DICE, Walker - Fountain County INGenWeb Project

On last Saturday Feb 4 at his home east of Manville, occurred the funeral services of the late Walker Dice. He was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia in 1827 and at the age of two years moved with his parents to Fountain County, Indiana where he passed his early manhood days. He came to New Michigan in 1850 and with his brothers, Andrew and Harry built a store building, a part of which is now in the store building of Jones Bros at Manville. About that time New Michigan was a small city of unknown possibilities and Samuel Grimes and his wife had just came there from the east and established the then first grain line out of this county. He fixed up some few rail pens, bought some ear corn and started business.  He secured a hand corn sheller for his wife to shell the ear corn and he would haul it to the canal at Ottawa and while he was delivering a load she would shell another. That was one of the characteristics of a new country and it so impressed the Dice Bros. that they built a store there which some time afterwards was moved to Manville. He soon after that bought the farm where he resided when he died and on or about Sept 10, 1858 was married to Miss Harriet McIntosh and they soon took up their abode on their farm.  The Methodist people desired a church somewhere near the corner east and south of the Dice home. The Rev. Millington was then in charge of what scattered Methodists could be found there and he proposed to the people that as he had been a house carpenter in his younger days (same as Jesus Christ) that if the people would furnish the material on the ground he w9ould build a church, building with parsonage underneath.  They did so and as Mr. Dice and his wife were the nearest residing members everything they had or everything they could do for the cause was at all times at the church’s command. All the itinerant preaches that were then travelling across the country called at their house and they were numerous. There were but few railroads and no trolley lines at that time.  His estimable wife passed away some 16 years ago since which time he has lived on his farm with his unmarried daughter and his niece Miss Lizzie Coe.  In the death of Mr. Dice there has passed away one of the men who has seen the changing of this country form a state of nature to its present prosperity. - kbz