.org/era5gens/e6a33.htm#I-3228 | title= Luther Rice | publisher= Edmund Rice (1638) Association | access-date= 25 April 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bcne.net/rice-suite-lodge|title=Luther Rice Suite & Lodge|publisher=Baptist Conference of New England|accessdate=25 April 2023}}

As a young man at Williams College, Rice became part of a group of young ministers and aspiring missionaries who called themselves "the Brethren." The group became famous for the "Haystack Prayer Meeting," although Rice was not present that day. In February 1812, he sailed to Calcutta, India with Adoniram Judson as a Congregationalist missionary and met with English Baptist missionary William Carey. Both Rice and Judson became Baptists, and Rice returned to America to break ties with the Congregationalists and to raise support for Judson's work from the Baptists.

Rice worked to unite Baptists in America to support foreign missionaries which resulted in the organization of "The General Missionary Convention of the Baptist Denomination in United States of America, for Foreign Missions," also called the Triennial Convention, in 1814.Carleton, William A. (2020). The Dreamer Cometh: The Luther Rice Story. Wipf and Stock Publishing, Eugene, Oregon, USA. 114pp. ISBN 9781532688522. Also in 1814, Rice was awarded an honorary doctorate by then Baptist-dominated Brown University in partial recognition for his contributions to missionary work undertaken through his Baptist denomination.{{cite web | url=http://www.wmcarey.edu/carey/brown/ | title= Brown University Honorary Degrees | publisher= Brown University |access-date=18 Sep 2010}} He spent the rest of his life garnering support for missionaries and Baptist work, traveling across America by horseback to raise funds and awareness for Baptist missions.

Rice also founded Columbian College in 1821, the original unit of present-day George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. He served as the treasurer of Columbian College from 1826 until his death, September 25, 1836, in Saluda, South Carolina, while traveling through the Southern United States raising funds for the missions and seminaries that he founded. He was interred at Pine Pleasant Cemetery, Saluda County, South Carolina.{{cite web |url=http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=12973 |title= Luther Rice-Historical Marker Database |access-date= 18 April 2009}}

Although his life was not without controversy, Rice's contribution to the support of missionary work was invaluable in the early years of the Triennial Convention. During Rice's lifetime, the Triennial Convention's membership grew from 8,000 to 600,000, and the convention supported 25 missions and 112 missionaries. By the time of his death, 15 Baptist universities and colleges had been formed.{{cite web | url=http://www.tlogical.net/biorice.htm | title= Luther Rice Biography | publisher= Baptist Page |access-date=18 Sep 2010}} Luther Rice College & Seminary founded in 1962 and located in Lithonia, Georgia, USA, was named after Luther Rice in recognition of his work in the Baptist missions and seminary education.{{cite web|url=http://www.lru.edu |title=Luther Rice Seminary & University website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080509170123/http://www.lru.edu/ |archive-date=2008-05-09 }}

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Luther Rice was a direct descendant of Edmund Rice, an English immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony, as follows:Edmund Rice (1638) Association, 2007. Descendants of Edmund Rice: The First Nine Generations.{{cite web |url= http://www.edmund-rice.org/era5gens/p30.htm#i57223 |title= Edmund Rice Six-Generation Database Online: Luther Rice |publisher= Edmund Rice (1638) Association, Inc. |access-date= 15 April 2009 |archive-date= 5 August 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090805083600/http://www.edmund-rice.org/era5gens/p30.htm#i57223 |url-status= dead }}

• Luther Rice, son of
• Amos Rice (1743 – 1827), son of
• Jacob Rice (1707 – 1788), son of

:* Jacob Rice (1660 – 1746), son of

:* Edward Rice (1622 – 1712), son of

::* Edmund Rice (1594 – 1663)

{{Reflist}}

• [http://library.furman.edu/specialcollections/baptist_resources/baptist_biographies.htm#r Furman University's Special Collection on Baptists] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612210256/http://library.furman.edu/specialcollections/baptist_resources/baptist_biographies.htm#r |date=2010-06-12 }}
• [http://www.baylor.edu/baylorpress/excerpt/105-excerpt.pdf Baptist Identity and Christian Higher Education, monograph by Donald D. Schmeltekopf and Dianna M. Vitanza]
• [http://library.gwu.edu/ead/ms0260.xml Guide to the Luther Rice Papers, 1812-1832, Special Collections Research Center, Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library, The George Washington University]

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Category:1783 births

Category:1836 deaths

Category:People from Northborough, Massachusetts

Category:Baptist missionaries in India

Category:Baptist missionaries from the United States

Category:George Washington University faculty

Category:Williams College alumni

Category:University and college founders

Category:19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States

Category:George Washington University trustees

Category:American expatriates in India