John N. Hovey (1816-1911) a U.S. Representative was born in Mount Vernon on February 5, 1816. He attended the common schools.
A clerk in the office of the register of deeds in Augusta (1831-1841), he engaged in business and became a deputy sheriff. Rice was aide-de-camp to General Bachelor in the Aroostook War, the northeastern boundary dispute with Great Britain, in 1838. He moved to Piscataquis County in 1843, studied law, was admitted to the bar and began his practice in Piscataquis County in 1848 where he was prosecuting attorney from 1852 to 1860.
Earlier (1856) a delegate to the Republican National Convention; he was elected as a Republican to the Thirty-seventh, Thirty-eighth, and Thirty-ninth Congresses (March 4, 1861-March 3, 1867). He was chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds (Thirty-eighth and Thirty-ninth Congresses), but declined to be a candidate for renomination.
After serving as United States collector of customs at the port of Bangor (1861-1871), Rice moved to Washington, D.C., where he practiced law for twelve years; then went to New York City in 1884 and practiced until 1899. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in May 1899 and remained there until his death on March 14, 1911, with interment in Oakwood Cemetery.
Additional resources
John N. Hovey Congressional Biography: https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/RICE,-John-Hovey-(R000201)/ (accessed January 8, 2021)