Pauline Rice

Pauline Rice the daughter of an educator. She was born 15 May 1829 to John and Jane Rice. Her dad died when she was little and somehow, her mom managed to raise. She was educated at Greensboro College in North Carolina. She married 2 November 1851 David Porter Nelson. They had 5 children, 3 pre-deceased her.

Shortly after their first child was born they moved to Cairo, Illinois. That was in 1857, by 1859 and the birth of their second child they were in Texas.

She was a pioneer in the teaching profession in the state. She was one of the first women to hold a chair for the Coronal Institute in San Marcos, where she taught mathematics for a number of years before she transferred to the Female Academy in Seguin. She taught there for ten years. She went on to teach in other private and public schools.

She moved with her husband to San Antonio and their daughter, Fannie May's home in 1885. There she was surrounded by her family and then her grandchildren's families. Fannie's daughter Vivia (granddaughter) and Viva's daughter, Cecile (great-granddaughter) were educators too. That made four generations of teachers.

She continued to teach in San Antonio and be an advocate for the education of Texas' young people until her death 1 May 1913. Her two daughters had hre buried in the Nelson-Ripley cemetery plot of the Confederate Cemetery in San Antonio.

Looking down on this world it must please her to know that her efforts to educate will be remembered. San Antonio school system named an Elementary School for her shortly after she died. Many of the parents and children of the area supported the idea and the School Board named a school that was currently under renovation for her. Her daughter Mollie was principal there until her death.

Images with utsa in the file name are from the John M. Steinfeldt Family Papers, 1819-1993, MS 35, Archives and Special Collections, University of Texas at San Antonio Library. Other photos in possession of family members. Other documents obtained from Court Records, digital images on Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org, and microfilmed records.

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Research and website done by Tresa Tatyrek. This site was last updated 01/23/12