Person Page - 58

     Robert Bent was born on Sep 29, 1566 at Southhamps, England; (not proven.) He married Agnes (Annis) Gosling on Oct 13, 1589 at Wayhill, England; (not proven.)

     Thomas Rice was born circa 1568 at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England. He died in 1621 at England.

     Agnes (Annis) Gosling was born in 1570 at Wayhill, England. She married Robert Bent, son of John Bent and Edith (?), on Oct 13, 1589 at Wayhill, England; (not proven.)

     Geoffrey Langley was born circa 1577 at Walton-on-the-Naze, England. He married Anne Carter, daughter of William 1 Carter and Mary Anscell, in 1592 at Walton-on-the-Naze, England. Geoffrey Langley died circa 1624 at Colchester, Essex, England.

     Anne Carter was born on Aug 3, 1579 at Kempston, England. She married Geoffrey Langley in 1592 at Walton-on-the-Naze, England.

     John Gilbert was born on Aug 1, 1580 at Bridgewater, England. He married Alice Hopkins, daughter of Thomas Hopkins, on Sep 1, 1606. John Gilbert died in 1657.

     Alice Hopkins was born in 1585 at Bristol, England. She married John Gilbert, son of Giles Gilbert and Joan Pearce, on Sep 1, 1606. Alice Hopkins died on Apr 25, 1618.

     Robert Mason was born circa 1590 at England. He married Mary/Marie Wise, daughter of Ellizabeth (?), on Apr 15, 1624 at Sudbury, Suffolk County, England. Robert Mason died on Oct 5, 1667 at Dedham, Massachusetts.

     William 2 Carter was born on Oct 28, 1591 at Kempston, England. He married Jane Myles on Jul 2, 1618 at Rampton, England. William 2 Carter died circa 1634.

     Robert Daniel was born in 1592 at OverTabley, Cheshire, England. He married Elizabeth Morse, daughter of Samuel Morse and Elizabeth Jasper. Robert Daniel married Reana (?) on May 2, 1654 at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Robert Daniel died on Jul 6, 1655 at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

     Deacon Edmund (Progenitor) Rice was born in 1594 at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England. He married Thomasine Frost, daughter of Edward Frost and Thomasine Belgrave, on Oct 15, 1618 at St. Mary's Church, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk County, England. Deacon Edmund (Progenitor) Rice married Mercy Brigham, daughter of John Hurd, on Mar 1, 1655. Deacon Edmund (Progenitor) Rice died on May 3, 1663 at Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Burial of Deacon Edmund (Progenitor) Rice. One possible site of the grave is marked by a monument designed by Arthur Wallace Rice of Boston, MA. It was dedicated by the Edmund Rice Association on 29 August 1914. A boulder with a bronze tablet was also erected by the Association and it marks Edmund's homestead on the Old Connecticut Path in Wayland. at Old Burying Ground, Wayland, Massachusetts.
     He resided in 1627 at Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire County, England. He immigrated in 1639 to Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts; was from Barkhamstead in Co. Herts, and of the first sett. 1639, appoint. to lay out the planta. freem. 13 May 1640, and among proprs. that yr. is a wid. Rice, perhaps his mo. was rep. in Oct. foll. and 1643, deac. and selectman. He "was a prominent man in the settlement. He early owned lands in and out of the town, some of which came by grant of the General Court. His first dwelling-place at Sudbury was on the old north street. Sept. 1, 1642, he sold this place to John Moore, and Sept. 13 of the same year leased for six years the Dunster Farm, which lay just east of Cochituate Pond. He bought of the widow Mary Axdell six acres of land and her dwelling-house, which were in the south part of town, and some years afterwards he bought of Philemon Whale his house and nine acres of land near "the spring" and adjacent to the Axdell place; and these taken together, in part at least, formed the old Rice homestead, not far from the "Five Paths." This old homestead remained in the Rice family for generations. Edmund sold it to Edmund, his son, who passed it to his sons John and Edmund, and afterwards John transferred his share of it to his brother Edmund, by whom it passed to others of the family, who occupied it till within the last half century. On Sept. 26, 1647, Mr. Rice leased the "Gover Farm" and what is now Weston; and June 24, 1659, the "Dunster Farm" was purchased by Mr. Rice and his son. He was one of the substantial men of the Sudbury plantation. He was a freeman May 13, 1640, and was one of the committee appointed by the Colonial Court, Sept. 4, 1639, to apportion land to the inhabitants. He served as selectman from 1639 to 1644, and was deputy to the General Court several successive years. He was prominent in the settlement of Marlboro, for which he was a petitioner in 1656. The Rice family in Sudbury have been numerous , and the name has been frequently mentioned on the town books." Quoted from the Annals of Sudbury, Wayland, and Maynard, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. As reported later in this account of Edmund Rice, no record of his birth or christening has been found.¹ Deacon Edmund Rice married 1st Thomasine Frost, daughter of Edward Frost and Thomasine Belgrave, on 15 October 1618 at St Marys Church, Bury St Edmunds, co Suffolk, England.^3,2,4,5 Deacon Edmund Rice married Mercy Hurd (?) on 1 March 1655/56 at Sudbury, MA; (literally 1655) registered as Mary Brigham.^2,6 Deacon Edmund Rice died on 3 May 1663 at Sudbury, MA; (not found in the published records).^1,2 He was buried at Old Burying Ground, Wayland, MA; One possible site of the grave is marked by a monument designed by Arthur Wallace Rice of Boston, MA. It was dedicated by the Edmund Rice Association on 29 August 1914. A boulder with a bronze tablet was also erected by the Association and it marks Edmund's homestead on the Old Connecticut Path in Wayland.²
He and Thomasine Frost resided in 1627 at Berkhamstead, co Hertfordshire, England.^7,8
In 1638 Edmund Rice acquired 4 acres in then Sudbury (now Wayland) and laid out in the fall of that year. He was one of the first to build in the area. According to Massachusetts Colonial Records, Volume 1, page 271, on 4 September 1639 Edmund Rice was one of the committee appointed by the Massachusetts General Court to lay out the land in Sudbury.
Edmund Rice's house was situated on the "Old North Street", near Mill brook. He received his proportion of "Meadowlands", which were divided "to the present inhabitants" under dates of 4 September 1639, 20 April, and 18 November 164-, his share being 42 1/2 acres. He shared in all the division of Uplands and Commons - the total number of acres which fell to his lot, as an original inhabitant, was 247.^9,10

Deacon Edmund Rice was a Selectman in 1644 and subsequent years; a Deacon of the church in 1648, and, in 1656, one of the petitioners for a new plantation that became known as Marlborough at Sudbury, MA.¹¹ He was designated a Freeman on 13 May 1640 at Massachusetts.^12,13 Edmund Rice was recorded as being present as a Deputy at the Massachusetts General Court (legislative assembly) in Boston on 7 October 1640.¹⁴ On 2 June 1641 at Boston Edmund Rice was appointed an assosiate(sic) for the Courts and comission'r for the toune (sic) of Sudberry (sic).¹⁵ He was a deputy to the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (the Massachusetts legislature) representing the Town of Sudbury, serving on 27 May 1652, 18 May 1653, and 3 May 1654 between 1652 and 1654 at Boston, MA.¹⁶ He resided after 1656 at Marlborough, MA, lived on "The Great Road" on the northerly side of the pond (Cochituate Pond), not far from Williams Tavern. The pond is also spelled Wachittuate, Caochituet, Chochichawicke, Coijchawicke, Catchchauitt, Charchittawick, Katchetuit, Cochichawauke, or Cochichowicke.¹⁷
Twice in the 20th century nationally recognized research genealogists have attempted to determine the parents and ancestors of Edmund Rice. Mary Lovering Holman described the negative result of her search for records in the parishes near Stanstead and Sudbury, Suffolk County, England in “English Notes on Edmund Rice”, The American Genealogist, Volume 10 (1933/34), pp. 133 - 137. Mrs Holman is considered by many to be one of the best research genealogists in the 20th century. In 1997 the Edmund Rice (1638) Association commissioned Dr. Joanna Martin, a nationally recognized research genealogist who lives in Hitcham, Suffolk, England, only a few miles from Stanstead and Sudbury, to search again for records of Edmund Rice's parents. Dr. Martin reported in 1999 that she found no record that identified Edmund's parents or ancestral line.
Several authors of published works and computer data sets have claimed names for Edmund Rice's parents. Regrettably they have not given sources that would assist in definitive genealogical research. For example, the Ancestral File and International Genealogical Index, two popular computer data sets widely distributed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, offer parent candidates that include: Henry Rice and Margaret Baker, Henry Rice and Elizabeth Frost, Thomas Rice and Catherine Howard, and Thomas Rice and Elizabeth Frost.
From Mrs. Holman's paper we have an excellent record of one Henry Rice's marriage to Elizabeth Frost in November 1605 at Stanstead. Mrs. Holman also documents the baptism of Edmund's first child on 23 August 1619 at Stanstead. If this is the Henry Rice and Elizabeth Frost to which the LDS records refer, the LDS records must be erroneous. Our researchers have not been able to find records that support any Henry Rice and Elizabeth Frost, Henry Rice and Margaret Baker, Thomas Rice and Catherine Howard, or Thomas Rice and Elizabeth Frost as parents of Edmund Rice.
A scholarly investigation by Donald Lines Jacobus, considered by many as the dean of modern American genealogy, appeared in The American Genealogist, volume 11, (1936), pp. 14-21 and was reprinted in the fall of 1968 and the winter of 1998 issues of Newsletter of the Edmund Rice (1638) Association. Jacobus traced many of the false accounts to the book by Dr. Charles Elmer Rice entitled "By the Name of Rice”, privately published by Dr. Rice at Alliance, Ohio in 1911.
Sudbury, England includes three parishes, two of which do not have complete records for the years near 1594, which is Edmund's most likely birth year. Edmund Rice deposed in a court document on 3 April 1656 that he was about 62 years old. Thus, if he were born in Sudbury his records have been lost and we may never know his origin.
In his address to the 1999 annual meeting of the Edmund Rice (1638) Association, Gary Boyd Roberts, Senior Researcher, New England Historic Genealogy Society, reviewed all of the genealogical sleuthing on Edmund's parentage. Mr. Roberts is well known for his research on royal lineage. He concluded that there was no evidence whatsoever that supports the published accounts of Edmund Rice's parents and no evidence that Edmund Rice was from a royal lineage.
The Edmund Rice (1638) Association is very interested in proving the ancestry of Edmund Rice. The association encourages anyone who can identify a primary source that names Edmund and his parents to identify that source. Records of a baptism, estate probate, or land transaction naming Edmund and his parents are the most likely records to contain that proof. Until someone can cite such a record, the association must state emphatically that Edmund Rice's parents and ancestry are not known and that Edmund Rice's descendants can not claim royal ancestry.^18,19,20
[S1] Andrew Henshaw Ward, The Rice Family, p. 5.
[S3] Rice Gen'l Register, p. 1.
[S1] Andrew Henshaw Ward, The Rice Family.
[S258] Harold F Porter, "The Strutt Ancestry of Thomasine Frost", p. 166.
[S1171] Letter, Dr Joanna Martin to Dr Robert V Rice, 13 November 1997.
[S2365] Sudbury MA, Sudbury, MA, Vital Records, p. 258.
[S53] Mary Lovering Holman, "TAG, Vol. X, Notes on Edmund Rice", p. 136.
[S120] David Kent Young, Young, Siobhan Eddy.
[S228] Josiah H Temple, Framingham Families, pp. 680-681.
[S1150] Nathaniel B Shurtleff, Massachuestts colonial records, vol. I, p. 271.
[S1] Andrew Henshaw Ward, The Rice Family, p. 1.
[S233] Lucius R. Paige, Freemen of Massachusetts.
[S1150] Nathaniel B Shurtleff, Massachuestts colonial records, vol. I, p. 377.
[S1150] Nathaniel B Shurtleff, Massachuestts colonial records, vol. I, p. 301.
[S1150] Nathaniel B Shurtleff, Massachuestts colonial records, vol. I, p. 328.
[S1150] Nathaniel B Shurtleff, Massachuestts colonial records, vol. 3, pp. 259, 297, 340.
[S1] Andrew Henshaw Ward, The Rice Family, p. 2.
[S53] Mary Lovering Holman, "TAG, Vol. X, Notes on Edmund Rice", pp. 133 - 137.
[S60] D. L Jacobus, TAG - 11, pp. 14 - 21.
[S61] Mary Lovering Holman, The American Genealogist, p. 227. Twice in the 20th century nationally recognized research genealogists have attempted to determine the parents and ancestors of Edmund Rice. Mary Lovering Holman described the negative result of her search for records in the parishes near Stanstead and Sudbury, Suffolk County, England in "English Notes on Edmund Rice … ", The American Genealogist, Volume 10 (1933/34), pp. 133 - 137. Mrs. Holman is considered by many to be one of the best research genealogists in the 20th century. In 1997 the Edmund Rice (1638) Association commissioned Dr. Joanna Martin, a nationally recognized research genealogist who lives in England only a few miles from Stanstead and Sudbury to search again for records of Edmund Rice's parents. Dr. Martin reported in 1999 that she found no record that identified Edmund's parents or ancestral line.

Several authors of published works and computer data sets have claimed names for Edmund Rice's parents. Regrettably they have not given sources that would assist in definitive genealogical research. For example, the Ancestral File and International Genealogical Index, two popular computer data sets widely distributed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, offer parent candidates that include: Henry Rice and Margaret Baker, Henry Rice and Elizabeth Frost, Thomas Rice and Catherine Howard, and Thomas Rice and Elizabeth Frost.

From Mrs. Holman's paper we have an excellent record of one Henry Rice's marriage to Elizabeth Frost in November 1605 at Stanstead. Mrs. Holman also documents the baptism of Edmund's first child on 23 August 1619 at Stanstead. If this is the Henry Rice and Elizabeth Frost to which the LDS records refer, the LDS records must be erroneous. Our researchers have not been able to find records that support any Henry Rice and Elizabeth Frost, Henry Rice and Margaret Baker, Thomas Rice and Catherine Howard, or Thomas Rice and Elizabeth Frost as parents of Edmund Rice.

A scholarly investigation by Donald Lines Jacobus, considered by many as the dean of modern American genealogy, appeared in The American Genealogist, Volume 11, (1936), pp. 14-21. Jacobus traced many of the false accounts to the book by Dr. Charles Elmer Rice entitled "By the Name of Rice … ", privately published by Dr. Rice at Alliance, Ohio in 1911.

Edmund Rice deposed in a court document on 3 April 1656 that he was about 62 years old. Sudbury, England includes three parishes, two of which do not have complete records for the years near 1594, which is Edmund's most likely birth year. Thus, if he were born in Sudbury, England his records have been lost and we may never know his origin.

In his address to the 1999 annual meeting of the Edmund Rice (1638) Association, Gary Boyd Roberts, Senior Researcher, New England Historic Genealogical Society, reviewed all of the genealogical sleuthing on Edmund's parentage. Mr. Roberts is well known for his research on royal lineage. He concluded that there was no evidence whatsoever that supports the published accounts of Edmund Rice's parents and no evidence that Edmund Rice was from a royal lineage.

The Edmund Rice (1638) Association is very interested in proving the ancestry of Edmund Rice. The Association encourages anyone who can identify a primary source that names Edmund and his parents to identify that source. Records of a baptism, estate probate, or land transaction naming Edmund and his parents are the most likely records to contain that proof.

Until someone can cite such a record, the Association must state emphatically that Edmund Rice's parents and ancestry are not known and that Edmund Rice's descendants can not claim royal ancestry.

     John Bent was born in 1596 at Penton, Grafton, England. He married Martha (?) John Bent died on Sep 27, 1672 at Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. His estate was probated on Oct 2, 1672 at Sudbury, Massachusetts.
     He left a will on Sep 14, 1672 at Sudbury, Massachusetts; that names his wife Martha and his eldest son, Peter, as executors. The will also names sons Peter, Joseph, John, daughters Agnis Rice, Martha How; grandchildren Hannah Bent, daughter of son John; John How, son of daughter Martha How; John Rice, son of daughter Agnis Rice. Also named as overseeers are Henry Rice and John Stone.

     Jane Myles died at London, England. She was born on Sep 14, 1598 at Rampton, England. She married William 2 Carter, son of William 1 Carter and Mary Anscell, on Jul 2, 1618 at Rampton, England.

     Arthur Gary was born on May 20, 1599 at Bishop's Stortford, Herts, England.

     Elizabeth Wise was born circa 1600 at England. She married Joseph Weed on Oct 11, 1620 at Sudbury, England.

     Martha (?) was born in 1600 at Penton, England. She married John Bent, son of Robert Bent and Agnes (Annis) Gosling. Martha (?) died on May 15, 1679 at Penton, England.

     Thomasine Frost was born on Aug 11, 1600 at Stanstead, England. She married Deacon Edmund (Progenitor) Rice on Oct 15, 1618 at St. Mary's Church, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk County, England. Thomasine Frost died on Jun 13, 1654 at Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, at age 53.
     She resided in 1627 at Berkhamstead, England.

     Thomas Brigham married Mary Rice, daughter of Henry Rice and Elizabeth Moore. Thomas Brigham was born circa 1603 at England. He married Mercy Hurd, daughter of John Hurd, in 1637 at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Thomas Brigham died on Dec 18, 1653 at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

     William Ward married an unknown person. He was born in 1603 at England. He married Elizabeth (?) William Ward died on Aug 10, 1687 at Marlborough, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
     He emigrated in 1639 from Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

     Mary/Marie Wise was born circa 1604 at England. She married Robert Mason on Apr 15, 1624 at Sudbury, Suffolk County, England. Mary/Marie Wise died in 1637 at Roxbury, Massachusetts.

     Anne Langley was born on Mar 1, 1604 at Colchester, Essex, England. She married William (Progenitor) Doggett circa 1628.

     Elizabeth Morse was born on Mar 6, 1605/6 at Redgrave Province, England. She married Robert Daniel, son of Peter Daniel and Christian Grosvenor. Elizabeth Morse died on Oct 2, 1643 at Watertown, Massachusetts, at age 37.

     William (Progenitor) Doggett was born circa 1610 at England. He married Anne Langley, daughter of Geoffrey Langley and Anne Carter, circa 1628. William (Progenitor) Doggett died circa 1670 at Ipswich, Suffolk County, England.

     John Eaton was born on Aug 21, 1611 at Dover, England. He married Abigail Gilson on Apr 5, 1630. John Eaton died on Nov 17, 1658 at Dedham, Massachusetts, at age 47 will dated Nov 2, 1658 named his wife Abigail, John Damont of Reading, John Plimpton of Medfield, Edward Hodsman "my kinsman" daughter Mary, son John Eaton, and daughter Abigail. At the time of the marriage of daughter Mary to John Mason, the Eaton family was from Watertown, MA.
     He immigrated in 1634; came to New England on the ship "Hopewell."

     Thomas Gilbert was born in 1612 at Dorchester, England. He married Joan Combe, daughter of Joseph Combe and Winnifred Rossiter, on Mar 23, 1638/39. Thomas Gilbert died in 1676.

     Joan Combe was born in 1613. She married Thomas Gilbert, son of John Gilbert and Alice Hopkins, on Mar 23, 1638/39. Joan Combe died in 1691.

     Mercy Hurd was born circa 1615 at Cambridge, Massachusetts. She married Thomas Brigham in 1637 at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Mercy Brigham married Deacon Edmund (Progenitor) Rice on Mar 1, 1655. Mercy Hurd married William Hunt. Mercy Hurd died on Dec 28, 1693 at Marlborough, Massachusetts.

     Mary Rice was baptized on Aug 23, 1619 at Stanstead, Suffolk, England. She died before 1638.

     Captain George Fairbanks was born on Nov 26, 1619 at Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. He married Mary Adams on Aug 26, 1646 at Dedham, Massachusetts. Captain George Fairbanks died on Jan 10, 1681/82 at Medfield, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, at age 62 drowned.
     He "was the first settler on Medfield soil west of the river. He came from Dedham about 1657 and bought land near the Sherborn line that had been granted to Rev. John Allen. Mr. Allen's farm, lying with our limits, was reserved when our grant for a township was given. This rendered Fairbanks' citizenship doubtful." From THE HISTORY OF MEDFIELD.

     Henry Rice was born in 1620 at Stanstead, Suffolk, England. He was baptized on Feb 13, 1620/21 at Stanstead, Suffolk, England. He married Elizabeth Moore, daughter of John Moore and Bridget (?), on Feb 1, 1643. Henry Rice died on Feb 10, 1710/11.
     He was born circa 1617, having called himself 50 years old on January 25, 1667, as appears by a deposition on the files of the court.1,4 He was the son of Deacon Edmund Rice and Thomasine Frost.1 Henry Rice was baptized on 13 February 1620/21 at Stanstead, co Suffolk, England. He married Elizabeth Moore, daughter of John Moore Sr and Bridget (?), on 1 January 1643/44 at Sudbury, MA; (February per Ward). Henry Rice died on 10 February 1710/11 at Framingham, MA. His estate was probated on 28 February 1710/11 at Middlesex County, MA. He swore an oath of fidelity at Sudbury, MA on 9 July 1645. He was designated a Freeman on 10 May 1648 at Massachusetts. He received one lot in the Sudbury Two-Mile Grant in 1655. He was one of the thirteen Sudbury petitioners for the grant of Marlborough in 1656. He received 50 acres in 1659 at Rice's End from his father, where he built a house. He stated in a court action that he was 50 years old on 25 January 1667 at Massachusetts. He was an original member of the church in Framingham in 1701. He left a will on 3 October 1705, inventory was £527. The will mentions sons Jonathan and David; daughters Elizabeth Brewer, Hannah Taylor, Abigail Smith, Tamasin Parmenter, Rachel Drury, Lydia Wheelock, Mercy Allen; and granddaughter Mary Brigham. He Children of Henry Rice and Elizabeth Moore:
Mary Rice+
Elizabeth Rice+
Hannah Rice+
Jonathan Rice+
Abigail Rice+
Deacon David Rice+
Tasamine Rice+
Rachel Rice+
Lydia Rice+
Mercy Rice+.