Rye was born in Benton County, Tennessee, the son of Wayne Rye, a merchant, and Elizabeth (Atchison) Rye.
•
In March 1915, Rye signed legislation chartering Tennessee Polytechnic Institute (modern Tennessee Technological University) in Cookeville.
Thomas Jefferson | Thomas Edison | Thomas | Arthur C. Clarke | Thomas Hardy | Thomas Mann | Thomas Aquinas | Clarence Thomas | Thomas Gainsborough | Dylan Thomas | Thomas Pynchon | St. Thomas | Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands | Thomas Carlyle | Thomas the Tank Engine | Thomas Moore | Thomas Cromwell | Thomas Becket | Thomas the Apostle | Thomas Merton | Thomas Tallis | Thomas Paine | Rye | Roy Thomas | Thomas Telford | Thomas More | Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford | Ryan Thomas | C. Thomas Howell | Thomas Kean |