Elisha RICE, 1679-1761, Sudbury Massachusetts

Another RICE ancestor in our LEWIS-RICE family:  Elisha RICE, Jack & Bill's 5th-great-grandfather, 6th- to their children, and 7th- to their children. Elisha was the grandson of the first RICE immigrant to Massachusetts: Deacon Edmund RICE and his wife, Tamsin FROST who arrived in 1632. Much information on the RICE family is found on the Edmund RICE (1632) Family Association, and I have written on a number of their ancestors to date. Search on the surname in the search box to the right for more RICE family. 

Elisha RICE was born on 4 December 1679 at Sudbury, New Haven, Massachusetts, although another source states 11 December at Marlborough. His parents were Thomas RICE & Mary KING - about whom I have previously written - here is one post example. He was the 12th and last child of his parents. His father died Nov 16, 1681 when he was almost 3 years old; his mother did not remarry, and I'm assuming that there were others in the family nearby available to assist in his upbringing.  Image on right from Flickr, CC Elizabeth B. Thomsen. 

On February 10th, 1707/8 at Concord MA, he married Elizabeth WHEELER, the daughter of Obadiah WHEELER & Elizabeth WHITE. The latter was the granddaughter of Mayflower settler, Resolved WHITE, who came to Plymouth in 1620 with his parents William WHITE & Susanna JACKSON. So here we find the link for Mayflower descendency through this family. 

The couple lived in Sudbury until about 1719, when Elisha was a "proprietor" of Worcester, where he had 30 acres of land granted to him the previous year. I have not found the deed record/s for this land. He moved back to Sudbury after that year apparently. Elisha and Elizabeth had 7 known children:
    1.  Eliakim, b 27 Feb 1709, Sudbury, d after 1763; m. 14 May 1730 in Weston
             MA to Mehitabel Livermore; 5 children [1 died young].
    2.  Elisha [jr], b 27 May 1711, Sudbury; never married; apparently cared
             for sister Julia at times.
    3.  Elizabeth, b 3 Nov 1713, Sudbury, d 29 Mar 1799, Leicester MA; m
             28 Nov 1735 in Sudbury to Jonas Livermore; 8 known children.
    4.  Julia, b 20 Mar 1716, Sudbury, d after 1766, never married; apparently
              had severe mental illness, and her brother Elisha apparently cared
              for her at times.
    5.  Silas, b 28 Apr 1719, Worcester MA, d 24 Mar 1800 Northborough MA;
               m[1]Copia Broughton 10 Mar 1744/5; m[2] Lois Pollard 20 Sep 1770;
               m[3]Mehitable Goodnow 8 Dec 1784.  8 children from [1]marriage, 1
               child from [2]. 
    6.   Elija, ancestor, b 5 Mar 1721 Sudbury or Worcester, d Mar 1818 Holden
               MA; m 23 Nov 1748 Shrewsbury, MA to Huldah KEYES; 9 children
    7.  Zebulon, b 5 Jun 1725 Sudbury or Worcester, d 26 Dec 1799 Boylston,
               MA; no marriage information.

Note that with the Mayflower descendency books providing genealogical information going 5 or more generations down from the original settlers, much of the information about Elisha & Elizabeth's children is taken from the William White bk, Vol.1.  

Elizabeth died in 1727 in Sudbury, 2 years after her last child Zebulon. Elisha did not marry again. His siblings lived near him, and his three eldest children were likely able to help as needed.  

Elisha died before 19 October 1761 at Sudbury MA, intestate.  The estate was appraised on 19 Oct 1761, with the oldest son Eliakim as the Administrator. John Rice, Thos Damon and Phinobus Brintnall were the witnesses to the Bond document as well as the Inventory, which latter was completed Jan 18, 1762. I believe John is Eliakim's grand-uncle, but this has not been verified as yet. The Probate records mentioned were found on NEHGS [AmericanAncestors.org].

There are surprisingly few records that I have found to date on Elisha, other than birth, marriage, a few comments of his land in Worcester, residence in Sudbury, and his Probate records. No deeds, tax rolls, or other such paperwork on him. It is clear he farmed, as his Probate Inventory lists Land valued at over £226, with 1 horse, 4 cows, 1 heifer, 2 calves, plus 420 bushels of oats, 22 bushels and a half of Rye, 30 bushels of Indian corn. He also had a plough share and cotter and other farming equipment. 

I noted that on his inventory he is called "Cap'n Elisha Rice," so he likely had a military role at one point. To date I have not found the details of his military activities. There had certainly been several wars between the local Indians and early settlers, and perhaps he was part of the local militia, called on when needed. 

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If these are your ancestors, I am happy to share what little I have on these ancestors. And if there are errors, please do let me know, via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below and I will get back to you either by email or in the Comments. I appreciate the opportunity to correct any issues or add additional information in these family trees.

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52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No. 37, Large Family: Mary KING - 13 children, 87 grandchildren

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog based on Themes. Last week's theme was Working For A Living, and this week's is LARGE FAMILY.  Hmmm, time to go trolling through my tree to see who has a very large family...

Oh my, there are so many couples with 10 or more, born by the same parents. And of course, there were some families which had larger numbers of children, but with several different mothers, or different fathers. I decided to look for a direct ancestor, a WOMAN who birthed the largest number of children:  Mary KING, wife of Thomas RICE.  Mary is my ex-husband's 6th great-grandmother, and she had 13 children, 87 grandchildren!

Mary KING, b. abt 1630 was the 5th of the 6 children of Thomas KING and Anne COLLINS, whose family arrived in early Massachusetts about 1638, from an unknown town in Dorset, England, possibly Shaftsbury (Shaston). She had 1 brother, and 3 older and 1 younger sisters.

Thomas RICE, b. 1625/26, the 4th of 13 children (father, Edmund RICE, mother Thomasina/Tamasin FROST), and his family came from Stanstead, Suffolk, England, arriving in early Massachusetts in 1638. Stanstead/Stansted is a small village about 40 miles north of London, England.

The Edmund RICE (1638) Association keeps detailed genealogies [with sources quoted/listed], and may be searched for more information. This is where I found my first details for this early immigrant family.

Mary KING married Thomas RICE in about 1651, although this has not yet been confirmed with documents.  They settled in Sudbury, Massachusetts, where they had 13 children:

1. Grace, b. 1652, d. 3 Jan 1653/54
2. Thomas (jr), b. 30 Jun 1654, d. after 1747; m. 10 Jan 1681/2 to his 1st cousin, Anna Rice; 14 children
3. Mary, b. 4 Sep 1656, d. 22 Aug 1733; m. (1st) 28 Nov 1678 to Josiah White; 7 children; (2nd) 15 Jul 1718 to Thomas Sawyer
4. [Capt.] Peter, b. 24 Oct 1658, d. 28 Nov 1753; m. abt 1688 to Rebecca How(e); 9 children
5. Nathaniel, b. 3 Jan 1660/61, d. 13 Nov 1726; m. (1st) Sarah Stone (d. 1704); (2nd) Dec 1704 to Patience Brown; 3 children
6. Sarah, b. 15 Jan 1661/62, d. abt 1742; m. bef 1706 to John Adams; 1 son
7. Ephraim, b. 15 Apr 1665, d. 25 Oct 1732; m. (1st) 21 Feb 1687/88 to Hannah Livermore, 10 children (Hannah d. 25 May? 1724);  m. (2nd) Mary Noyes
8. Gershom, b. 9 May 1667, d. 19 Dec 1768! ; m. abt 1694 to Elizabeth Balcom(me); 6 children
9. James, b. 31 Mar 1669, d. 14 Oct 1730; m. abt 1695 to Sarah Stone (not related to #5 or #11's wives); 10 children
10. Frances, b. 3 Feb 1669/70, d. abt 1767; m. abt 1689 to Benjamin Allen; 6 children
11. Jonas, b. 6 Mar 1672/73, d. 22 Sep 1753; m. 10 Feb 1701/02 to Mary Stone (sister to #5's wife, Sarah), 5 children
12. Grace, b. 15 Jan 1674/75, d. after 19 Dec 1768; m. 10 Feb 1701/02 to [Deacon] Nathaniel Moore [cousin?]; 9 children
13. Elisha,  [direct ancestor] b. 4 Dec 1679, d. bef 19 Oct 1761; m. 10 Feb 1705/06 to Elizabeth WHEELER, granddaughter of Resolved WHITE (Mayflower - see ship below); 7 children.
    Our family line goes down from their 6th child, Elijah RICE.  

A few family trees and articles note a 14th child, named "Remnant Rice" (b. 1681).  However this is quite unlikely for many reasons: the name itself is a big clue that this is a hoax, and in addition, it would be unlikely that Mary was still having children in 1681 or so. The Edmund Rice Association lists this name, but only to explain there is no evidence whatsoever that there has ever been such a child.  

Mary's 13 children (one died young) produced a grand total of 87 grandchildren! My hat tips to her in awe. I'm certain there would have been extended family members available to help, and I note there were several RICE families in the region, including her sister Elizabeth King who married Samuel Rice, Mary's brother-in-law. It does indeed take a village to raise families which were so large. I'm daunted by the laundry, sewing, cooking, gardening, and other tasks which would take so much of Mary's time each day, each season. 

Wish I could find a diary of this time, in order to find any details of how the women handled their daily tasks, and managed to find time with their many children. Generally, such a large group would break into several 'groups', e.g., the older few, the middle ones, the younger few. And the older children would have responsibility for the younger children, as soon as they became old enough to help out in that way.  

If you have information and corrections on Thomas RICE & Mary KING, and their children, I would be very pleased to receive any details. I may be contacted through the email at the bottom of the page, or in the Comments section below.

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52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS, #7: Thomas KING

Following the challenge of writing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, issued by Amy Johnson Crow, here is my 7th installment, another very early immigrant to Massachusetts, on my ex-husband's family line.

Thomas KING, b. 1603 in Hinton, Dorset, England, married in 1625 to Anne COLLINS, immigrated to the new colony in Massachusetts after 1639, after the birth of their 6th child, the 5th girl. It is believed there was a 7th child, perhaps named John, who died as an infant.

Children of Thomas and Anne, all born in Shaftesbury, Dorset, England :
 - Peter, b. abt 1627 - the only son, m., no children.  Adopted one boy.
 - Anne, b. 17 Apr 1629
 - Mary* [direct ancestor], b. 1630, m. Thomas RICE, 14 children; d.22 Mar 1714/15
 - Sarah, b. 5 Jun 1634
 - Elizabeth, b. abt 1636, m. Thomas' younger brother, Samuel Rice; d bef 30 Oct 1667
 - Mercy or Martha, b. 10 Mar 1639, d. 4 Jan 1667/8

Thomas appears to have arrived in Massachusetts by 1642, when his wife, Anne, died 24 Dec 1642 in Sudbury, Massachusetts.  

By 1653 he married for a second time, marrying Bridgett Davis or Loker in Sudbury.  

In 1656, he was a signatory to a Petition from a number of Sudbury settlers to develop and settle a new town, which they eventually called Marlborough, Massachusetts. Several of his children moved and settled in Marlborough as well.

Thomas died 3 May 1676, although no gravestone has been found. 

Most information about Thomas KING and his family has come from the Edmund Rice Association, which has details of the genealogy of Edmund Rice, the immigrant, and his many descendants. Three of those Rice brothers braid into my ex-husband's lines, and one of them into mine. Long long ago!

If you have any information or questions about Thomas KING, or his wife and family, do contact me via calewis at telus dot net.  And I always love to read comments!