Edward Rice, 10th Great Grandfather

August 17, 2013

Framingham, MA

Rice Coat of Arms

My tenth great-grandfather came to America with his parents.  He became the deacon of a church, as his father had been.  This may explain why he changed his name from Edmund to Edward, to distinguish between the two Deacon Rices. He lived to a ripe old age in Massachusetts.

Edward Rice (1622 – 1712)

Deacon Edward Rice1,2 (M)b. c 1619, d. 15 Aug 1712, #57

Deacon Edward Rice was the son of Deacon Edmund Rice and Thomasine Frost. Deacon Edward Rice was christened on 26 October 1622 at Stanstead, England; (20th per Rice Gen’l Register) under the name Ryce. The 1622 baptism record gives the child’s name as Edmund, not Edward. Nonetheless, your authors are convinced that Edward was the child baptized (and of course born) that year, and that he exaggerated his age in later life.3,4 He married Agnes Bent circa 1647.5,3,6 Deacon Edward Rice died on 15 August 1712 at Marlborough, MA, at about age 93. 5, 7      He received one lot in the Sudbury Two-Mile Grant in 1655. In 1655 at Sudbury, MA.8 He resided in 1664 at Marlborough, MA, were he was a Deacon of the church.9 He declared age 42 in a paper filed in court on 2 October 1666 at Middlesex County Court, Cambridge, MA.10 He was assessed 8s 7d in the 1688 Marlborough tax roll. In 1668 at Marlborough, MA.11 He was in a land transaction on 1 April 1686 at Sudbury, MA, to their son Edmund Rice of Sudbury, half of the farm lying within the bounds of Sudbury, “near the spring”. (Edward had purchased this from his father Edmund and some purchased from his brother Benjamin. John Rice of Sudbury, a brother of Edmund had the choice half.) Deed recorded 16 August 1734.5,12 He was elected deacon in 1687.13 He was questioned in court aged 70y in 1692 at MA.14 A 1712 obituary in the Boston News Letter gave the death year as 1711 and said he had been born in Berkhamstead in 1618. It also said he had 142 descendants at that time, of which 119 were living. It further said that Edward’s brother Henry, who had died in Framingham in 1711, had a similarly large number of descendants.15 WRN: 3.

Children of Deacon Edward Rice and Agnes Bent:

Lydia Rice   (30 Jul 1648 – 30 Jul 1648) Lydia Rice   (10 Dec 1649 – 24 Sep 1723) John Rice   (20 Dec 1651 – 06 Sep 1719) Deacon Edmund Rice   (09 Dec 1653 – 25 Sep 1719)Daniel Rice   (08 Nov 1655 – 14 Jul 1737) Caleb Rice   (08 Feb 1657 – 27 Apr 1658) Jacob Rice   (02 Feb 1660 – 30 Oct 1746) Anna Rice   (19 Nov 1661 – 02 May 1731) Dorcas Rice   (29 Jun 1664 – 24 Mar 1753) Benjamin Rice   (22 Dec 1666 – 23 Feb 1748/49) Abigail Rice   (09 May 1671 – a 1709)

Birth: Oct. 20, 1622

Stanstead

Suffolk, England

Death: Aug. 16, 1712

Marlborough

Middlesex County

Massachusetts, USA

Edward was the son of Deacon Edmund Rice and Thomazine Frost.

He married Agnes Bent, daughter of John Bent and Martha Blanchard, in 1646, Massachusetts.

They were the parents of at least eleven children

Lydia Rice July 30, 1648-July 30, 1648

Lydia Rice December 10, 1649-September 24, 1723

John Rice December 20, 1651-July 28, 1733, married Tabitha Stone, May 20, 1655-1720

Edmund Rice December 09, 1653-September 25, 1719

Daniel Rice November 08, 1655-July 14, 1737

Caleb Rice February 08, 1656-April 27, 1658

Jacob Rice February 02, 1660-October 30, 1746

Dorcas Rice January 29, 1663-March 24, 1753

Benjamin Rice December 22, 1666-February 23, 1748

Abigail Rice May 09, 1671-August 22, 1768

Anna Rice November 19, 1661-May 02, 1731

Family links:

Parents:

Edmund Rice (1594 – 1663)

Thomasine Frost Rice (1599 – 1654)

Spouse:

Agnes Bent Rice (1631 – 1713)*

Children:

John Rice (1651 – 1719)*

Note: The 1908 inscription records for this cemetery do not list a marker.

Burial:

Old Common Cemetery

Marlborough

Middlesex County

Massachusetts, USA