On Feb. 21, 1875, three years after a rail line was built to the area, a group of local residents met to organize this congregation. Early worship services were conducted in the community schoolhouse. In 1894 a sanctuary was constructed at this . . . — — Map (db m164898) HM
The Rev. William Vaughn founded this church in 1874. The charter members were the families of J.M. Bartlett, B.M. and Mrs. J.A. Clopton, L.B. and W.D. Haynie, W.M. Holmes, J.M. Mitcham, E.E. and I.B. Sessions, and J.A. Ward. This site was donated . . . — — Map (db m164897) HM
Settlers began arriving at this site in the late 1860s, mostly from the nearby settlement of Porter's Bluff, which had been devastated by a flood in 1866. By 1872, the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, which bypassed Porter's Bluff, was routed . . . — — Map (db m164896) HM
The Rice community was settled during the late 1860s and was named for William Marsh Rice, who donated land for the town's railroad station and later founded Rice University. In 1868, the citizens of the community were granted land for a cemetery . . . — — Map (db m164900) HM
Members of the Fortson family came to Texas from Mississippi and settled in Navarro County in the 1840s. Civil War veteran James T. Fortson wed Ida Clayton, daughter of another pioneer area family, in 1867, and they moved to the Rice area in 1872. . . . — — Map (db m164899) HM
