RICE, Dr. William – (1836-1901) was Frenchtown's second mayor, serving in 1868-69. A Bucks County native, he joined the Frenchtown practice of Simon Rosenberg in 1858, and in 1867 he was sharing a practice with Dr. Emanuel Deemy. Meanwhile, in 1865-70 he was a partner in Albert Williams' drug store.
Rice relocated to Trenton in 1870. On Saturday, June 12, 1875, at 3 a.m. a boiler maker named Sylvester O'Toole, age about 40, rang Rice's door bell. He said his wife was sick and needed treatment. When the doctor opened the door, O'Toole walked right in and Rice recognized him.
Rice told authorities, “He looked me in the eye, came right up to me and said, 'You are responsible for my sickness.'” Then he “pulled out a pistol and put it right to my breast. I said to him, 'Don't shoot.'” O'Toole repeated the accusation and fired. “I took hold of him and tried to push him off and get him down. It was then I think he shot me in the shoulder. The first shot hit me in the breast. I believe I am about to die.”
O'Toole ran off into the night, but was captured within an hour. At his arraignment O'Toole said he had not been trying to kill the doctor; if that had been his plan, he could have done it easily. Despite his good intentions, he was later sentenced to 10 years' hard labor.
The doctor recovered and became mayor of Trenton, holding office in 1879-80. The accompanying photo shows Trenton's City Hall as it looked in his day. The bullets remained in his body, and did not trouble him. Maybe they even brought him luck. The 1900 Census sketches a picture of prosperity. He owned his house free and clear, and it was equipped with three live-in servants, including a housekeeper and a coachman. But hopefully the doctor went on to even greater glory after he died the folllowing year. One day Rice “lay down on a couch after a hearty supper and expired almost immediately.” The Star did not say who'd prepared his meal.
From "Rick's Frenchtown Encyclopedia"
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