The Rice Farm: keeping the family farming tradition alive since before the Civil War

Being recognized by the Arkansas Century Farm Program in 2021 was an honor for the Rice family of Waldron in Scott County, but it could be argued that it was 67 years overdue. The Rice Homestead has been a working farm since 1854. It has borne witness to an extraordinary amount of Arkansas history. Larry Rice, who along with his wife Barbara Ann currently owns the farm, loves to talk about his family, his farm and the surrounding area’s long, colorful history and proud heritage.

“The original owner, Harrison Huie, got the patent on the land for the farm in 1854,” began Larry. “In 1857, my great-great-great-grandfather, Calvin Rufus Taff, came from Tennessee and he bought a big chunk of land from Harrison and raised hogs on it.” Ever since that year the farm has been in Larry’s family.

“In 1864, Harrison Huie was murdered, you can see his lone grave today from my house,” Larry continued. “On his tombstone it says he was murdered by a group of marauders from Kansas. They were called the Kansas Red Legs claiming to be Union soldiers but basically just a group of thugs. They caught him when he was off away from his house and unarmed. As the local story goes, his wife and daughter went out in the dead of night and dragged him back to the farm for burial because the band was still roaming the area burning houses. All but three homes in Waldron, including theirs, were burned in the name of Union soldiers.”

Calvin enlisted in the 19th Arkansas Infantry of the Confederate Army, as did his brother who was known as Francis A. “Preacher” Taff, a traveling Methodist minister. They were following in the tradition of their father, John, and grandfather, Peter, who had served in the War of 1812 and the Revolutionary War respectively.

After enlisting, Calvin was sent back home after only two weeks because he was 40 years old, considered an old man back then. His brother was considerably younger, so he stayed and fought but was soon captured. “They let him go if he swore allegiance to the Union and said he wouldn’t take up arms again,” Larry said. “But shortly after he got back he signed up with the Confederacy again and this time when he was captured he spent the rest of the war in prison.”

Unfortunately, peace did not come to the family or Scott County when the war ended. As Larry explained, it had only just begun. “We had a war right after the Civil War called the Scott County War,” Larry said. “Where I live, there was more fighting going on after the Civil War than during. The carpetbaggers were coming in and taking the land from the widows and disabled veterans who couldn’t pay their taxes. They burned the courthouse down twice to destroy existing land records.”

Also known as the Waldron War, the conflict was a decadelong period of violence that began during the Reconstruction era and was characterized by arson, general lawlessness, personal and political feuds, electoral misconduct, and violence (including murder) throughout Scott County.

George Jones, a great, great, grandfather of Larry’s, had no small presence in the Scott County War. He was known as the Infamous Mr. Jones and was the leader of the Ring of Five who were eventually charged with 30 murders of union sympathizers. George hid out in Oklahoma Indian territory for a couple of years while the other four were arrested. When Arkansas got the first Democrat Governor after the Reconstruction Era he sent U S Marshals to retrieve George and the Ring of Five were pardoned for all crimes they ‘may or may not have committed.’

Peace finally did come to the area and, in the 20th century as Larry’s family continued to farm the land, they also came to have an interest in serving their community in the ever growing county. “My grandfather, Worth Samuel Rice, served as a Waldron City Councilman then went on to become the first Fire Chief of Waldron City,” Larry said. “From there he became a State Representative in the 1930’s for two terms then Scott County Sheriff for two terms.”

Following in his father’s footsteps, Wilfred Ray “Bud” Rice also pursued a political career while also staying invested in the furniture and appliance business. “Wilfred (Bud) Rice, my daddy, served nine terms in the Arkansas legislature,” according to Larry. “He was in office during the

entire Clinton l governorship. h And d today, d my brother, Terry Rice, is continuing the family tradition of public service having served two terms as state representative and currently Arkansas State Senator.”

Over the years the farm has grown as it passed from generation to generation. “We have cattle on about 725 acres,” Larry noted. “About 275 acres of it my brother Terry and I own. The other 450 acres I work with my wife Barbara Ann and family. We have some timberland that also goes back over 100 years as well. We know this because I have a timber deed from the 1800’s with my great-grandfather’s name on it. He didn’t sign it because he couldn’t write but someone else did and he put his mark on it.”

Larry is concerned about the state of the family farm today and worries for the next generation. “I feel sorry for any young person trying to be a farmer today,” he said. “I have had to work 55 years in the furniture and appliance business that my father started the year before I was born. I have had to farm by flashlight after I got home from work. I worked six days a week in the store and did my cowboying at night and on the weekends. Now that I’m retired I finally get to farm during the day.

“But young people today first have to acquire the land and even if it’s given to them it’s almost impossible to make a living off of just the farm,” Larry continued. “It a sad situation. That’s why we see so many farm families f l going away because b they h can’t survive. When I was fourteen years old I borrowed my neighbors hay rake and put up my hay in stacks. I didn’t have any expense except a few blisters. Now after you buy even a used tractor and other things you need you are still spending 30 or 40 thousand dollars. By the time you pay the taxes on the farm and the necessary insurance for liability that our grandfathers didn’t have to worry about, you just have to have another source of income. Today, somebody in the family has to have an outside job.”

But Larry and Barbara Ann wouldn’t have it any other way. “It is a wonderful life,” he said. “Working the land and raising bulls and heifers. And when you have such a rich and long history like my family, you just can’t help but feel really proud. And there is no way I will ever sell it. I just hope my grandkids can figure out a way to hold on to it. Most of them have gone to school to become nurses or doctors or dentists or technicians.”

The name Charles has been a constant throughout Larry’s family history. “In the line of Charles’s with Rice Farms…Charles W. Jones; Charles Waylan “Si” Rice; Larry Charles Rice; Driston Charles Rice; Garron Charles Rice; and the sixth Charles (Kade Charles Ewing) was just born three days ago,” he said. “I love him and hope his generation can keep the farm running.”