MAUD
BELLE RICE, daughter of Andrew and Clara Elizabeth Rice, was born on the Rice
farm on March 6, 1881. She grew up on
the farm, attended grade and high school in Neligh, graduating in 1900. Maud became interested in declamatory and
oratory in school. In 1900, she won
the state oratorical contest at Kearney, Nebraska. After graduation, she was recommended by Representative John
Robinson for a government job in the Census Bureau. She traveled to Washington D C, took and passed the Civil
Service exam and began work at the Bureau. She attended Law School at night and also took elocution classes.
She became a teacher and
taught school from 1903 to 1909. She
also taught home economics for colored girls. Later she taught drama and physical culture in the Holy Cross
Catholic School in Washington. In
1907, Maud met Ernest Stevens, from Iowa. He was born on a farm near Aplington, Iowa in August 1872. His parents were George Washington Stevens
and Mary Monroe. In 1909, Maud left
Washington for a teaching position in Valley City, North Dakota. She taught for two years and became the
principal of the Valley City Grade School in 1911. Ernest in the meantime had left Washington and homesteaded in
Montana. Maude went to Wyoming in
1911 and filed on a homestead in Van Tassell in 1911. She taught school in Van Tassell for two
years. In May 1914, Maud and Ernest
were married in Billings, Montana and lived in Rose Bud County for two years
and then moved to Van Tassell where they lived for the next nine years. They gave up farming in 1925 and moved to
Denver. Maud taught and Ernest worked
as a commercial artist. They returned
to Nebraska in 1929. Maud’s mother
died in April, 1933. The Stevens
moved into Neligh in 1934. Ernest
continued to paint along with Maud’s help. They moved back to Van Tassell in 1935. Ernest died suddenly on May 30, 1938. Maud returned to teaching in the 1940’s and 50’s. She
retired in the 1960’s. Maud died
August 19, 1968.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in Mar 2008