York (but did not own a home there). He built a house on a estate in Dunellen, New Jersey, and moved there in 1872. He became a resident of New York again in 1882. Rice married Julia E. Brown (nee Elizabeth Baldwin) on June 26, 1867. Baldwin was the sister of Charlotte Rice, the wife of William Rice's brother Frederick. The marriage was "stormy", and during the 1890s, she consulted an attorney regarding the possibility of a divorce. She died "hopelessly insane" in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on July 24, 1896. Rice was an eccentric. In his later years, he ate no meat and rarely any vegetables. His diet consisted of bouillon and eggs. On January 28, 1882, William Rice drafted a will, instructing the executors to pay over to the trustees, the Governor and the Judge, funds from his estate for the establishment of "The William M. Rice Orphans Institute." The next year, he began spending more time in Houston, reuniting with old acquaintances. After an 1886 or 1887 meeting with a C. Lombardi, Rice decided that the benefits of his wealth should be enjoyed by the children of the city where he made his fortune. In 1891, Rice decided that he would not establish an Orphans Institute at the Dunellen estate, but would instead found the William M. Rice Institute for the Advancement of Literature, Science and Art in Houston, Texas. The Institute's charter was signed by all the original trustees, except for Rice, on May 18, 1891, and certified by the State of Texas the following day. Death and scandal Rice was the victim of one of the earliest sensational crimes of the 1900s. In 1893, Rice made a new will, naming as executors Captain James A. Baker, a lawyer who often worked for him, William M. Rice Jr., his nephew, and John D. Bartine. The value of Rice's estate at the time was estimated at about $4 million. The new will instructed the executors to divide his property into two equal parts, one to be bequeathed to the Rice Institute, the other to be divided into shares and distributed to his wife Elizabeth Baldwin Rice and other legatees. After her death in 1896, a new will was drafted on September 26, providing bequests for several of Rice's relatives and leaving the remainder of the estate to the Rice Institute. The next four years saw a great deal of