Paul Rice

Notes:

Moses Rice's Death
In June of 1755, Moses and others were working in a meadow in the upper part of Charlemont near Rice's fort. A small group of Algonquin Indians were lying in wait, and attacked and ambushed the party. Captain Moses Rice was shot in the thigh, was severely wounded, and carried off into the woods where he was tomahawked and scalped.

A young soldier, Phineas Arms who had been pacing the field with his musket and acting as sentinel was shot and killed outright. Titus King, a relative, and Moses' grandson 9-year old grandson Asa Rice, who was riding a horse but was thrown off when the horse was spooked by gunfire, were both captured by the Indians and taken to Canada. Asa Rice was ransomed six years later and returned to Charlemont. King was eventually sent to France, then to England, and from there returned to his native town of Northampton. Moses' youngest son, 20-year old Artemas Rice escaped after a hot pursuit and was able to make it to nearby Taylor's Fort. Later that day, Moses was found barely still alive. He was brought to his son's house but died later that evening.

Moses was in the military in 1724 at Rutland under the command of Capt. Samuel Wright of Rutland on garrison duty with others from Worcester. He commanded a company of cavalry while he resided at Worcester

In 1743, Moses was the first settler of a new plantation called Charlemont having purchased 2200 acres there. The location was among the furthest out in the wilderness from the established towns of Massachusetts. At the time, the nearest town was Deerfield, 22 miles away. In August of 1746, the Rices were warned that hostile Indians were approaching from the north. They fled to Deerfield for safety. Unfortunately, their home, crops, tools and everything they left behind were destroyed by the Indians. Three years later, the family returned and settled permanently. By 1752, there were about a dozen families in Charlemont. Because Charlemont was a frontier settlement and vulnerable to attack, a series of fortifications and blockade houses were built for protection. They were not manned as heavily as they should have been according to several petitions made to the General Court. As the French and Indians continued to make attacks on the English settlements, the most outlying ones such as Charlemont were most at risk of attack.

Moses married Sarah King on 16 Nov 1719 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Sarah was born on 16 May 1699 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died in 1788 in Charlemont, Franklin, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

John Rice (1651-1719)
Birth: Dec. 20, 1651, Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA
Death: Sep. 6, 1719, Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA

John Rice was born on 20 December 1651 at Sudbury, Massachusetts, a son of Edward Rice and Agnes Bent. He married Tabitha Stone, daughter of Deacon John Stone and Anna Rogers, on 2 November 1674 at Sudbury. John and Tabitha were the parents of eleven children:

John Rice (1675-1733)
Anna Rice (1678- )
Deliverence Rice (1681- )
Tabitha Rice (1683- )
Prudence Rice (1685-abt 1776)
Abigail Rice (1687-1754)
Edward Rice (1689-1756)
Dinah Rice (1691- )
Moses Rice (1694-1755)
Tamar Rice (1697- )
Aaron Rice (1700-1755)

The part of Sudbury that John Rice resided in is now part of Wayland, on the easterly side of the road leading from Weston to Saxonville, and on part of the homestead of his grandfather Edmund Rice, not far distant from "the spring," near which was the residence of his brother, Deacon Edmund Rice. John was a subscriber of Prince's Chronology, and was fond of historical reading.
John died on 6 September 1719 at Sudbury. His estate was probated on 29 January 1719/20 at Wayland, Middlesex Co, MA. He died intestate. His widow Tabitha and son Moses were appointed Administrators. Inventory was taken Sept 17, 1719, "Widow Tabitha, being aged and infirm, made oath at Weston."
Exact burial site is unknown, but possibly in the oldest cemetery in Sudbury, he was possibly buried on the family property.

John married Tabitha Stone on 2 Nov 1674 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Tabitha was born on 29 May 1655 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA; died on 17 Sep 1719 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Apr. 16 1683

To wife Ann Stone, for life, the house where I now dwell, all moveables, six cows, a mare, swine, and poultry; also rents from my houses and lands at Sudbury, now occupied by my son Daniel Stone; at her death my dwelling house in Cambridge to go to my daughters Hannah Bent, Mary Fox, Elizabeth Stowe, Margaret Brown, Tabitha Rice, and Sarah Hill, and the remainder she leaves to be equally divided among my sons Daniel, David, and Nathaniel Stone, they to pay to my above daughters 100 pounds. My dwelling houses and lands thereto belonging in Sudbury, I give to my son John Stone, for life, to be improved for his maintenance by my son Daniel Stone, with remainder to my said son Daniel or his heirs. Wife Ann Stone to be executrix, and brethren John Cooper, Sen., and Samuel Stonem Sen., to be overseers, and executors after the decease of my wife. Proved 12 June 1683.

(Middlesex County Probate Records, No. 21596)

Edward married Agnes Ann Bent in 1646 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. Agnes was born on 12 Dec 1631 in Penton Grafton, Hampshire, England; died on 4 Jun 1713 in Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Arrival: 1638, , , Massachusetts, USA
• Residence: 13 May 1639, , , Massachusetts, USA

Notes:

from Ancestry of Edward Wales Blake and Clarissa Matilda Glidden (p208-9)

EDMUND RICE was born in England about 1594, probably in Stanstead, Suffolk. He was either younger brother or son of Henry Rice who married Elizabeth Frost, sister of Thomasine, in 1605. The marriage of Edmund Rice and Thomasine Frost was recorded on the register of Saint Mary’s, Bury, Suffolk, on 10/15/1618. She was born in Stanstead, Suffolk, on 8/11/1600, the daughter of a wealthy clothier, Edward Frost….She died in Sudbury, MA, on 6/13/1654, and Edmund married again in Marlboro, MA, on 3/1/1655, Mercy (Hurd), the widow of Thomas Brigham of Cambridge, MA. She had three sons and two daughters by her first marriage. Edmund died on 5/3/1663 in Marlboro, but was buried in Sudbury….

The Rice family lived first in Stanstead, Suffolk, and later in Great Barkhamstead, Hartfordshire, England. They were settled in Sudbury, MA, by 1639, where Edmund was made Freeman in 1640. He was Selectman in 1639, 1644, and subsequently Deacon in 1640 and Representative in 1654.

He was one of the substantial men of the plantation, owning lands in and out of the town, some by the grant of the Court. He shared in all the divisions of uplands and commons. The total number of acres which he received as an original inhabitant was 247 acres. His first dwelling in Sudbury was on old North Street. This he sold in 1642 to John Moore…. He bought of the Widow Mary Axtell six acres of land with her dwelling house, in the south part of the town, and some years afterwards he bought of Philemon Whale…his house and nine acres adjacent to the Axtell place. These together formed the old Rice homestead in Sudbury, which remained in the family for many years. In 1647 he took a ten-year lease on the Oliver Glover farm, mostly in what is now Framingham. In 1657 he bought 200 more acres. In 1656 he was a petitioner for the new town of Marlborough, where he received grants of a house-lot and fifty acres, and other lands in proportion, and whither he removed in 1660.

His inventory amounted to £566, the house, etc., to £170.

Children of Edmund and Thomasine:

1. Mary: bap Stanstead 8/23/1619; d before family emigrated
2. Henry : bap “” 2/13/1621; d 2/10/1711
3. Edward: bap “” 10/26/1622; d 1712
4. Thomas: bap “” 1/26/1626; d Marlboro 1681
5. Lydia bap Barkhamstead 3/9/1628; m Hugh Drury c1645; d Boston, 4/5/1675
6. Matthew: bap “” 2/28/1630; d 1717
7. Daniel: bap “” 11/1/1632; d same year
8. Samuel: bap ““ 11/12/1634; d 1685
9. Joseph: bap “” 3/13/1638
10. Edmund?: perhaps b at sea 1638

Edmund married Thomasine Frost on 15 Oct 1618 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. Thomasine was born on 11 Aug 1600 in Stanstead, Suffolk, England; died on 13 Jun 1654 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Baptism: 11 Aug 1600, Stanstead, Suffolk, England

Henry married Margaret Baker. Margaret was born in 1558 in Sudbury, Suffolk, England; died in 1605 in Sudbury, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]