David rice biography

David Rice (December 29, 1733 – June 18, 1816), called "Father" David Rice and referred to by his contemporaries as the "Apostle to Kentucky," was a renowned antislavery Presbyterian minister during the antebellum era in the United States.

David rice biography

Biography

Born in Hanover County, Virginia, "Father" David Rice was one of twelve children of David Rice Sr. and Susanna (Searcy) Rice. Raised an Episcopalian but converting to Presbyterianism early in life, he was educated at the College of New Jersey at Princeton before undertaking further studies under John Todd, who had spent a great deal of time working with Samuel Davies among slaves.

Rice would eventually follow in Todd and Davies' footsteps, working among slaves as an ordained Presbyterian minister in Virginia for over twenty years. After being forced out of Virginia, Rice joined the efforts of the Kentucky Abolition Society, serving also as a member of the 1792 Kentucky Constitutional Conventio