James Stephen Rice and his family moved to Orange County, California on 18 January 1877, first residing near the head of Newport Bay in one of the former ranch houses owned by José Antonio Andres Sepúlveda (1803-1875),[REF] the owner of Rancho San Joaquin.
Rice was active in politics in Orange County, serving as chairman of the Orange County Democratic Party Central Committee in the early 1920s [REF].