Thomas Rice (June 30, 1654 – 1747) was a member of the

Great and General Court of Massachusetts 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, ...

representing

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 1715 and 1716 and was a founder of

Westborough, Massachusetts 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 ...

on 18 November 1717, and a selectman for the town in 1718 and 1727.

Personal background

Thomas Rice was born on June 30, 1654 to Thomas Rice and Mary (King) Rice in

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 ...

.Ward, Andrew Henshaw.
A genealogical History of the Rice Family: Descendants of Deacon Edmund Rice
' Boston: C. Benjamin Richardson, Publisher, 1858, 379pp He was the grandson of

Edmund Rice Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings an ...

, a 1638 immigrant from England and founder of Sudbury. Rice married Anna Rice, daughter of Deacon Edward Rice and Agnes Bent, on January 10, 1681 at

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 they had 14 children. Rice's brother

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 ...

was an early resident and founder of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

. Rice was among the first to settle prior to 1675 in the southwestern portion of Marlborough known as Chauncey, the portion of Marlborough that later became

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 ...

.p. 20 In: DeForest, Heman Packard (1891). ''The History of Westborough, Massachusetts, Part I.'' Published by the Town of Westborough
online version
/ref> Rice's home was a fortified garrison house that was used by area settlers for refuge from Indian raids 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 ...

1675-1676. 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 ...

in 1704, two of Rice's sons, Adonijah and Ashur, were abducted from a

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known in ...

field in Marlborough by

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans *Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people *Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been t ...

raiders from Canada. He was one of the founding members of the town on 18 November 1717, and one of the original members of the

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

at Westborough begun by Ebenezer Parkman in 1724. He represented the Town of Marlborough in the Great and General Court of Massachusetts, the colonial legislature in Boston in 1715 and 1716. And he served as a selectman in Westborough in the years 1718 and 1727. Thomas Rice died in 1747, with the ''

Boston Gazette The ''Boston Gazette'' (1719–1798) was a newspaper published in Boston, in the British North American colonies. It was a weekly newspaper established by William Brooker, who was just appointed Postmaster of Boston, with its first issue release ...

'' claiming he died at age 94.''The Boston Gazette'', Boston, Massachusetts, December 26, 1768.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Thomas 1654 births 1747 deaths People of colonial Massachusetts People from Sudbury, Massachusetts People from Marlborough, Massachusetts Westborough, Massachusetts Members of the colonial Massachusetts House of Representatives