Ancestors
Edmund Rice
1663-1726 · Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts → Marlborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts → Westborough, Worcester County, Massachusetts
Born 1663, Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Died 1726
Father: Samuel Rice
Mother: Elizabeth King
Children include Seth
He was born in 1663, the year his grandfather the deacon died, and his mother was dead before he was five. He grew up through King Philip's War in a family that retreated to Concord for safety, and he settled on the western edge of Marlborough, out on the road towards Grafton, where his cousin Thomas Rice also farmed. He married Ruth Parker of Roxbury in November 1692 and they had twelve children.
On 8 August 1704 some of the neighbourhood were spreading flax a short way from Thomas Rice's house, with boys from both families among them, when seven or more Indians came out of the woods. They killed his son Nahor, who was five, by knocking him on the head. They seized Silas, who was nine, and Timothy, who was seven, together with two of Thomas Rice's sons, and marched them to Canada. Neither of his boys came back. Both took Mohawk wives at Caughnawaga, and Timothy, renamed Oughtsorangoughton, became one of the tribe's chiefs and in time addressed a speech to Burgoyne.
He went on farming. When the town of Westborough was cut out of Marlborough in 1717 his land fell in it, and when the Westborough church was gathered in 1724 he was one of its founding members. Ruth died and he married the widow Hannah Brown of Sudbury in 1720. He made his will in August 1726, giving the north part of the farm "to son Seth, the eldest now with me," a phrase that counts the two who were not, and he was dead within a month, aged sixty three. Fourteen years later Timothy came home for a visit and looked at the field.
Parents
Samuel Rice (1634-1684)
Elizabeth King (d. 1667)
Sources
ANDREW HENSHAW WARD, A Genealogical History of the Rice Family: Descendants of Deacon Edmund Rice (Boston, 1858). The register-format entries, each numbered, and the will abstracts printed under them.
SETH RICE, family (147): "SETH RICE [314.7] m. Dorothy Robinson of Marl., Feb. 27, 1727-8, and resided at Westboro', where they were ad. to ch., June 27, 1731, of which he was chosen Dea., April 19, 1738. He d. there, 1796, aged 91. His wid., Dorothy, b. Feb. 20, 1709, d. June 21, 1801, in her 93d year." Children: "896. 1 Persis, Sept. 7, 1728, m. Moses Warren. (333) 897. 2 Edmund, Oct. 30, 1729, m. Hannah Gassett. 898. 3 Dorothy, March 26, 1731, m. Phineas Maynard. 899. 4 Sarah, July 3, 1734, m. Joseph Grout. 900. 5 Ruth, May 8, 1736, d. Nov. 7, 1737. 901. 6 Seth, Nov. 9, 1737, m. Rachel Coolidge. 902. 7 Hannah, May 1, 1743." Every one of those seven matches the Westborough town book, and the town book is the primary record.
HIS FATHER, family (48): "EDMUND RICE [59.4] m. Ruth Parker, of Roxbury, Nov. 15, 1692, and resided in that part of Marl. that, by division, 1717, became Westboro'. She was the mother of all his chil., and probably d. at W. His 2d wife was Hannah Brown, of Sud., whom he m. June 23, 1720. He was one of the original members of the church at W., 1724; and d. there 1726, aged 63. His wid. Hannah, b. March 21, 1673, received from Sud. church to that of Westboro', Oct. 17, 1725, d. at Northboro', June 6, 1766, aged 93." Twelve children: Dinah 1693, Silas 1695, Timothy 1697, Nahor 1699, Huldah 1701, Moses 1703, SETH "Oct. 15, 1705, m. Dorothy Robinson," Thankful 1707, Eleazer 1709, Ruth 1712, Ebenezer 1714 and Anna 1716.
THE WILL THAT JOINS THEM: "Will of Edmund Rice, Aug. 10, 1726, proved 12th Sept., 1726, gave to wife Hannah; to son Seth, ('the eldest now with me,') the N. part of the farm; to son Eleazer, the S. part; to daus. Dinah Brigham, Huldah Wheelock, Thankful Rice, Ruth Rice, and Anna Rice. Brother Joshua Rice, and friend Caleb Rice, Ex'ors." The eldest son still at home in 1726 was Seth, because the two older boys were in Canada.
HIS GRANDFATHER, family (6): "SAMUEL RICE [6.5], was 32 years old May 2, 1666, according to his testimony on the court files at Cambridge. He m. Elizabeth King, Nov. 8, 1655, and resided at Sud. and Marl.; she d. at S., and was buried Oct. 30, 1667. His 2d wife was Mary Brown, whom he m. at Sud., Sept. 1668. Concord records say she d. June 18, 1678, should be 1675, instead of 1678. They had probably retired to Concord for a season as a place of refuge from the Indian enemy. His 3d wife was Sarah, widow of James Hosmer, Jr. of Concord, whom he m. Dec. 13, 1676. He d. at Marl., Feb. 25, 1684-5, aged about 51. The births of his four eldest chil. are on Sud. records; the births of the others are found at Marl., with the exception of that of the youngest, which is at Concord." Children: Elizabeth 1656, Hannah 1658, Joshua 1661, "59. 4 Edmund, 1663, m. Ruth Parker. (48)", Esther 1665, Samuel 1667, and more by the later wives. Edmund was born in 1663 and Elizabeth King was buried in October 1667, so she is his mother.
THE SETTLER, from the introduction: "Edmund Rice came from Barkhamstead, in the county of Hertfordshire, in England, and settled in Sudbury, Mass., in 1638 or 9; as he shared in the three divisions of land in Sudbury, the first of which was made in 1639, he was no doubt residing there at that time. No record has been found of his embarkation for this country, nor in what ship he came, or at what place he first arrived; there is not so much as tradition on the subject. The first we find of him is at Sudbury, with a wife and family of at least seven children that came over with him." "He was Selectman in 1644, and subsequent years; Dea. of the chh. 1648, and, in 1656, one of thirteen petitioners belonging to Sudbury, who besought the General Court for a new plantation." "His wife 'Tamazine' died at Sudbury, June 13, 1654; the record of her death is the only one wherein her name has been found. His 2d wife was 'Mercie,' wid. of Thomas Brigham of Cambridge; whom he married, March 1, 1655." "He died at Marlboro', May 3, 1663, and was buried at Sudbury. A deposition of his on the court files at Cambridge states his age, April 3, 1656, to be 'about 62 years', hence he was born about 1594, and about 69 years old when he died." Inventory taken 15 May 1663 by Thomas King, John Woods and John Stone, 566 pounds; a second paper in the Probate Office puts the estate at 743 pounds 8 shillings 4 pence.
WHAT IS PRIMARY HERE AND WHAT IS NOT. Ward worked from the town books, the church records and the Middlesex probate files, and he quotes the wills. He is a serious compiler and he is still a compiler. The Westborough entries on Seth and his children have been checked against the printed town book and agree; the Sudbury, Marlborough and Concord entries above him have not been. If Edmund Rice is in your family, start your own tree.
Cite: Heirology, "Edmund Rice (1663-1726)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/edmund-rice-1663-1726-b62333.