Adonijah RICE

Adonijah married Persis GATES about 1739. Persis (daughter of Jonathan GATES and Persis SHEPARD) was born on 01 Aug 1719 in Charlestown, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA; died on 06 Jun 1760 in Worcester, Massachussetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Jonas married Mary STONE on 10 Feb 1701 in , Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Mary (daughter of Daniel STONE and Mary WARD) was born on 10 Aug 1677 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Thomas Rice m. Mary, and resided at Sudbury and Marboro', to the latter of which he removed about 1664. The births of six children are recorded at Sudbury, and those others, younger children at Marlboro', of which he was a proprietor. He d. there Nov. 16, 1681.

The Boston Gazette, of Dec. 26, 1768, contains a communication on the subject of the longevity of his children, in which it is said he d. "at the age of 70 years;" consequently, born about 1611. That is "age was 70 years" is manifestly an error, as it makes him only 17 years younger than his father, and about 43 years old before he had a family, neither of which is probable.

Will of Thomas Rice, Nov. 11, 1681, proved April 4, 1682, gave to sons Thomas, Peter, Nathaniel and Ephraim, residue to wife Mary, and at her decease to go to "the younger children not mentioned about." "My three brothers, henry and Mathew Rice and Peter King to be overseers of my will" . Will of his widow Mary, "May 10, in the 8th year (1710) of Queen Ann's reign," proved April 11, 1715, gave to sons Thomas of Marboro', Peter, Nathaniel, Ephraim, Gershom, James, Jonas and Elisha, to daughters Mary White Sarah Adams, Frances Allen and Grace Moore.

Thomas married Mary KING. Mary died between 10 May 1710 and 11 Apr 1715 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Daniel married Mary WARD on 22 Nov 1667 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Mary (daughter of William WARD and Elizabeth ?) was born about 1647; died on 10 Jun 1703. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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Edmund Rice came from Barkhamstead, in the county of Hertfordshire, in England, and settled in Sudbury, Mass., in 1638 or 9; as he shared in the three divisions of land inSudbury, the first of which was made in 1639, he was not doubt residing there at that time.

No record has been found of his embarkation for this country, nor in what ship he came, or at what place he first arrived; there is not so much as tradition on the subject. The first we find of him is at Sudbury, with a wife and family of at least seven children that came over with him; that place, called "the planation lying near unto Concord," was incorporated in 1639 by the same of Sudbury. His residence was on the east side of Sudbury river, in the southerly part of what is now Wayland, and near the border of the extensive meadows through which that river flows in a northeasterly course to the Merrimac.

He was Selectman in 1644, and subsequent years; Dea,. of the church 1648, and in 1656, one of thirteen petitioners belonging to Sudbury, who besought the General Court for a new plantation, saying, "Whereas your petitioners have lived divers years in Sudbury, and God hath been pleased to increase our children, which are now, divers of them, grown to man's estate, and wee, many of us grown into years, so as that wee should bee glad to see them settled before the Lord take us away from hence; as also God having given us some considerable quantity of cattle, so that wee are so straightened, that wee cannot so comfortably subsist as could be desired; and some of us having taken some pains to view the country, wee have found a place, which lieth Westward about eight miles from Sudbury, which wee conceive might bee comfortable for our subsistence."

Sudbury at that time contained less than seventy-five families, and in territory included what is now Wayland. One would naturally think they were "straightened" for the want of 'neighbors', rather than for want of 'room' for themselves, or 'meadows' wherefrom to procure subsistence for their cattle; and so they found it, even twenty years later, when the town, with an increased population, was broken up and nearly destroyed by the Indians. Their petition was granted, and the plantation laid to them was incorporated by the name of Marlborough in 1660; whereto he removed and had a house lot of fifty aces granted to him by the proprietors of that town, with the rights appertaining thereto in after divisions.

His wife "Tamazine" died at Sudbury, June 13, 1654; the record of her death is the only one wherein her name has been found.

His 2d wife was "Mercie" wid. of Thomas Brigham of Cambridge; whom he married, March 1, 1656. His house lot in Marlboro',on which he built and resided, was in the westerly part of the town, on the old county road leading from Marlboro' to Northboro', and in the bend as it passes round the northerly side of the pond, a short distance northerly of the ancient "Williams tavern," afterwards kept by Gates and since by Wetherby. he was intrusted with various important duties by the General Court, which he discharged with a fidelity that occasioned repeated calls for his services, while the records of Sudbury and Marlboro' contain ample evidence of his vigilant and fatherly care in promoting the welfare of those infant settlements; the destruction of which by the Indians, occurring a few years after, he was not permitted to see by reason of death.

He died at Marboro', May 3, 1663, and was buried at Sudbury. A deposition of his on the court files at Cambridge states his age, April 3, 1656, to be "about 62 years" -hence he was born about 1594, and about 69 years old when he died.

Edmund married Thomasine FROST about 1617. Thomasine (daughter of Edward FROST and Thomasine BELGRAVE) was born in Stanstead, St. James, Suffolk, England; died on 13 Jun 1650 in Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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He came to America and was an original proprietor of Sudbury, building in several places there; first within the limits of Sudbury, or Wayland, and in 1658 in what is now Saxonville on land which was purchased from the Indians and confirmed by a grant of the Massachusetts BAy Colony, 1656. Ann Howe was a daughter of Elder Edward Howe, who died June 14, 1644, and married Margaret; he was one of the original proprietors of "Watertown where he was part owner of a mill."

John married Anna ROGERS in 1639. Anna (daughter of Barnaby ROGERS and Mary WELLS) was christened on 14 May 1615 in Boxed, Co. Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

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The first mention of William Ward, and his being in America, that I have been able to find, was in 1639. In that year, according to the records of Sudbury, the proprietors of that plantation made three divisions of their lands; the first in 639, the second and third, in 1640 - it appears of record, that WilliamWard shared in each of these divisions; then having a second wife and several children. Tradition, transmitted from his early descendants, says he came from Yorkshire or Derbyshire in England. Investigations have recently been made inEngland to ascertain his paternity, but without any satisfactory result. They are still being made for that purpose, and to learn the names of his wives and births of his children, who came here with him. Yet, as considerable time may elapse before the final result can be obtained, and when obtained, may not be conclusive, it is deemed not advisable to delay this publication for information from abroad to the disappointment at hime, of many of his descendants, who are impatient by reason of their advanced age, to be informed of their ancestry, at least in America, before they go hence.

Information already received, renders it improbable that he came from Yorkshire, although it is quite certain, that his early ancestors were of that place. Seven hundred and ten distinguished persons, each bearing but one name, accompanied William, the Conqueror, from Normandy to the conquest of England in 1066; a record of all of whose names is yet preserved. Among the number, was "Ward, one of the noble Captains." This is the earliest period in which the name is found in English history, and the first which appears there with an additional name was William de la Ward, residing in Chester, in 1175.......

The Wards of Yorkshire spread into the adjoining counties of England; those of Durham, whence it may be, came William Ward, afterwards of Sudbury, were descendants of Yorkshire Wards - the ams anciently belonging to the family here, were Azure, a cross baton, or Crest, wolfs head erased - and such were those of the Durham Wards.

William Ward was made freeman in 1643; represented Sudbury in the General Court in 1644, and was several years Chairman of the selectman, as he was in 1660, when he removed from that town.....

William Ward, in common with others, endured great hardships and sustained great losses by Indian hostilities more especially in the time of King Phillip's war in 1675-6, when his buildings were fired, his cattle destroyed, and one of his sons slain by the enemy.

He died at Marlborough, Aug. 10, 1687; the record there does not state his age - a knowledge of which would greatly facilitate the discovery of his parentage by identifying him from others of the name of William, who, as appears by records from England, were born within a few years of each other - his age is supposed to have been eighty five or ninety; probably it was the later. His Will bears date "the sixth of April in the year of our Lord Christ, on thousand six hundred and eighty-six;" wherein he says, "enjoying through God's mercy the entireness of my understanding; but by reason of my great age and the infirmaties thereof, being sensible of approaching death, do make this my last will," &c. - appoints his "loving wife, Elizabeth, sole executrix;" gives liberally to her, and requests his "sons, John Ward, Increase Ward, and son-in-law, Abraham Williams, to be helpful to his wife, as occasion may require; - gives "to all my own children, viz. all my sons and daughters, which I have by my former wife, and all that I have surviving by my present wife." He also gave legacies to his grand children and to their mothers, children and widows of his "sons, Richard and Eleazer, deceased." He had fourteen children; and as he gave to all the children by his former wife, and to the surviving by his then wife, it is presumed all of them by the first wife were living at the date of his Will; and that Richard, his fourth child, who died in 1666, at the age of thirty-one years, was by his last wife - hence he must have married a second time, some years before he left England.

His widow, when past her seventy-fourth year, made several journies to Boston, as appears by the Probate records there, before she effected a settlement of his estate with the exorbitant and tyrannical Andros, Governor, Judge of Probate, &c. Considering the distance she resided from Boston, exceeding thirty miles, much of the way a wilderness frequented by lurking savages, a bridle way her road, and on which one of her sons had been a few years before shot down by the enemy at noon day, she must have been a person of great fortitude, and possessed of physical power in an eminent degree.

She died at Marlborough, where, some years since, her gave stone was standing, on which was an inscription as follows:

"Here lyes the body of Elizabeth Ward, the servant of the Lord - deceased in 87 year of her age, Dec. ye 9, in the year of our Lord 1700."

William married Elizabeth ?. Elizabeth was born about 1613; died on 09 Dec 1700. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]