John Blake RICE, Congress, IL (1809-1874)

RICE John Blake , a Representative from Illinois; born in Easton, Talbot County, Md., May 28, 1809; received a limited schooling; went on the stage in New York in 1839; moved to Chicago, Ill., in 1847 and was manager of a theater; also managed theaters in Bangor, Maine, Buffalo, N.Y., and Milwaukee, Wis.; retired from the stage in 1857 and from theatrical management in 1861; mayor of Chicago 1865-1869; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third Congress and served from March 4, 1873, until his death in Norfolk, Va., December 17, 1874; interment in Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, Ill.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present