As early as 1840 Rice suffered from a type of paralysis which began to limit his speech and movements, and eventually led to his death on September 19, 1860. He is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York in what is now an unmarked grave. A reminiscence of him in "The New York Times" suggests his death was alcohol-related, and states that although he had made a considerable fortune in his time, his later years were spent in a liquor saloon and his burial was paid for by public subscription.