RICE / STOVALL FAMILY

To the best of our knowledge and research, Mollie Stovall Rice was born in the area of Macon, Georgia and was owned by the Stovall Family.  It was rumored that she was stolen, placed in a “tic” (mattress cover) and taken to Arkansas.  It was in Arkansas that she met a fellow slave, Tony Rice.  Their relationship had to be kept secret due to Mollie's relationship with the owner.  According to the state archives, Mollie had five daughters, Harriet, Nancy, Mattie, Nettie and Kate. After freedom, Tony and Mollie were able to marry and bore the other four daughters.  The family settled in Okolona, Arkansas where they purchased land and reared their children.  The homestead still exists and as of 2001, was owned and lived in by Adrian, son of Mattie Rice Cook.  At the time of 2013 reunion, the homestead stood vacant. 

Harriet was the oldest born into slavery (1855) and the child of the slave owner.  She departed this life in 1955 at the age of 103.  Harriet married Benjamin Ross.  Together they had eleven children: Alfred, George, Thomas, Will, Lela, Clara, Kathryn, Betsy, Mary, Della and Maggie.  George married Alice; together they had one child, Gladys.  Thomas married Dorothy and Stella.  Will married Ethel and together they had nine children: Wilma, twins Doris and Dorothy, Nancy, William, Jr., Eva, Benjamin, Thomas and Joyce Yvonne.  Will also married Mary.  Together they had three sons: twins, Leo and Leon and Lynn.  Clara married Jimmy Anderson.  Kathryn married Walter Stewart.  Betsy married Jackson Brooks and bore seven children: Roy, Charles, Robert, Hosea, Etta, Tressie and Jessie Mae.  Mary married Hughie Nelson and together they had two sons, Bennie and Jimmie and five daughters, Lena, Izetta, Savannah, Esther and Lucille. Della married Mack Crowe.  Together they had four children: Clarence, Clara, Minnie and Lillie.  Maggie married Robert Smith and bore one son, Gilbert and one daughter, Annie Mae. 

Nancy Rice married Daniel Hinkle.  This union bore one daughter, Nannie who married Tandy W. Coggs, Sr.  To this union were born two daughters Eloise, Nanette and three sons, Reverend Tandy W. Coggs, Jr., Dr. Louis Coggs, Sr., and Dr. Granville Coggs. 

Mattie Rice married Amos Cook.  To this union was born two sons, Virgil and Adron (Adrian).  Adron married Beatrice.  Together they had two daughters, Techumseah and Lucinia.  

Nettie Rice married Robert Jones.  To this union were born one daughter, Bessie, who married Toby Smith and two sons, Prinder and Zennie.  Prinder married Mattie Mae and together they had three children; Maud Eva, Christine, and Robert Lee.  Zennie married Azaluia and together they had two daughters, Bobbie and Robbie. 

Kate Rice married Willis Haynes.  Together they had two daughters, Velma and Exie and four sons, Morris, Marvin, James and Henry Clay.  Exie married Aray BIock.  Morris married Gladys and had two sons, George Frederick and Willis Edward.  Marvin married Lillie.  James married Fannie and had one daughter, Dorothy Mack.  Henry Clay married Willie Kate.  They had two daughters, Jean and Ray.  Henry later married Katie Mae.  Their children are Barbara Ann, Gloria Jean, Marvin Lewis, Darryl Ray, Linda Lavonne and James Edward.  

Joe Stovall, youngest brother of Mollie Stovall Rice was born in Georgia and moved to Okolona, Arkansas after his freedom.  He walked, searched and finally found her in Okolona.  He married and had two daughters, Nancy Stovall Payne and Mary Ross Stovall Payne, seven sons, Acie, John, Jake, Clifford, Clarence, Henry Clay and Simon.  Mary, Clarence and Simon still reside in Okolona.  Mollie died 1921.  Tony preceded her in death.