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Edmund Rice (c. 1594 – 3 May 1663), was an early immigrant to
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
born in
Suffolk, England Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
. He lived in
Stanstead, Suffolk Stanstead is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. The name Stanstead comes from the Old English for "Stony place". Located off the B1066, it is around from Sudbury, and is part of Babergh district. It is about from Glemsford, f ...
and
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parishes in England, civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which ...
before sailing with his family to America. He landed in the Colony in summer or fall of 1638, thought to be first living in the town of
Watertown, Massachusetts Watertown is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and is part of Greater Boston. The population was 35,329 in the 2020 census. Its neighborhoods include Bemis, Coolidge Square, East Watertown, Watertown Square, and the West End. Watertown ...
. Shortly thereafter he was a founder of
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
in 1638, and later in life was one of the thirteen petitioners for the founding of
Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...
in 1656. He was a
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
in the Puritan Church, and served in town politics as a selectman and judge. He also served five years as a member of the
Great and General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
, the combined colonial legislature and judicial court of Massachusetts.


Biography

Edmund Rice's rough birth date of 1594 is reckoned from a 3 April 1656 court deposition in Massachusetts in which he stated that he was 62 years old. His likely birthplace, somewhere in
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
in
East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
, is found through the town of his marriage and of his earliest children's births. Many of the church records from 1594 in Suffolk are lost, so any record of his birth or the names of his parents or any of his forebears is unknown.Holman, Mary Lovering. (1934). "English notes on Edmund Rice." ''
The American Genealogist ''The American Genealogist'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal which focuses on genealogy and family history. It was established by Donald Lines Jacobus in 1922 as the ''New Haven Genealogical Magazine''. In July 1932 it was renamed ' ...
'' 10:133-137.
Edmund Rice had a presumed brother, Henry (c. 1580-1621), who married Elizabeth Frost (sister of Edmund's wife Thomasine) on 12 November 1605 at St. James Church,
Stanstead, Suffolk Stanstead is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. The name Stanstead comes from the Old English for "Stony place". Located off the B1066, it is around from Sudbury, and is part of Babergh district. It is about from Glemsford, f ...
. Repeated attempts to find record of Edmund Rice's birth or the birth of his presumed brother Henry in church or civil records of the Stanstead,
Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...
, Haverhill, and
Bury St. Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A ...
region of
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
have not been successful and the records are presumed to be lost. Considerable information about the early life of Edmund Rice in England can be gleaned from his children's baptismal records, as well as land ownership and other public records in
Stanstead, Suffolk Stanstead is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. The name Stanstead comes from the Old English for "Stony place". Located off the B1066, it is around from Sudbury, and is part of Babergh district. It is about from Glemsford, f ...
and Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire. He moved from Stanstead to Berkhamsted sometime in 1626, based upon the baptismal dates of his children Thomas and Lydia. That same year as a newcomer in town, Rice was named as a joint trustee along with Rev. Thomas Newman of a £50 grant for the benefit of the poor from King Charles I given on the occasion of his coronation. Under the
incumbency The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seeking re-ele ...
of Rev. Newman, Rice served as a
churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...
at St. Peter's Church and acted as
overseer of the poor An overseer of the poor was an official who administered poor relief such as money, food, and clothing in England and various other countries which derived their law from England such as the United States. England In England, overseers of the poo ...
for eight years. As a result of a royal inquisition held on 1 April 1634, funds remaining in the custody of Rice and Newman were to be transferred to the
bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...
and burgesses of Berkhamsted as part of an effort to transfer and consolidate several royal charity grants for administration under civil authority. While living in Berkhamsted, Rice acquired and was taxed on of land in 1627, and on from 1633 to 1637. There is no record in Berkhamsted of Rice paying taxes on his land in 1638, possibly due to its sale to finance his trip to America. There is no surviving record of Edmund Rice's voyage to America with his family, but it was speculated to have occurred between the 13 March 1638 baptism of his son Joseph in Berkhamsted and the petition to the
Great and General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
to found
Sudbury, Massachusetts Sudbury is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,934. The town, located in Greater Boston's MetroWest region, has a rich colonial history. History Incorporated in 1639, the bou ...
6 September 1638, showing all the Sudbury petitioners residing in
Watertown Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...
, MA. However, the 1638 petition to the General Court to found Sudbury did not explicitly mention Rice's name, so documentation of Rice's presumed short-term residence in Watertown is poor. The first documented record of his presence in Massachusetts is in the Township Book of Sudbury prior to 4 April 1639 in which he was already serving as a selectman. Between 1638 and 1657, Rice resided in Sudbury where he became a leader in the community.
Sumner Chilton Powell Sumner Chilton Powell (October 2, 1924 in Northampton, Massachusetts – July 8, 1993 in Colora, Maryland) was an American historian and history teacher at the Choate School, a college-prep boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut. He attende ...
wrote in his 1964
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
-winning '' Puritan Village: The Formation of a New England Town'', "Not only did Rice become the largest individual landholder in Sudbury, but he represented his new town in the Massachusetts legislature for five years and devoted at least eleven of his last fifteen years to serving as selectman and judge of small causes." He was appointed on 4 September 1639 by the General Court to lay out the roads and lots of Sudbury, and he was granted of land near the original Sudbury meetinghouse . On 3 April 1640, Rice was granted in southeastern Sudbury near the
Old Connecticut Path The Old Connecticut Path was the Native American trail that led westward from the area of Massachusetts Bay to the Connecticut River Valley, the first of the North American trails that led west from the settlements close to the Atlantic seacoast, ...
. He served as a selectman in Sudbury in 1639 and 1640, and subsequently for several years between 1644 and 1656. He was designated by the General Court as a
freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...
on 13 May 1640, and was first elected as a deputy (representative) of the Great and General Court in October 1640. He was later appointed by the General Court on 2 June 1641 as a Judge of Small Causes for Sudbury, serving until 1648 in the appointed position. Then from 1648 until 1654 he was elected and reelected locally in Sudbury as one of the municipal judges. He was reelected for another year term as a deputy of the General Court in 1643. In 1644 Rice and two other Sudbury residents (Peter Noyes and Thomas Mayhew) were appointed to survey the farm properties of the estate of the deceased Joseph Glover near the southeastern boundary of Sudbury to be transferred to Harvard College President
Henry Dunster Henry Dunster (November 26, 1609 (baptized) – February 27, 1658/59) was an Anglo-American Puritan clergyman and the first president of Harvard College. Brackney says Dunster was "an important precursor" of the Baptist denomination in America, ...
who had married Glover's widow Elizabeth and assumed responsibility for the Glover children. On 18 June 1645, Rice and his colleagues reported to the General Court on their survey. In 1648, Rice was
ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
as a
Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
in the Puritan Church at Sudbury. He was appointed by the General Court on 22 May 1651 as a member of a commission to settle a boundary dispute between Watertown and Sudbury, and he was reelected as a deputy of the General Court in each of the three years from 1652 through 1654. Again in May 1656, Rice and Peter Noyes were called upon by the General Court for their expertise to survey of land purchased by John Stone of Sudbury from the Indians, which was supplemented by a grant of the General Court to Stone of an additional in what is now
Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...
. Stone erected a gristmill on his property of Stone's End in 1656 that would later become the village of Saxonville. Again in 1662 at the behest of the General Court, Rice and John Howe of Marlborough were called upon to survey of land in the area now known as Framingham that they deemed to be worth £10 to be awarded by the General Court to
Thomas Danforth Thomas Danforth (baptized November 20, 1623 – November 5, 1699) was a politician, magistrate, and landowner in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. A conservative Puritan, he served for many years as one of the colony's councilors and magistrates, ...
as compensation for his services to the Colony and
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
. Edmund Rice was particularly successful in his own real estate transactions. After selling his of land and homestead near the Sudbury meetinghouse on 1 September 1642 to John Moore, Rice established his residence on 13 September 1642 on his 20 acres of land abutting Henry Dunster's farm near the
Old Connecticut Path The Old Connecticut Path was the Native American trail that led westward from the area of Massachusetts Bay to the Connecticut River Valley, the first of the North American trails that led west from the settlements close to the Atlantic seacoast, ...
in southeastern Sudbury. Within a year, Philemon Whale and Thomas Axtell, former town mates and kin from Berkhamstead, England established their homesteads on adjacent lots nearby.p. 41 In: Hudson (1889). op. cit. In October 1643 Rice sold Philemon Whale of land and a house near the Old Connecticut Path in southern Sudbury and also that same month he sold of adjacent land to Thomas Axtell. But only three years later on 6 May 1646, Rice, along with his son Edward Rice and Philemon Whale, administered the estate of the deceased Thomas Axtell and he purchased back the land from the estate shortly thereafter. On 8 April 1657, Rice purchased the "Jennison Farm" in the southeastern part of Sudbury.p.41 in Hudson (1889) op. cit. And by 1659, Rice had acquired about of land in southeastern Sudbury (present day Wayland and Cochituate), including nine acres of land and the homestead purchased back from Philemon Whale (see image of the homestead), and the
probate Probate is the judicial process whereby a will is "proved" in a court of law and accepted as a valid public document that is the true last testament of the deceased, or whereby the estate is settled according to the laws of intestacy in the sta ...
d estate of
Henry Dunster Henry Dunster (November 26, 1609 (baptized) – February 27, 1658/59) was an Anglo-American Puritan clergyman and the first president of Harvard College. Brackney says Dunster was "an important precursor" of the Baptist denomination in America, ...
that included the former Glover family lands. The General Court made grants of land to Rice in what is now
Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...
, in 1652 and in 1659. These lands in Framingham were passed on to Rice's son Henry in 1659, and became known as ''Rice's End.'' As the
Enclosure Movement Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
was a contentious political issue in England, the issue of
land tenure In common law systems, land tenure, from the French verb "tenir" means "to hold", is the legal regime in which land owned by an individual is possessed by someone else who is said to "hold" the land, based on an agreement between both individual ...
was also highly contentious in 17th-century Massachusetts Bay Colony and in Sudbury in particular. Open-field or communal farming was practiced in most of Sudbury, following traditions of the
commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...
and
governance Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, social norm, norms, power (social and political), power or language of an organized society over a social system (family, tribe, formal organization, formal or informal organization, a ...
practices brought from central and western England during the early 17th century. Rice and twelve other dissenters from Sudbury who were interested in 'closed-field' or owner-operator farming, as it was practiced in southeastern England, petitioned the Great and General Court in 1656 to create the town of
Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...
where individual ownership of farmland was to be exclusively practiced. The tract of land was west of Sudbury that, in addition to becoming Marlborough, eventually became Northborough,
Westborough Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 Census, in over 7,000 households. Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed ...
, Southborough, and
Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudso ...
as well. Rice was elected as selectman of Marlborough in 1657 as the town was being established. The town was formally chartered on 12 June 1660 by the General Court. Upon being granted a maximum allotment of of land in Marlborough, Rice was one of the three largest initial landholders of the new town. According to Powell (1963), the founding of Marlborough with exclusive closed-field land tenure was a seminal event in establishing the predominant
freehold Freehold may refer to: In real estate *Freehold (law), the tenure of property in fee simple *Customary freehold, a form of feudal tenure of land in England *Parson's freehold, where a Church of England rector or vicar of holds title to benefice p ...
or
fee simple In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" is real property held without limit of time (i.e., perm ...
land tenure system of America. Rice was reelected as selectman in Marlborough every year after 1657 until his death. Edmund Rice died on 3 May 1663 in
Marlborough, Massachusetts Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 41,793 at the 2020 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the ...
, and is presumed to be buried at the Old North Cemetery (site of the first Sudbury Meeting House) in what is now
Wayland, Massachusetts Wayland is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The town was founded in 1638, and incorporated in 1780 and was originally part of neighboring Sudbury (incorporated 1639). As of the 2020 United States Census, the population wa ...
. Probate records show that his wife, Mercy, was executrix and that his estate including lands and homes in both Sudbury and Marlborough was valued at £743, 8s, & 4p, which was a considerable sum for the time. For decades, the Edmund Rice estate was disputed in part by heirs of John Moore (1610-1673). The issue of land ownership was eventually settled in 1716 by a transfer of land to John Moore's son, Joseph Moore (1647-1725), by Edmund's grandson (a son of Matthew) Isaac Rice (1668-1717). The only surviving artifact known to be owned by Edmund Rice and his second wife Mercy Brigham Rice is an antique
bible box The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a v ...
from the pre-Elizabethan
Tudor Period The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in History of England, England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in Englan ...
(early 16th Century); it was brought from England by Mercy when she sailed to Massachusetts in 1635. The bible box was donated to the
Worcester Historical Museum The Worcester Historical Museum, located in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, was founded in 1875 as the Worcester Society of Antiquity. This museum is the only institution in the area devoted entirely to local history and artifacts. The scope of ...
by Thomas Brigham Rice (1817-1914) in 1910, and it is recognized as one of the earliest known pieces of furniture with a New England history.


Family data

Edmund Rice was married to Thomasine Frost (1600–1654) on 15 October 1618 in St. Mary's Church,
Bury St. Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton A ...
,
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
, England and they had 10 children including: * Mary Rice, baptized 23 August 1619 a
St. James Church
Stanstead, Suffolk Stanstead is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. The name Stanstead comes from the Old English for "Stony place". Located off the B1066, it is around from Sudbury, and is part of Babergh district. It is about from Glemsford, f ...
, England, ''possibly'' married Thomas Axtell of
Bushey Bushey is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It has a population of over 25,000 inhabitants. Bushey Heath is a large neighbourhood south east of Bushey on the boundary with the London Borough of Harrow re ...
on 10 October 1638 at
St. Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman r ...
. * Henry Rice, baptized 13 February 1620 O.S./1621 N.S. at St. James Church, Stanstead, Suffolk, died 10 February 1710/11 at
Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...
, married Elizabeth Moore 1 February 1643/44. Along with his father, Henry was among the first grantees of a house lot in the first Sudbury settlement in September 1639. Henry Rice and his family were among the first European settlers of the area southwest of Sudbury on the
Old Connecticut Path The Old Connecticut Path was the Native American trail that led westward from the area of Massachusetts Bay to the Connecticut River Valley, the first of the North American trails that led west from the settlements close to the Atlantic seacoast, ...
later to become
Framingham Framingham () is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is located in Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers with a popul ...
. * Edward Rice, baptized 20 October 1622 at St. James Church, Stanstead, Suffolk, died 15 August 1712 at Marlborough, MA, married Agnes Bent in 1646. Edward Rice was one of the original inhabitants of Marlborough having been granted on 26 November 1660. From 1687 until his death he was one of the two deacons of First Parish in Marlborough (now First Church in Marlborough). * Thomas Rice, baptized 26 January 1625/26 at St. James Church, Stanstead, Suffolk, died 16 November 1681 at Sudbury, MA, married Mary King 1652. Thomas Rice was one of the original inhabitants of Marlborough, having been granted on 26 November 1660. Thomas's home was a fortified garrison house during
King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...
of 1675–78.p. 44. In Smith, E.H. (1938). * Lydia Rice, baptized 9 March 1627/28 at St. Peter's Church,
Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a civil parishes in England, civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which ...
, died 5 April 1675, at
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, MA, married Hugh Drury 1645 in Sudbury. Hugh Drury was a carpenter by trade and the family resided in Boston. Drury became a member of the ''
Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the third oldest chartered military organization in the world. Its charter was granted in March 1638 by the Great and Gen ...
'' in 1659 and was subsequently its Lieutenant. * Matthew Rice, baptized 28 February 1628/29 at St. Peter's Church, Berkhamsted, died 1717 at Sudbury, MA, married Martha Lamson 2 November 1654. Matthew resided on the former "Jennison Farm" tract acquired in 1657 by Edmund in the easternmost part of Sudbury. * Daniel Rice, baptized 1 November 1632 at St. Peter's Church, Berkhamsted, died 10 November 1632 at Berkhamsted. * Samuel Rice, baptized 12 November 1634 at St. Peter's Church, Berkhamsted, died 25 February 1684/85 at Marlborough, MA, married (1) Elizabeth King 8 November 1655, (2) Mary (Dix) Browne September 1668, and (3) Sarah (White) Hosmer 13 December 1676. Samuel Rice was one of the original inhabitants of Marlborough, having been granted on 26 November 1660. He served in the Massachusetts Militia in 1675 at Marlborough during
King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...
. * Joseph Rice, baptized 13 March 1637/38, at St. Peter's Church, Berkhamsted, died 23 December 1711 at
Stow Stow may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Stow, Lincolnshire or Stow-in-Lindsey, a village * Stow of Wedale or Stow, Scottish Borders, a village * Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, a small town * Stow, Shropshire or Stowe, a village * Stow ...
, MA, married (1) Mercy (aka Martha) King 4 May 1658, (2) Mary Beers in 1670, and (3) Sarah (Prescott) Wheeler on 22 February 1677/78. Joseph Rice was one of the original inhabitants of Marlborough, having been granted on 26 November 1660. Joseph's home was a fortified garrison house during
King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...
of 1675–78. Joseph Rice served as a representative in the Massachusetts General Court in 1683 and 1698. * Benjamin Rice, born 31 May 1640 at Sudbury, MA, died 19 December 1713 at Sudbury, MA, married (1) Mary Browne on 2 June 1661, and (2) Mary (Chamberlain) Graves on 1 April 1691. Along with his father and several brothers, Benjamin Rice was an original inhabitant of Marlborough having been granted on 26 November 1660. After the death of Thomasine Frost Rice on 13 June 1654 in Sudbury, MA, Edmund Rice married Mercy Brigham (c 1616-1693) on 1 March 1655 in Sudbury, MA. Mercy Brigham was the widow of Thomas Brigham (1603–1653).Brigham, W.I.T. et al. (1907). This marriage began the long association between the Rice and Brigham families. The maiden name of Mercy Brigham, often cited as Hurd, is uncertain due to lack of any primary documentation. Two daughters were born to Edmund and Mercy Rice as follows: * Lydia Rice, born circa 1657 at Sudbury, MA, died 26 May 1718, married James Hawkins, Jr. circa 1678, probably in Boston. Hawkins was a stonemason & bricklayer by trade. * Ruth Rice, born 29 September 1659 at Marlborough, MA, died 30 March 1742 at
Glastonbury, Connecticut Glastonbury ( ) is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, formally founded in 1693 and first settled in 1636. It was named after Glastonbury in Somerset, England. Glastonbury is on the banks of the Connecticut River, southeast o ...
, married Capt. Samuel Welles, grandson of
Thomas Welles Thomas Welles (14 January 1660) is the only person in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and from ...
on 20 June 1683


Edmund Rice's descendants

Descendants of Edmund Rice had been meeting annually at the old Rice homestead in Wayland since 5 September 1851. Documentation of Edmund Rice's descendants began with the 1858 publication of a genealogy of the Rice family by Andrew Henshaw Ward (1784-1864). Its publication was funded by a committee formed at the 1856 annual reunion consisting of five Rice descendants, including: George Merrick Rice (1808-1894), then president of the Worcester Common Council; Edmund Rice (1813-1888) (father of stage producer Edward E. Rice); his uncle, Levi Goodnough (1804-1886), a physician from Sudbury; Anson Rice (1798-1875) (postmaster of Northborough and grandfather of author
Wallace Rice Wallace deGroot Cecil Rice (10 November 1859 – 15 December 1939) was an American author and vexillographer from Hamilton, Ontario. Biography Wallace Rice was born 10 November 1859, to John Asaph Rice (1829–1888) and Margaret Van Slyke ...
); and U.S. Congressman Constantine C. Esty (1824-1912). Despite the difficulties of communication and transportation in the 1850s, Ward was able to document over 6,200 Edmund Rice descendants and spouses, mostly in the New England region. On 7 October 1903, Edmund Rice descendants were on hand to dedicate the homesite marker of
Jonas Rice Jonas Rice (1672–1753) was the first permanent settler of European descent in Worcester, Massachusetts, and was a founder and prominent citizen of the town. He was elected as a judge to the Court of Common Pleas in Worcester County, Massachuset ...
, a grandson of Edmund and founder of
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
. A few years later on 30 August 1912, shortly after the old family homestead in Wayland had been lost by fire, Rice descendants in Massachusetts formally organized the Edmund Rice (1638) Association (ERA), led primarily by Nellie Rice Fiske (1856-1934) a school teacher from Wayland. At that first ERA meeting, Eustace Bond Rice (1871-1938) a professor of
music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
at the
New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...
who had grown up in the old Rice homestead was elected as the association's first president, and they set out to raise funds to erect the homesite and cemetery monuments. Beginning in the early 20th century, and partially aided by the compilation and publication of Massachusetts vital records by
Franklin Pierce Rice Franklin Pierce Rice (1852–1919) was a self-taught printer and publisher who transcribed and printed and preserved vital records from Massachusetts and was a co-founder of the Worcester Society of Antiquity. Early life and family Franklin Pierc ...
(1852-1919), among others, the ERA undertook the task of building upon Ward's pioneering genealogy by verifying and better documenting Edmund's descendants. In the early 1930s, Alexander Hamilton Rice, Jr. (1875-1956) commissioned genealogist Mary Lovering Holman (1868-1947) of the
New England Historic Genealogical Society The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845. NEHGS provides family history services through its staff, original scholarship, website,historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
titled ''The Deacons'' based upon the primary historical records of Edmund Rice and his family and Powell's (1963) '' Puritan Village: The Formation of a New England Town.'' The story covers the life of the Rice family in the time period beginning about 1621 in Suffolk, England, through their immigration to Massachusetts in 1638, until the 1713 founding of Worcester by Edmund's grandchildren
Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of ...
, Gershom, and James. It provides an interpretation of the family's experiences in Stanstead, Suffolk, as well as in Berkhamsted, and it offers a purely fictional account of their departure from Southampton Harbor aboard the ''Confidence'' to Watertown, Massachusetts. The story further provides an insight into the Rice family's life in Puritan Massachusetts during the political controversies generated as Sudbury and Marlborough were being founded and the experiences of the family during
King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...
of 1675–78.


Genetic genealogy

Since 2000 with the initial leadership of Robert V. Rice, the ERA has conducted extensive
haplotype A haplotype ( haploid genotype) is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent. Many organisms contain genetic material ( DNA) which is inherited from two parents. Normally these organisms have their DNA or ...
DNA testing on males known to or believed to have descended from seven sons of Edmund. Enough data has been collected from living male descendants of Edmund's sons to reconstruct Edmund's Y-DNA haplotype. These data have served to support conclusions of Edmund's birth in Suffolk, East Anglia and provide additional evidence to dispel a misleading early 20th-century claim that Edmund Rice was descended from
Welsh royalty Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
. The 111 tested (
Y-STR A Y-STR is a short tandem repeat (STR) on the Y-chromosome. Y-STRs are often used in forensics, paternity, and genealogical DNA testing. Y-STRs are taken specifically from the male Y chromosome. These Y-STRs provide a weaker analysis than autosoma ...
) Y-chromosome markers ( e.g. DYS391 = 10; DYS392 = 11; DYS393 = 10; DYS426 = 11; DYS447 = 23; DYS454 = 11; DYS455 = 8; YCA-IIa,b = 19, 21) from known descendants of Edmund are consistent with
Haplogroup I-M253 Haplogroup I-M253, also known as I1, is a Y chromosome haplogroup. The genetic markers confirmed as identifying I-M253 are the SNPs M253,M307.2/P203.2, M450/S109, P30, P40, L64, L75, L80, L81, L118, L121/S62, L123, L124/S64, L125/S65, L157.1, L18 ...
; this is an exceedingly rare haplogroup among the Welsh but is relatively common among inhabitants of East Anglia. The genetic testing of Edmund Rice descendants has also served to confirm two different direct male descendant lines in which there had been a change in surname. Data showed direct patrilineal descendants with the surname King, confirming a name change had occurred with Samuel Rice 1667-1713 (aka Lt. Samuel Rice King). Notable direct descendants of Edmund with the surname of King include U.S. Senator William H. King (1863–1949) and his son, U.S. Member of Congress
David S. King David Sjodahl King (June 20, 1917 – May 5, 2009) was a United States House of Representatives, representative from Utah. He was a member of the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Party. Early life and education King was born in S ...
(1917–2009), and David's daughter Jody, who served as the Director of
Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...
.Edmund Rice (1638) Association, 2013. ''Descendants of Edmund Rice: The First Nine Generations.'
(CD-ROM)
/ref> Likewise some individuals with the surname of Royce also have been found to have Y-STR genetic markers identical to Edmund Rice, confirming a name change by Alpheus Rice 1787-1871 (aka Capt. Alpheus Royce). A notable direct patrilineal descendant of Edmund with the surname of Royce is
George E. Royce George Edmund Royce (January 1, 1829 - March 5, 1903) was an American businessman from Rutland, Vermont who was prominent in the quarrying and building stone industry. He was also a banker, jointly founding the Baxter National Bank of Rutland, a ...
(1829-1903), a businessman and state legislator from Vermont. In addition to confirmation of surname changes in the direct patrilineal lines, formerly presumed descendants of Edmund have been ruled out by way of genetic mismatching. The genetic testing also revealed Y-STR genetic markers of Edmund Rice among some male members of the
Mohawk nation The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and northern Ne ...
who have the surname of Rice. The tested individuals are most probably descended from Silas Rice,McAleer, Beth and Robert V. Rice.(2005). "Y-DNA Secures Identity of Rice Mohawk Native American with Edmund Rice Haplotype," ''New England Ancestors'' 6(4):48-50. one of four Rice boys from two families who were captured during
Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...
by an Indian raid on 8 August 1704 in Marlborough (in the part of town then known as Chauncey that later was renamed as
Westborough Westborough is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,567 at the 2020 Census, in over 7,000 households. Incorporated in 1717, the town is governed under the New England open town meeting system, headed ...
), Massachusetts, and taken to
Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (french: Territoire Mohawk de Kahnawake, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawá:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, C ...
, Canada, where they were adopted and raised by Mohawk families. They became assimilated as Mohawk, marrying local women of the tribe. Ashur Rice was ransomed after four years and returned to Massachusetts. Actress Alexandrea ''Kawisenhawe'' Rice, (b. 1972, Mohawk) of Kahnawake, is a notable descendant of Edmund Rice and his great-grandson Silas. She grew up in Brooklyn, where a Mohawk community formed of families of ironworkers.


References

Notes Citations Sources * Anon. (1898) ''Middlesex and Hertfordshire Notes and Queries, Volume IV.'' F.E. Robinson Publishers, London
web version
* Bolton, Ethel Stanwood. (1904). ''Some Descendants of John Moore of Sudbury, Massachusetts.'' Press of David Clapp and Son, Boston. 22pp
web version
* Bond, Henry. (1855). ''Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts.'' Little, Brown and Company, Boston
web version
* Brigham, Willard Irving Tyler, Emma Elizabeth Brigham, and William Erastus Brigham. (1907). ''The History of the Brigham Family; A Record of Several Thousand Descendants of Thomas Brigham the Emigrant, 1603-1653.'' The Grafton Press, New York. 810pp
web version
* Brigg, William (1895). ''The Herts Genealogist and Antiquary, Volume 1.'' William Brigg, Harpenden., St. Albans. 384pp + index
web version
* Cobb, John Wolstenholme (1883). ''Two Lectures on the History and Antiquities of Berkhamsted.'' Nichols and Sons, London
web version
* Colket, Meredith Bright, Jr. and Edward N. Dunlop. (1936). ''The English Ancestry of Anne Marbury Hutchinson and Katherine Marbury Scott: Including their Descent and that of John Dryden, Poet-Laureate, from Magna Charta Sureties with Notes on the English Connections of the Settlers William Wentworth and Christopher Lawson of New Hampshire and Francis Marbury of Maryland.'' Magee Publishing Company, Philadelphia. 60pp
web version
* Cressy, David. (1987). ''Coming Over: Migration and Communication between England and New England in the Seventeenth Century.'' Chapter 6 'The vast and furious ocean,' Cambridge University Press. * Hudson, Alfred Sereno. (1889). ''The History of Sudbury, Massachusetts.'' Town of Sudbury. 661p
Download PDF
* New England Historic Genealogical Society. (1849). ''The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume III.'' Samuel G. Drake, Boston
web version
* Paige, Lucius Robinson (1849). ''List of Freemen of Massachusetts 1631–1691 (1978 edition).'' Vol. III of The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. * Parkman, Ebenezer. (1769). ''The Story of the Rice Boys: Captured by the Indians 8 August 1704.'' Published in 1906 by the Westborough Historical Society, Westborough, MA. 7pp
Download PDF
* Parr, James L. and Kevin A. Swope. 2009. ''Framingham Legends and Lore.'' The History Press, Charleston, South Carolina. * Powell, Sumner Chilton. (1963). '' Puritan Village: The Formation of a New England Town.'' Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, CT 215pp. * Rice, Charles Elmer (1911). ''By the Name of Rice: An Historical Sketch of Deacon Edmund Rice The Pilgrim 1594-1663 and His Descendants to the Fourth Generation.'' Williams Printing, Alliance Ohio. 84pp
web version
* Schutz, John A. (1997). ''Legislators of the Massachusetts General Court 1691-1780: A Biographical Dictionary.'' Northeastern University Press, Boston. * Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet (ed.), (1853). ''Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, Vol. 1, 1628-1641.'' Press of William White, Boston
web version
* Shurtleff, Nathaniel Bradstreet (ed.), (1854), ''Records of the Governor and Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, Vol. 3, 1644-1657.'' Press of William White, Boston
web version
* Smith, Elsie Hawes (1938). ''Edmund Rice and His Family.'' Edmund Rice (1638) Association, Inc. 100pp
web version
* Smith, Elsie Hawes (1954). ''More About Those Rices.'' The Meador Press, Boston. 109pp.
web version
* Snow, Corinne McLaughlin (1980). ''The Deacons.'' Harmon Associates Publishing, Delmar, NY 12054 USA. 257pp. * Temple, Josiah Howard (1887). ''History of Framingham, Massachusetts, Early Known as Danforth's Farms 1640-1880.'' Town of Framingham. 794pp
web version
* Trask, William B. (1863). ''A Brief Memoir of Andrew Henshaw Ward.'' J. Munsell Publishers, Albany, NY
web version
* Urwick, William (1884). ''Nonconformity in Herts: Being Lectures upon the Nonconforming Worthies of St. Albans, and Memorials of Puritanism and Nonconformity in all the parishes of the County of Hertford.'' Hazell, Watson, and Viney Publishers, London. 875pp
web version
* Ward, Andrew Henshaw. (1858). ''A Genealogical History of the Rice Family: Descendants of Deacon Edmund Rice.'' C. Benjamin Richardson Publisher, Boston. 379pp
Download PDF
* Worcester Society of Antiquity. (1903). ''Exercises Held at the Dedication of a Memorial to Major Jonas Rice, the First Permanent Settler of Worcester, Massachusetts, Wednesday, October 7, 1903.'' Charles Hamilton Press, Worcester. 72pp
web version


External links


Edmund Rice (1638) Association Edmund Rice (1638) Association at Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Edmund 1590s births 1663 deaths People from Sudbury, Suffolk People from Berkhamsted Kingdom of England emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony People of colonial Massachusetts People from Sudbury, Massachusetts People from Marlborough, Massachusetts American Puritans New England Puritanism Deacons Members of the colonial Massachusetts House of Representatives American judges Edgar Rice Burroughs