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Chapter Four: Fulfilling the Trust
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128 Criminal proceedings against Albert T. Patrick and his accomplices made eye-catching headlines, but Captain James A. Baker focused on the tangle of civil cases filed by claimants hungry for the easy money a rich man’s estate promised. In his fight to fulfill William Marsh Rice’s last will and testament of September 1896, Captain Baker overcame opponents who contested the wills, appealed the rulings, sued to prevent payouts, and generally caused trouble for a responsible lawyer trying to salvage every penny of his dead client’s estate. On April 16, 1902, only days after the gates of Sing Sing prison clanged shut behind Albert Patrick, Frank T. Fitzgerald, surrogate for the County of New York, reopened probate hearings in the Rice will case. Eighteen months had passed since Captain Baker had filed Rice’s 1896 will with Fitzgerald’s Chapter Four Fulfilling the Trust Illustration: Board of Trustees, Rice Institute, 1911. (Seated, left to right: James Everett McAshan, vice chairman; Cesar Maurice Lombardi; Captain James Addison Baker, chairman; Standing, left to right: Benjamin Botts Rice, treasurer; President Edgar Odell Lovett; Emanuel Raphael, secretary; William Marsh Rice II). Early Rice Collection, Woodson Research Center, Rice University. book TAM Kirkland.indb 128 book TAM Kirkland.indb 128 5/30/12 2:47 PM 5/30/12 2:47 PM Fulfilling the Trust 129 court, and during that time, the fate of Rice’s fortune awaited the verdict of his murderer. Estate Administration Administration of Rice’s extensive investments proved the most pressing problem in September 1900. In Houston, Baker’s law partners acted promptly to have him named temporary administrator in Texas, effective October 2, 1900, with authority to conduct business and take legal action concerning Rice’s property in that state until the 1896 will could be probated or a permanent administrator could be appointed. A broad range of issues demanded immediate attention: debt collection, reconstruction of the Merchants & Planters Oil Company mill, settling the Holt claims against the estate in Texas, managing 5,000 head of cattle and large stretches of rural land, and elevator installation at the Capitol Hotel (renamed the Rice Hotel on October 16, 1900). The complexity of the criminal and civil trials in New York and Baker’s prolonged absences from Houston made the job of daily oversight in Houston difficult.1 After persuasive jawboning by Hornblower and Byrne, Baker reluctantly agreed to cede his duties as temporary administrator. For the “onerous” services he and his law partners had rendered during his six-month term, Baker, Botts, Baker & Lovett received $10,250, a substantial sum.2 On March 27, 1901, Baker submitted a final report of his administration and conveyed Texas assets to Frederick A. Rice, newly appointed permanent administrator in Texas. Eleven days later on Friday, April 6, Frederick A. Rice was talking and laughing with friends on the train from Galveston to Houston when suddenly his head fell back against the seat; traveling companions pronounced him dead moments later. Within a week, H. Baldwin Rice had agreed to take his father’s place as administrator of William M. Rice’s property in Texas. Frederick A. Rice’s children reassured Baker and Lovett they would “place themselves entirely in your hands” regarding all legal matters.3 Relatives in Springfield, Massachusetts, appealed this appointment, but all complaints were dismissed, and on December 12, 1901, H. Baldwin Rice qualified as Permanent Administrator of William M. Rice’s estate in Texas.4 During his administration (December 12, 1901 to April 4, 1905), Baldwin Rice worked out a settlement with the heirs listed in Mrs. Rice’s will and liquidated much of his uncle’s far-flung book TAM Kirkland.indb 129 book TAM Kirkland.indb 129 5/30/12 2:47 PM 5/30/12 2:47 PM [18.218.184.214] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 20:33 GMT) Chapter Four 130 rural property by selling sixty parcels of land in twenty-eight counties, Waco, and Houston for $244,199.56. As the agent for these transactions he earned a comfortable income.5 Meanwhile in New York, when it became clear that criminal proceedings and the existence of Patrick’s spurious 1900 will would make quick probate proceedings impossible, talk turned to naming a temporary administrator there as well. Baker suggested himself as the best candidate to handle Rice’s assets because of his familiarity with Rice’s property and because he was named as an executor in both contested wills. Mark Potter discouraged...