Edmund RICE

Abt 1594 - 1663  (69 years)

• Name	Edmund RICE  [1, 2, 3, 4]
  	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. [1]
  Birth	Abt 1594	Stanstead, Suffolk, England   [1, 3]
  Gender	Male
  Death	3 May 1663	Marlboro, Middlesex, Massachusetts   [1, 3]
  Person ID	I46358	Main Tree
  Last Modified	19 Oct 2020

  
  

  Father	Henry Thomas RICE,   b. Abt 1555, London, Middlesex, England
  Relationship	Birth
  Mother	Margaret BAKER,   b. Abt 1558, Sudbury, England
  Relationship	Birth
  Marriage	22 Jun 1579	Of Sudbury, Suffolk, England   [5]
  Family ID	F02010	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Thomasine FROST,   b. Stanstead, St. James, Suffolk, England d. 13 Jun 1650, Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts
  Marriage	Abt 1617  [1]
  Children	+ 1. Henry RICE,   b. Abt 1617   d. 10 Feb 1710, Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts (Age 93 years)  [Birth] + 2. Edward RICE,   b. Abt 1619, Stanstead, Suffolk, England d. 15 Aug 1712, Framingham, Middlesex, Massachusetts (Age 93 years)  [Birth] + 3. Thomas RICE,   b. 1625   d. 16 Nov 1681, Sudbury, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts (Age 56 years)  [Birth]   4. Matthew RICE,   b. 1629   d. 1717, Sudbury, Middlesex, Massachusetts (Age 88 years)  [Birth]   5. Samuel RICE,   b. 1634, Barkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England  [Birth] + 6. Joseph RICE,   b. 1637   d. Stowe, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts  [Birth]   7. Lydia RICE,   b. 1628   d. 05 Apr 1675, Sudbury, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts (Age 47 years)  [Birth]   8. Edmund RICE,   b. 1634  [Birth] + 9. Benjamin RICE,   b. 31 May 1640, Sudbury, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts d. 19 Dec 1713, Sudbury, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts (Age 73 years)  [Birth]
  Family ID	F02008	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	10 May 2021

  
  

  Family 2	Mercy HURD,   b. England d. 1693
  Marriage	01 Mar 1655	Sudbury, Middlesex, Mass   [5]
  Children	+ 1. Ruth RICE,   b. 29 Sep 1659, Sudbury, Middelsex County, Massachusetts d. 30 Mar 1742, Glastonbury, Hartford County, Connecticut (Age 82 years)  [Birth]   2. Ann RICE,   b. 19 Nov 1661  [Birth]
  Family ID	F02009	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	19 Oct 2020

  
  

• Sources

  [S2011] Andrew Henshaw Ward, A Genealogical History of the Rice Family, Descendants of Deacon Edmund Rice, Who Came from Berkhamstead, England, and settled at Sudbury, Massachusetts in1638/9. [S02882] Harlan Page Hubbard, One Thousand Years of Hubbard History 866 to 1895. [S5277] Transcribed by Carolynn Brown, Northern New York - Genealogical and family history of Northern New York; a record of the achievements of her people in making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation. [S11401] Ancestry.com: History of the Town of Marlborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. [S02444] Hubbard.ftw. Date of Import: Mar 5, 2000