Moses P. Rice

Moses Parker Rice was a Canadian-born photographer who played a notable role in American Civil War-era photography. Born in North Sydney, Cape Breton, to Robert Muckford Rice and Sarah Maria Ingraham, he arrived in Washington D.C. in 1861 and worked as a clerk before establishing himself as a photographer by 1865. Rice worked with Alexander Gardner during the Civil War period and made copy negatives of Gardner's photographs, including the famous "Gettysburg" portrait of Abraham Lincoln taken in November 1863. In 1891, Rice copyrighted several of Gardner's original negatives, a practice that was not uncommon during that era of photography.

Rice married Mary Ellen Graham in February 1865 and had eleven children. He operated photography studios in Washington D.C. for over five decades, initially partnering with his younger brother Amos Ingraham Rice (1850-1912) at various Pennsylvania Avenue locations before settling at 1203 F Street NW. The Rice brothers also established Rice Studios Limited in Montreal. Moses continued printing photographs from his Civil War-era negatives well into the 1920s. After becoming less active around 1924, the family business was managed by his son Robert C. Rice until it closed around 1930.