Edmund Rice Homestead East Sudbury, MA

Edmund Rice (1638) Association Newsletter 24 Buckman Dr., Chelmsford MA 01824 Vol. 76, No. 1   Winter 2002 return to: [Information page]  [ ERA Main page]

President’s Column

Dear Cousins,

We have now established the Edmund Rice Haplotype or genetic marker. Our haplotype is a collection of unique numbers of pieces of Y-chromosome DNA obtained under specified conditions.

This very small portion of our DNA is passed down through the generations from father to son and so on. Haplotypes don’t say much of anything else. They don’t define our characteristics, hair or eye color, height or weight, temperament, or any of the things we think important for human beings. But they do follow the surname, which is why they are very useful to genealogy.

It will now be possible to determine if any of the ‘other’ Rice families are connected to us. That to my mind is the primary purpose for establishing the haplotype.

It has been known for some time that other emigrants from Europe have surnames identical or very similar to ours, but genealogists have not been able to connect them to Edmund Rice.

Although, of course, we did not actually test Edmund’s DNA we have confidence that we now know what it was on his Y-chromosome, so theoretically all we have to do is test any male who thinks he may be connected. Of course, it is never really that simple. If we tested a man without any regard to his pedigree; that is, without establishing who was his father, grandfather, and so on, we could easily wind up by just verifying that he was a Edmund Rice descendant.

What we want to do is find males with the Rice surname or a variation thereof who CAN trace their heritage back though not all the way to Edmund Rice. We have encountered many examples of these families trying to trace their lineages.

Elsie Hawes Smith has a chapter in her second book, More About Those Rices (pp. 102-109), in which she points out some of the ‘other’ Rice families. Most prominent among them are Royce of colonial Connecticut, a Rice from England who settled in Ontario, Canada before 1820, and an English emigrant named Thomas Rice who settled in Virginia about 1683. There are other Rices who have come to light since Elsie wrote or about whom we now know more.

Robert Rice came over in the Winthrop fleet in 1630 to Boston. His wife was Elizabeth and they had children and at least one grandson. He is definitely not the same man as Robert Royce who appeared in Stratford, CT in 1647. The latter started the Royce family that has often been listed as Rice. Their early family history was published under the auspices of Donald Lines Jacobus, dean of American genealogy.

Another Rice family briefly appears in colonial Concord that does not seem to be connected to Edmund. A few Rices are to be found in colonial Essex County north of Boston who have not been connected. The ancestors of William Rice, benefactor of Rice University, are found on the south shore in Weymouth but have not been linked to Edmund.

These ‘other’ Rices all had many offspring and often have been confused with Edmund’s descendants. In fact, Bill Drury reports that the ERA had such a president in the 1970s. Of course, all or some of these families may be connected to our Rice family back in the United Kingdom and, indeed, may have the Edmund haplotype. Won’t it be interesting if they do?

Then, there are all those Rices, Rhys, Rises and Rees in the United Kingdom as well as the Republic of Ireland. Are they connected to us?

 We know quite certainly that Henry Rice (buried in Stanstead, England, 1621) who married Elizabeth Frost, sister to Thomasine Frost who married Edmund Rice, left children. Thus, there may well be descendants of Henry still to be found in England for we know only of Elizabeth who married and immigrated to Sudbury. Apparently none of Henry’s sons came over.

Things are getting more and more interesting!

Sincerely,
Robert V. Rice, President

Editor’s Column

“Most people today are bringing to the study of family history not a search for an endless amount of names that date back into infinity, but an interest in narrative. It’s social history; they’re looking for interesting stories. They’re looking for connections with the past.”

These are comments by Lynn Betlock of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in a recent newspaper article. (Wiltenburg, Mary, “Genealogy goes beyond all those ‘begats’”, Christian Science Monitor, 6 Mar 2002, p.16)

It was a pleasure to receive lineages lines, queries or comments from new cousins, Sukey Rice Ridgway, Judy L. Lawrence (for her husband William Lawrence), Naomi Hopperstad, Richard Pierce, Sherri Tomiak and Nancy Benkhart.

Welcome to them and to the other new members of a family association that values going “beyond all those begats”!

Thanks also to cousins Chester Rice, Bonnie Wiley, Bob Rice and William Rice for their Rice lineage contributions.

Members of the ERA board keep up a lively exchange of information with quite a few people, some who write and increasingly many who, as Judy Williams and Gary Miller, send email.

Our ERA website is attracting a wider and wider audience, thanks to George King’s excellent job as webmaster and all those who contribute to it, especially the Y-chromosome study.  The flow of information exchange is sure to become even livelier!

-Keith Capen Allen

How We Obtained the Rice Haplotype

 Using Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA to trace pedigrees was just theoretical until the spring of 2000 when Professor Bryan Sykes and his associate Catherine Irven published the Sykes Y-DNA study in the American Journal of Human Genetics, 66: 1417-1419, 2000.

Sykes also announced the formation of Oxford Ancestors, a company specifically set up to serve the genealogical community.  Although we contacted them immediately, it was the end of 2000 by the time they finally announced their services. In January 2001 we learned to our dismay that we couldn’t do business with them. They would not let us, the Genetics Committee of ERA, act as the middleman in obtaining Rice volunteers, verifying their pedigrees, paying for the analyses, and processing the results.

Oxford Ancestors insisted on dealing only with individuals.**  They did not say so directly but left the impression that they did not trust ERA to act in a manner they considered proper. They did not know, and we did not think to point out to them, that the very masthead on our newsletter states that membership in ERA does not require proof of descent from Edmund Rice.

We then chose Professor Woodward’s lab at Brigham Young University. We spent the next six months finding volunteers, verifying their pedigrees and acting as middlemen between each volunteer, and at the end of June 2001sent him 13 male Rice buccal (inner mouth cheek scrapings) DNA samples.

We had a preliminary report from BYU to share with attendees at our annual ERA reunion in September. The final, color, four-page report actually came from Sorenson Genomics of Salt Lake City who by then had taken over the individual DNA analyses of the BYU lab. We had the report copied commercially, then mailed to each Rice volunteer after removing all names except that of the volunteer in question.

It was immediately apparent that ten of the Rice DNA samples gave results that formed an Edmund Rice Haplotype.

The ten appeared to be identical although there was a problem with one locus, or position, on the DNA chain. Two other samples were identical with each other but differed considerably from the ten. The remaining sample seemed to show two differences from the Rice majority.

A major problem with this first report was that it did not give values in a manner that allowed international comparison. The accepted, worldwide designation of microsatellite loci is DYS labels. (DYS: D = DNA, Y = Y chromosome, S = short tandem repeats. Microsatellite DNA = presence of short arrays of tandem simple repeat units or, DNA segments in which individual bases repeat, such as …ATA, or CTAG.)

The Sorenson Genomics report identified the loci with numbers and the values as scores, not actual repeats. This is apparently common procedure for population genetics labs. Presently all the academic DNA labs are run by population geneticists who until recently, at least, have not had much interest in genealogy. (For example, George Redmonds, a well-known genealogist from Yorkshire, England claims to have introduced Bryan Sykes to the genealogy of the Sykes family – a Yorkshire family.)

We wanted Rice candidates to be able to submit their samples to the most convenient lab and also wanted to check the results of one lab with another, so we arranged for six male Rices to send their buccal samples to Family Tree DNA (FTDNA).

The six chosen included the untested sample of a male who descends from a third son of Gershom Rice, grandson of Edmund, plus samples of those whose first analyses showed possible mutations and of those ‘in the main stream’. We also got a discount for submitting six samples at once! This was important for we were at the end of the $3000 approved by the ERA membership.

Preliminary results from FTDNA came just before Christmas and the final results arrived later in January 2002. This report generally confirmed our first report from Sorenson Genetics but clarified several points. Importantly, the results were expressed in DYS terms with actual repeats noted.

These new findings showed that two male Rice descendants of Edmund had single mutations, which is not surprising. The mutations were at different loci, also not surprising. We don’t know a great deal about the frequency of mutations but rely on statistics that indicate about 0.2% possibility per generation.

Actually, it turns out that both mutations occurred in descendants of Thomas Rice’s last sons. We have been looking for more such descendants; that is, for other living males who descend from other grandsons, great grandsons of Edmund. It could be that Thomas underwent mutations later in life. This is an example of what we can now investigate combining genealogy and genetics.

In order to provide a more complete picture, I decided to submit my own sample (I was one of the original 13) to both Oxford Ancestors and to BYU. The latter had offered, for an additional fee, to re-analyze any of the already submitted samples and to provide a report in terms of DYS labels. (Their original fee was much lower than any other lab). The results from BYU arrived under the letterhead of yet another Salt Lake City organization, Relative Genetics, but signed by the individuals from BYU.

Finally, all the reports were received and we were able to compare the results of the three labs. Although the results from each lab were internally consistent, not all had yet adopted the international standards. This fact was discussed at the GenTech meeting in January at Boston.

We have a comparison table of the lab results on our web site <edmund-rice.org> and for those interested in more detail about Y-chromosome DNA analysis, we suggest:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~allpoms/genetics1a.html
http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/GENEALOGY-DNA.html

The latest development in this fast changing field is that two labs have offered to analyze more loci. FTDNA will now re-analyze submitted samples for nine more loci, bringing the total to 21 loci. A new middleman, Ancestry.com has arrangements with Relative Genetics to handle business with genealogists and during the GenTech conference Ancestry was offering 23 loci at a reduced price. Ancestry is a large commercial genealogy firm selling CD-ROMs, use of its database on the Internet, books, and has recently acquired RootsWeb, a popular free series of Internet sites devoted to various aspects of genealogy.

The use of more loci will indubitably provide refinement to haplotypes and we will not be surprised if more mutations appear which may elucidate pedigrees. That is, relationships among descendants of the same distant ancestor may be clarified, though some confusion could be introduced if too many loci are used.

The term, Most Recent Common Ancestor, seeks to identify the past ancestor common to two descendants in the shortest length of time. There are charts that plot the generations versus number of loci and somewhere in the low twenties of loci seems most favorable.

I have told FTDNA to analyze nine more loci for my sample just to see what happens. Additional loci cost more and we may already be close to the optimal for genealogical purposes but if they prove useful we may want to do some or all of the Rice samples.

As it stands now the Edmund Rice Haplotype is:
 

(These results are from FTDNA and include changes in international nomenclature.)

As was mentioned before, two Rice samples showed a single deviation, or mutation, at different loci from the above haplotype. Statistically, this is not surprising. One had 24 in place of 23 repeats for DYS 390 and the other showed 12 in place of 11 for DYS 439. Both Rice volunteers were descendants of two different later sons of Thomas2 Rice. That is, Thomas2 Rice had eight sons and the mutations appeared in descendants from sons number seven and eight which leads us to speculate that Thomas 2 may have experienced a mutation event late in life because three of his earlier sons had descendants who showed normal values for those loci. It may be worthwhile to find descendants of more of Thomas’s sons to check out that hypothesis. We already know one who has submitted his pedigree.

Finally, there were two samples that had identical results but were very different from the Edmund Rice Haplotype; so different that they cannot be from descendants of Edmund. They are the subjects of a research paper that has been submitted to a genealogical journal and until it is published we will not go into any details.

All Rice volunteers have received the reports but only know their own results. We are greatly indebted to them for obviously without their cooperation this study could not have been done. Some went to great lengths to get their samples in, particularly during the heat of last summer. We thank them all.

Members of the Genetics Committee are: John Chandler, Bill Drury, George King and I. Any mistakes in this report are mine alone.

- Robert V. Rice, President

**In early July I attended a genealogy conference in Farmington, Connecticut where Professor Sykes spoke and was a great hit with the genealogists. It was there I learned that Oxford Ancestors is doing business with The Mayflower Descendant but that arrangement took a personal face to face negotiation between the Mayflower Historian General and Professor Sykes.

DNA Testing: The Immediate Payoff

Now that we have reconstructed Edmund Rice's Y-DNA haplotype at 12 markers, the question is: what next?

Ultimately, we hope that comparison of Edmund's haplotype with that of other Rice or Royce families will identify which of them are related and how closely. (Surely, we will find some that are related!) That knowledge may lead to clues about Edmund's origins.  However, that second phase requires just as much planning and research as the first phase (i.e., plenty!), and the results will take some time.

 Thus, it is fair to ask whether there is anything we can do right now with the results we have already.  The answer is YES.  There have been many academic studies of Y DNA in populations around the world, and some of the publications give statistics on the frequency of various haplotypes or of particular values at certain markers.  There are also databases that can be searched for partial or complete matches to any specified haplotype.

Commercial DNA

We can begin with the Family Tree DNA database, which now has about 5,000 haplotypes from a combination of customers and academic research subjects at the University of Arizona.  Perhaps the biggest problem with this database is the clustering tendency caused by family projects like ours -- each coordinated family group sends samples from many related individuals.  As a result, the database probably has the uneven statistics of a much smaller one.

We in the ERA did our part to alleviate this problem by arranging to have only a single consensus haplotype from our project added to the database.  Needless to say, the database is constantly changing, but its ‘message’ for the Rices has been essentially the same over a period of two months (from December, when our FTDNA results first came, to February, when I checked a second time).

In December, there were 13 exact matches to the consensus Rice haplotype (which itself had not yet been added to the database).  The matches originated in Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Greenland (Eskimo), Russia (Siberian), and Unknown.  In the intervening two months, the Rice haplotype (marked as England) has been added to the database, the Greenlander has either been removed or relabeled as Unknown, and two other Unknowns have appeared.

Now, it might seem at first glance that these 15 exact matches must be long-lost cousins, but the situation is not that simple.  Mutations are rare and unpredictable, but they do occur.  In the long run, it is certainly possible to end up with identical haplotypes by mutations from lines that were originally different, just as it is possible for known cousins to differ, despite descent from a known common ancestor.

On the other hand, it is also possible for cousins separated by tens or even hundreds of generations to match, despite being so remotely related that the connection is genealogically useless.  The cardinal rule of genealogy applies even here: Work from the known toward the unknown.

We know that Edmund Rice is the only Rice in the FTDNA database, so the most we can expect from the list of matches is a trend that might give us a clue to Edmund's ethnic identity.

A quick look at the list shows just such a trend: strongly oriented toward Scandinavia.  Does this preponderance of Nordic matches mean Edmund Rice is descended from Vikings?  No, we cannot jump to that conclusion based on such a haphazard sample, though it is a possibility. Similarly, we must not make too much of the fact that no matches at all were found in the British Isles -- we simply do not have enough statistics.

Forensic DNA

An even larger, non-commercial database contains a sampling from all over Europe (except France), collected by a consortium of forensic geneticists (i.e., those interested in the legal aspects of DNA, such as paternity cases and criminal investigations).

As of February, there were 8,766 samples in the YSTR database, contributed by laboratories that agreed in advance to follow strict testing procedures and proved their ability to get consistent results for the standard samples.  Each lab was instructed to select a representative batch of samples from its geographic area, but the actual techniques for choosing test subjects were left up to them.

There are no more than a few hundred samples from each region, and we have no guarantee that this sampling is truly representative, but it is probably the best that can be done on this scale.

The YSTR database tabulates only nine of the twelve markers we have, and it is therefore easier in principle to find an exact match.  The results confirm that -- 50 exact matches for the nine-marker subset of the Rice haplotype.

These are distributed a bit more widely, but there is still a noticeable Scandinavian trend, as more than half of all the matches were found in Norway and Sweden. Indeed, about 4% of all the Norwegians tested and about 4% of all the Swedes carry the nine-marker subset of the Rice haplotype, too.

As it happens, all of the samples from Great Britain were collected in London, and two out of 247 match the Rices.
No matches were found among the 107 samples collected in southern Ireland.  Most of the remaining matches are in Germany, but also a sprinkling in Poland and points east.  Again, the results are suggestive, but no more than that.

Academic DNA

Academic population studies tend to focus on longer time periods than genealogists do.  Thus, the published reports on such studies generally cover fewer STR (short tandem repeat) markers and instead use other types of markers with slower mutation rates.  Nonetheless, these reports can be illuminating.

In particular, one report entitled "Genetic evidence for different male and female roles during cultural transitions in the British Isles" (by Wilson et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 98, p. 5078) includes a set of ‘pie charts’ showing the frequency of various combinations of genetic markers in three areas in the British Isles, as well as five other places for comparison.

The most striking result in the report is the close resemblance and high uniformity of the samples from North Wales, Gaelic surnames in Ireland, and Basques.  All three groups have about 90% with repeat values of 11 for DYS391 (instead of 10 as seen in Edmund Rice) and 13 for DYS392 (instead of 11 for Edmund).  At least two of the three groups also have 90% with 12 repeats at DYS388 (instead of 14 for Edmund).  The Irish sample was not tested for DYS388, but the observed correlations between markers strongly suggest that the same 90% fraction would have shown up with 12 repeats there, too.

In contrast, samples from the Frisian coast of the Netherlands and from Norway showed only about 56% and 25%, respectively, with those combinations.  In fact, the statistics are a little more complicated than I have presented here, because the frequencies are stated in terms of haplotype clusters, rather than broken down into separate frequencies for each marker, but the bottom line is still the same.  The main question is still whether such a small sample (only 88 Welsh males tested, 146 Irish, and 50 Basque) is truly representative of the population.

Another report entitled "An extensive analysis of Y-chromosomal microsatellite haplotypes in globally dispersed human populations" (by Kayser et al., American Journal of Human Genetics, vol. 68, p. 990) gives actual marker-by-marker frequencies, but its focus is very wide geographically, and the only groups in common with the above-mentioned report are the Basques and the Dutch (if we can stretch a point and equate the coastal Frisians with the mainland Hollanders).

Among 30 Basques, this report finds 93% with 13 repeats vs. 7% with 11 for DYS392.  Among 88 Dutch, the results are 54% with 13 vs. 39% with 11.  The close agreement between these percentages and the cluster percentages shown above lends support to the ‘representativeness’ of at least the Basque and Dutch samples.

Executive Summary

What does it all mean?  Well, it is widely known that the RICE surname has several possible sources, but the most popular with genealogists has always been the Welsh origin based on the patronymic RHYS.

However, the DNA results in hand suggest that *if* Edmund Rice came from a Welsh male line, and *if* the modern DNA samples of North Wales are representative of 16th-century Wales, then Edmund's haplotype ought to have 13 repeats at DYS392 (with 90% probability), and so on.  It does not.  Therefore, we should add one more maxim of caution to the investigation of Edmund's ancestry: "not Welsh without proof."

- John F. Chandler

Seeking: A Letter To Elizabeth Balcom

Gershom[3] Rice (Thomas[2], Edmund[1]) moved around a lot, and there seems to be no record of his marriage to Elizabeth Balcom, born at Charlestown in 1672.  However, Ward's genealogy of the Rice family refers to a letter written in 1713 (at which time Gershom was in Groton, CT) by Elizabeth's mother and addressed to "loving daughter Elizabeth
Rice, living in Groton."

Ward does not quote the contents of the letter, but it is clear that he had access to either the letter itself or a copy.  It seems likely that the letter had been carefully preserved as an heirloom in the family of some descendant, probably somewhere in the vicinity of Worcester, Mass., where Gershom and family ended up.

Does anybody know whether this letter (or a copy) still exists? Please contact Bob Rice, George King or John Chandler with any information.

New Members

 Lyle C. Smith, III               Louisville       KY
 Beth Buchtler Sherfy             San Antonio      TX
 Renee Kenner-Juarez              Ripon            CA
 Wayne Rogers                     Temecula         CA
 Rob Howard                       San Mateo        CA
 James K. Rice                    No. Ridgeville   OH
 Barbara E. McIntosh              Xenia            OH
 Rosa Rediger                     Trego            WI
 Virginia Butz                    Santa Cruz       CA
 Colin B. Fairn                   Don Mills   Ontario
 Joel Zaiser                      Charleston       IL
 Virginia Rice Pastorek           Marblehead       OH
 Donna Rice Voelkel               Rockridge        OH
 Ellen N. Bartholomew             Mansfield        PA
 Sherri Tomiak                    Edmonton    Alberta
 Henry C. Trombley                Saratoga Springs NY
 Stephen G. Rice                  Lowell           MI
 Naomi L. Hopperstad              Goshen           IN
 Martha R. Brewer                 Fayetteville     AR
 Joan Schacht                     Chesterfield     MO
 Sukey Rice Ridgeway              La Jolla         CA
 Marjorie Gibson                  Cotuit           MA
 Marilyn Skinner                  Brea             CA
 William A. Lawrence              Moraga           CA
 S. Craig Tally                   Joplin           MO
 Richard C. Pierce                Shrewsbury       MA
 Stephen B. Seiple                Dublin           OH

1880 US Census and National Index

Last year the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) published a transcription of the entire 1880 US census on CD-ROM.

The transcription is in computer-searchable text format, making it very easy to search for your ancestors. A typical search requires only given and family names and an approximate birth year. If you know the birth state or residence state in 1880, you can refine the search for a more rapid "find."

Most LDS Family History Centers have copies of this valuable CD-ROM. Many of the larger public libraries also have copies. If you do use the CD-ROM, be sure to cite it as your source and to include the original LDS film number for future reference. Also, be sure to copy the detailed information that includes occupations and the states where parents were born.

The CD-ROM record for each family also includes the LDS film number and page number for the original record. If the family is in your direct line, I urge you to order the film of the original enumeration, as there are occasional transcription errors in the CD-ROM.

Many association members have provided me <gwk@widomaker.com> with computer readable data sets to add to our association master data set. Since last fall I have been adding cites to the 1880 US census as I receive your data sets. Cousins are both surprised and pleased when I return reports that include the census information.

If you have not yet provided your Rice ancestral line for our master data set, why not do it NOW!

- George King

Chester G. Rice
Lafayette GA 30728-3474

Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost                                              Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost
Thomas Rice = Mary King                                                       Thomas Rice = Mary King
Ephraim Rice (1665-1732) = Hannah Livermore (1670-1724) Gershom Rice (1667-1768) = Elizabeth Balcom
 (1672-1752)
Ephraim Rice (1693-) = Sarah Whitney (1697/98-)                      Sarah Rice (1703/04 -1781) = Daniel Duncan
 (1711/12-)
John Rice (1735-) = Levinah Duncan (1747-)                           Levinah Duncan (1747-) = John Rice (1735-)                                                               Samuel Rice (1778-ca.1855) = Elizabeth
Alfred Rice (1806-1848) = Elizabeth Forman (1807-1886)
William Exra Rice (1849-1930) = Sarah Emiline Miller (1859-1928)
Everett C. Rice (1893-1963) = Florence Foy Wilson (1897-1983)
Chester G. Rice (1937-) = Anna M. Anderson (1940-)

The last newsletter included Chester’s lineage through Thomas Rice’s son, Gershom. Chester did not know though who John Rice’s parents were.  Since then he’s discovered that John Rice descended through Gershom’s brother, Ephraim, thus adding a second line from Edmund to his family tree.  Now, does anyone know the surname of Samuel Rice’s wife, Elizabeth?

Sukey Rice Ridgway
La Jolla CA 92037

1. Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost
2. Thomas Rice = Mary King
3. Elisha Rice (1679-1781) = Elizabeth Wheeler (1670-)
4. Zabulon Rice (1724/25-1799) = Susanna Allen (1731/32-1823)
5. Stephen Rice (1766-1857) = Matilda Allen (1775-1861)
6. George Eldon Rice (1843-1929) = Mary Submit Crocker (1846-1939)
7. John Willard Rice (1879-1959) = Eva Lindsay Eastman (1877-1946)
8. John Willard Rice, Jr. (1913-1969) = Elizabeth Ridgeway Fowler (1912-1977)
9. John Willard Rice III (1939-) = Marilyn Borchers
9. Joan Fowler Rice (1939-) = Daniel Wyant Holmes
9.   Carol Elizabeth Rice (1941-) = Edmund Ludlow Keeney
9. Susan Sukey Rice (1943-) = (1) Robert Beasley, = (2) James Roy Ridgway
10.  Allyson Lynn Beasley (1968-)
10.  Elizabeth Ann Beasley (1968-) = Vincent Fogarty
11.  Cian Fogarty (1999-)
10.  Brooke Beasley (1970-)

When Sukey joined the ERA she wrote Bill Drury, “I have been researching my father’s lineage for about a year, but only last week did I run across the connection from George Eldon to Stephen. I knew it was Stephen and Matilda I was looking for, but not till I “hit” [the] W. Tuck Forsythe tree did I get the connection. What a thrill!! I enjoyed reading all about the Association and look forward to more “Rice” news (as are my brother and sisters)….I also have many pictures/newspaper articles and birth/death certificates from all my research….”

Births

Jason Hill, son of Jason and Katherine (Sanford) Hill was born September 14, 2001. Jason is the nephew of Timothy Sanford of Toronto and grandson of the late Loretta (Rice) Sanford.

James Neil Rice, son of Don and Melissa Rice was born September 14, 2001 in Manhattan. James is the grandson of the late Rev. James Rice, a former ERA director.

Sherri Tomiak
stomiak@shaw.ca

Sherri writes, “I have recently joined the ERA and thought that I would submit my Rice lineages….I also have a query which I will place at the end of my lineages.”

 Sherri’s lines from Edmund’s sons, Edward and Thomas merge when their children, first cousins Anna and Thomas marry.

1. Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost
2. Edward Rice = Anna Bent
3. Anna Rice = Thomas Rice (same as number 3 below)

1. Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost
2. Thomas Rice = Mary King
3. Thomas Rice = Anna Rice
4. Beriah Rice (1702-) = Mary Goodenow (1712-) (Moved to Nova Scotia)
5. Beriah Rice (1747-) =
6. Thomas Gordon Rice (1808-1898) = Armenia Ross (1808-)
7. Edmund/Edward Rice (1833-) = Emma C. Turner (1841-)
8. Ida Amelia Rice (1873-1941) = James Colin MacIvor (1867-1905)
9. Homer James MacIvor (1899-1973) = Ethel Christine Fraser (1901-1984)
10.Estelle Barbara MacIvor (1923-) = John Albert Tomiak (1923-)
11.John "Jack" Albert Tomiak (1948-) =Sharlo Marie Reibetanz (1949-) (div)
12.Sherri Lee Tomiak (1973-)

Sherri continues, “My query relates to Edmund/Edward Rice, Emma Turner, and their daughter, Ida. This family moved back and forth between Baddeck, Nova Scotia and Wilmington, Delaware where, supposedly, both Emma and Ida were born.”

“Edmund and Emma were married in Wilmington and Edmund was born in Big Baddeck, Nova Scotia. Edmund, Emma, and their family appear in the Canadian censuses for 1871, 1891, and 1901, but a search of the 1880 census for Wilmington failed to locate the family.”

“I would greatly appreciate any information that anyone may have on this family and their time in
Wilmington and Baddeck.”

Judy L. Lawrence
Moraga CA 94556

 Judy wrote Bill Drury recently, “I would like to open a membership in the Edmund Rice (1638) Association for my husband, William A. Lawrence. His great, great grandfather was Elias Lawrence, [Register, p. 370] who married Mary Rice (daughter of Benjamin Rice and Matilda Gaby) in 1834.”

 “We have recently inherited all the Lawrence family documents and have begun researching the family history. We have been delighted with the information found on the…Association website and hope that we can eventually contribute documented information on our line of Edmund Rice descendants.”

Robert Vernon Rice
Falmouth MA 02540-2308

Bob has proved descent from five Mayflower passengers, with two lines from one. As Bob says in his article, Why Genealogy?, (p.21) it was through the wife of one of his grandfathers that he discovered his first Mayflower connection.  How serendipitous that she also led to all the others.

Francis Eaton   Francis Billington   Samuel Fuller    John Alden = Priscilla Mullins   Francis Eaton
Samuel Eaton = Martha Billington     Samuel Fuller     Joseph Alden = Mary Simmons    Benjamin Eaton
Samuel Eaton = Elizabeth Fuller        Elizabeth Fuller  Joseph Alden = Hannah Dunham  Benjamin Eaton
Barnabas Eaton = Mehitabel Alden                                Mehitabel Alden                            Francis Eaton
Samuel Eaton = Patience Tinkham                                                                                          Elijah Eaton
Daniel Eaton = Marcena Eaton                                                                                              Marcena Eaton
Olive Eaton = Ebenezer Paine
Calista Paine = Vernon Walker
Grace Walker = Ernest E. Rice
Laurence V. Rice = Edith C. Middlemiss
Robert Vernon Rice (Mayflower Society, General #70084, Massachusetts # 10757)

Nancy H. Benkhart
Woodstock CT 06281

1. Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost
2. Samuel Rice = Elizabeth King
3. Edmund Rice = Ruth Parker
4. Eliezer Rice = Persis Newton
5. Silas Rice = Sarah Wilder
6. Hercules Rice (1765-1831) = Mary Dewey, dau. Josiah Dewey
Hercules settled in Washington Co., NY as a blacksmith. Was a colonel in command of militia regiment that saw active service in 1821. Hercules and Mary are bur. in Waites Corner Cemetery in White Creek NY.
7. Persis Rice (1792-1867) = (1814) John Russell (1792-1871)
 Persis and John d. in Jackson NY; bur.in Woodland Cemetery, Cambridge NY
8. Mary Jane Russell (1815-1893) = (1843) Peter Burger (1821-)
Lived in Jackson NY, moved to Jersey City NJ in 1850. Mary Jane is bur. in Woodland Cemetery.
9. Ida Maria Burger (1857-1939) = (1880) James Daniels Bruce
 Lived in New York City and are bur. in Woodland Cemetery.
10. Elizabeth Donald Bruce (1890-1973) = (1914) LeRoy Kent Howe (1889-1965)
 Elizabeth b. in New York City; both bur. Woodland Cemetery.
11. Nancy Sawyer Howe (1923-) = (1945) Donald Richardson Benkhart (1922-1987)
12. Nancy Howe Benkhart (1947-) = (1969) Steven P. Borner
13. Andrew Howe Borner (1970-)
13. Brooke Sterling Borner (1975-)
12. Bruce Sterling Benkhart (1951-) = (2) (1996) Lori Anne Szczepkowski
13. Alexander Bruce Benkhart (1988-)
13. Priscilla Sterling Benkhart (1989-)
13. Bruce Sterling Benkhart, Jr. (1997-)

Correction to Fall 2001 Newsletter

In, Nancy J. Boulter, p. 9:
It should read, of course, Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost.

William J. Rice
Broomall PA 19008-0728

William writes that, “In response to the request to send in complete lineages, I am enclosing my Rice lineage….In addition, I have included my Mayflower Society lineage from Elder Brewster….”

1. Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost
2. Thomas Rice = Mary King
3. James Rice = Sarah Stone
4. Jotham Rice = Mary Earl(e)
5. Jotham Rice (ca. 1744-1814) Pvt., Mass. = Harriet Bayley Snow (ca. 1745 o.s.-1775)
6. Samuel Rice (ca. 1773-1848) = Electa Powell (1781-1871)
7. William D. Rice (1812-1874) = Laura Anna Woods (ca. 1814-1889)
8. Heman William Rice (1846-1920) = Sarah Jane Benham (1847-1907)
9. James Heman Rice (1875-1929) =Lillian Evelina Mather (1872-1950)
10. Heman William Rice (1899-1961) = Mary Elizabeth Tait (1897-1992)
11. William James Rice (1927- )

1. William Brewster (Mayflower Society, General #65,323, Pennsylvania # 2287)
2. Jonathan Brewster = Lucretia Oldham
3. Ruth Brewster = John Pickett
4. Ruth Pickett = Moses Noyes
5. Sarah Noyes = Timothy Mather
6. Timothy Mather = Sarah Lay
7. John Noyes Mather = (l) Lydia Royce
8. John N. Mather = Abigail Emery
9. John Royce Mather = Betsy Potter/Patten (Mather)
10. John Royce Mather = Amy Safrona Brasted
11. Lillian Evelina Mather = James Heman Rice
12. Heman William Rice = Mary Elizabeth Tait
13. William James Rice

“Finally, although I have not as yet sought membership in the Sons of the American Revolution, still I’m including six lineages [including Jotham Rice] which might be used to obtain my membership….” These appear in the DAR Patriot Index.

Martin Powel (1731-1800) Lt., Patriotic Service, Vt. = (2) Elizabeth (Whelpley) Harris
Electra Powell  = Samuel Rice

David Woods (1746-1793) 2Lt., Mass. = Deborah Swallow (1748-1821)
Ziba Woods (1787-1869) = Hannah/Harriet M. Smith (-1874)
Laura Anna Woods = William D. Rice

Isaac Benham (1760-1853) Pvt., Conn. = Thankful Reid/Reed (1763-1853)
John Benham (1786-1875) = Sarah Hoskins (1790-1865)
Nathan Benham (1816-1890) = Catherine Augusta Manwell (1818-1896)
Sarah Jane Benham = Heman William Rice

Joshua Emery, Sr. (1708/09-1796) Public Service, Mass. = Sarah Smith (-1752)
John Emery (1728 o.s.-1764) = Abigail Webster (1723 o.s.-)
Joshua Emery (1757-1832) Pvt., Mass. = Ruth Nott (-1842)
Abigail Emery = John N. Mather
John Royce Mather = Betsy (Potter/Patten) Mather
John Royce Mather = Amy Safrona Brasted
Lillian Evelina Mather = James Heman Rice

Judy Williams
Jwilliams372@home.com

From: "Judy Williams" <jwilliams372@home.com>
To: <editor@edmund-rice.org>
Cc: "Josh Williams" <wyatt@iquest.net>
Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2001

The best I can tell Edmund Rice was my eight great grandfather.  I am William Henry Rice's great granddaughter: William Rice, 1851 to 1942, from White County, IL.  His daughter, Effie, was my father's (Charles Wyatt Williams) mother. Would this be correct??  Thank you

Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2001
To: "Judy Williams" <jwilliams372@home.com>
From: George King <gwk@widomaker.com>
Cc: "Keith C. Allen" <kcallen@webzone.net>

Hi Judy,

Keith Allen, our association newsletter editor has asked me to respond to your e-mail.

If you are Judith Williams, born 1936, that is correct. A cousin of yours recently helped us to include your ancestral line in our association data set.

Would you like to know more about our association and help us with our ancestral research?

George W King, Vice President
Edmund Rice (1638) Association
http://www.edmund-rice.org

Naomi Hopperstad
naomihopperstad@aol.com

1. Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost
2. Edward Rice = Agnes Bent
3. Jacob Rice = Mary Barrett
4. Jacob Rice = Hannah Howe
5. John Rice = Rebecca Fay
6. Jacob Rice = Nancy Barber
7. Lysander Barber Rice = Abigail Moore
8. Alonzo Rice = Cornelia Dailey
9. Carrie A. Rice = Jacob Martin Long
10. Floyd M. Long = Iva May Grover
11. Naomi Long Hopperstad

“I mailed a check yesterday to reinstate my membership in the Edmund Rice Association. I used to belong, years ago, and then let my membership lapse ... for no good reason that I can remember. (Well, I WAS very focused on my mother's lines for a number of years, which may have had something to do with it.)”

“I am in the process of proofreading and correcting material for George King so that my file can be given to your historian for the computer program.”

In Memoriam

Mary Oneida Rice McLaughlin, niece of Robbie Rice Gries, died September 30, 2001 in Denver.

Robbie writes, “My Aunt Peg was a storyteller. When she came to live with me in 1996, she regaled me with memories of her father Warren Rice, his father Stephen Rice and their histories in Maine, the Civil War and the move west to Oklahoma where she was born.  The result was, I went on the Internet, found the Edmund Rice Association, and gave her a membership for the short rest of her life.”

“She thoroughly enjoyed the wealth of knowledge going back, back, back from her knowledge point of Stephen in Robbinston, Maine to Deacon Edmund in Sudbury.  It was a true thrill; especially after the information George King gave us about our Rice branch moving to Nova Scotia before landing in Maine.  I went to Nova Scotia and met some of my cousins there...and Aunt Peg enjoyed it vicariously. We will miss her here in Denver, Colorado. “

Bonnie J. Wiley
bjwiley@geneseo.net

Bonnie’s Edmund lineage through Henry was in the Fall 2001 issue. She is now working on proof of her second line of descent from Edmund, this one through Edward.

Date: Wed, 28 Nov 2001
From: "Bonnie J. Wiley" <bjwiley@geneseo.net>
To: Keith Capen Allen <editor@edmund-rice.org>
Subject: Abner Rice Pedigree

Hi, Keith,
 I received my newsletter yesterday, which I promptly read from cover to cover.  I think I have been in contact with Mildred Henschel some time ago about our common ancestors.

I recently tentatively established the pedigree for my Abner Rice.  He was b. 21 Mar 1726, son of Daniel Rice and Elizabeth Taylor. He is mentioned in the will of Daniel (Ward, 1858, p. 54).  The circumstantial part comes in with the published inventory of William Rice (d. bef. 1742) (Ibid., pp. 54-55), son of Daniel who owned land in Westfield, MA.  I need to establish the connection between Abner and William by locating some legal document.

Are any of our Massachusetts members willing to do some lookups for me? The will of Daniel and the inventory of William were probably filed in Worcester Co., as they lived in Shrewsbury.  A land deed or abstract by Abner was probably filed in Hampshire, Co., MA (after 1742)

My second line of descent from Edmund:
1.  Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost
2.  Edward Rice= Agnes Bent
3.  Daniel Rice = Bethiah Ward
4.  Daniel Rice = Elizabeth Taylor
5.  Abner Rice = Experience Shepard
6.  Experience Rice = William Lewis
7.  Philip Lewis = Sena Hancock
8.  Philip Henry Lewis = Margaret Jane Cronkhite
9.  Minnie Lewis = James Templeton East
10. Cecile Garnet East = Martin Almon Mayne
11. Gladys Jean Mayne = Thomas Laverne Wiley
12. Bonnie Jeanne Wiley

Abner Rice, William Lewis, and Joseph Hancock (father of Sena) were all Revolutionary War ancestors. I will send an updated GEDCOM to George King.
- Bonnie                          (Bonnie’s detailed Edward line is on the next two pages)

(1) Deacon Edmund RICE1,2,3, 522
  b. abt 1594, England2,3
  d. 3 May 1663, Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA3
  bur. Wayland, Middlesex Co., MA2,3
& Thomasine FROST1,2,3, 523
  b. bef 11 Aug 1600, Suffolk Co., England
  d. 13 Jun 1654, Sudbury, Middlesex Co., MA2
  bp. 11 Aug 1600, Stanstead, Suffolk Co., England
  m. 15 Oct 1618, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk Co., England2
| (2) Deacon Edward RICE2, 508
|   b. abt 1619,  England
|   d. 15 Aug 1712, Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA2
|   bp. 26 Oct 1622, Stanstead, Suffolk Co., England2,1
| & Agnes BENT2, 509
|   b. abt 16312
|   d. 4 Jun 1713, Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA2
|   m. abt 1647, Sudbury, Middlesex Co., MA2
| | (3) Daniel RICE*2,3, 495
  b. 8 Nov 1655, Sudbury, Middlesex Co., MA2,3
| |   d. 14 Jul 1737, Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA2
| | & Bethiah WARD2,3, 496
| |   b. abt 16582
| |   d. 8 Dec 1721, Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA2
| |   m. 10 Jan 1681, Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA2
| | | (4) Daniel RICE2, 476
| | |   b. 3 Jun 1684, Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA2
| | |   d. 17342
| | | & "Ellezebeth" Elizabeth TAYLOR2, 486
| | |   b. 16963
| | |   m. 12 Feb 1712/13, Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA2
| | | | (5) Abner RICE, 464
| | | |   b. 21 Mar 1726, Marlborough, Middlesex Co., MA
| | | |   d. abt 1810, Prob. Lewis Co., Or St. Lawrence Co., NY4
| | | |   cen. 1790, Montgomery, Hampden Co., MA
| | | | & Experience SHEPARD, 465
| | | |   b. January 20, 1735/6, Westfield, Hampden Co., MA5
| | | |   d. aft 1810, Prob.  Lewis Co. or St. Lawrence Co., NY4
| | | |   bp. Jan 25, 1735/6, Westfield, Hampden Co., M
| | | |   m. 8 Aug 1754, Westfield, Hampden Co., MA6
| | | | | (6) Experience RICE7,8, 4
       b. 31 Jul 1760, Westfield, Hampden Co., MA
| | | | |   d. 31 Jan 1827, prob. Poultney, Rutland Co., VT9
| | | | |   bur. East Poultney, Rutland Co., VT
| | | | | & William LEWIS, 3
| | | | |   b. 10 Jul 1756, East Greenwich, Kent Co., RI
| | | | |   d. 8 Nov 1841, prob. Poultney, Rutland Co., VT
| | | | |   bur. aft 8 Nov 1841, East Poultney, Rutland Co., VT
| | | | |   cen. 1790, Westfield, Hampden Co., MA
| | | | |   m. 10 Aug 1782, Westfield, Hampden Co., MA
| | | | | | (7) Philip LEWIS8, 750
| | | | | |   b. 10 Mar 1785, Westfield, Hampden Co., MA8
| | | | | |   d. 12 Feb 1834, Prob. Conewango, Cattaraugus Co., NY8
| | | | | | & Sena HANCOCK8, 752
| | | | | |   b. 17 Nov 1790, Milford, Worcester Co., MA10,11
| | | | | |   d. 12 Feb 1849, Prob. Orleans Co., NY8
             m. abt. 1809
            (8) Philip Henry LEWIS8, 728
| | | | | | |   b. 3 Jun 1828, Conewango, Cattaraugus Co., NY
| | | | | | |   d. 14 Jan 1906, Sac City, Sac Co., IA
| | | | | | |   bur. 16 Jan 1906, Sac City, Sac Co., IA
| | | | | | | & Margaret Jane CRONKHITE8,12,13, 743
| | | | | | |   b. 19 Apr 1835, Terre Haute, Vigo Co., IN
| | | | | | |   d. 13 Nov 1911, Sac City, Sac Co., IA13
| | | | | | |   bur. 15 Nov 1911, Sac City, Sac Co., IA
| | | | | | |   m. 11 Feb 1852, Rome(Olin) Jones Co., IA12
| | | | | | | | (9) Minnie Jean LEWIS, 566
| | | | | | | |   b. 31 Aug 1873, Olin, Jones Co., IA
| | | | | | | |   d. 31 May 1941, Spring Green, Sauk Co., WI
| | | | | | | |   bur. Spring Green, Sauk Co., WI
| | | | | | | | & James Templeton EAST, 554
| | | | | | | |   b. 9 Aug 1863, Richmond, VA
| | | | | | | |   d. 18 Nov 1929, Bayfield, WI
| | | | | | | |   bur. Bayfield, Bayfield Co., WI
| | | | | | | |   m. 8 Aug 1889, Farnhamville,  Calhoun Co., IA
| | | | | | | | | (10) Cecile Garnet EAST, 924 b. 6 Jul 1894, Lake City, Calhoun Co., IA
| | | | | | | | |   d. 8 Nov 1983, Rock Island, Rock Island Co., IL
| | | | | | | | | & Martin Almon MAYNE, 925
| | | | | | | | |   b. 5 Dec 1890, Clinton, Clinton Co., IA
| | | | | | | | |   d. 19 Aug 1959, Covina, Los Angeles Co., CA
| | | | | | | | |   bur. Sylvis, Rock Island Co., IL
| | | | | | | | |   m. 15 Apr 1912, Algona, Kossuth Co., IA
| | | | | | | | | | (11) Gladys Jeane MAYNE, 756
| | | | | | | | | |   b. 28 Mar 1916, Clinton, Clinton  Co., IA
| | | | | | | | | | & Thomas Laverne WILEY “Vernie”, 857
| | | | | | | | | |   b. 17 Nov 1915, Cambridge, Henry Co., IL
| | | | | | | | | |   d. 9 Aug 1998, Geneseo, Henry Co., IL
| | | | | | | | | |   bur. 13 Aug 1998, Cambridge,  Henry Co., IL
| | | | | | | | | |   m. 19 Sep 1936, Clinton, Clinton Co., IA
| | | | | | | | | | |   (12) Bonnie  Jeanne WILEY, 801
| | | | | | | | | | |  b. 16 Oct 1937, Moline, Rock Island Co., IL
| | | | | | | | | | |occ. Research Microbiologist, ret.

Sources
      1. Edmund Rice (1638) Association, Inc., A Genealogical Register of Edmund Rice Descendants, Rutland, Vt., Tuttle, 1970.
     2. Edmund Rice (1638) Association, Inc., “Descendants of Edmund Rice,” 3 Oct 2001, http://www.edmund-rice.org
      3. Ward, Andrew Henshaw, A Genealogical History of The Rice Family, Boston, C. Benjamin Richardson, 1858, repr. 1990, pp.54-55
      4. Population Schedules of the Third Census of the United States, New York, 1810, Microcopy 252 Roll 28, National Archives
      5. Shepard, Gerald Faulkner, The Shepard Families of New England, The New Haven Colony Historical Society, 1973.
      6. Vital Record, Index to Marriage, Westfield, Mass., FHC Microfilm No. 2031727 City, Hall, Westfield, Hampden Co., Mass.
      7. Cook, Michael L., Pioneer Lewis Families, II, 1444, Group 114 - James Lewis of Massachusetts, 1978.
      8. East, Minnie Lewis.  Written in the late 1930's.  Family Record.
      9. Jenks, Margaret R., “Poultney Rutland County Vermont Cemetery Inscriptions”, 1996,
             http://homepages.together.net/~forguite/jenksfax.htm (Ed note: this link is no longer valid.)
    10. Vital Records of Milford, Massachusetts to the year 1850
    11. History of the Town of Milford, Worcester Co., MA, Boston, Franklin Press: Rand, Avery, 1882.
    12. “Marriage Record,” Jones Co., IA, http://www.rootsweb.com/~iajones/index.htm.
    13. “Death Certificate,” Sac City, Sac Co., IA, photocopy

Gary Miller
gmpcmiller @earthlink.net

From: George King [mailto:gwk@widomaker.com]
Sent: Saturday, January 19, 2002
To: Gary & Patti Miller
Cc: editor@edmund-rice.org
Subject: Re: Rice Cousin

Hi Gary,

Yesterday you wrote to our association newsletter editor:

Hi, I am Gary Miller and live in New Providence, NJ.  My maternal grandfather hailed from Worcester, MA.  He was the great-great grandson of Jeduthan Rice.  The line from there goes on up to Edmund.  I have also done some research on Jeduthan's maternal line, which goes up from Battle, Battelle, Fisher, Fiske, to Ffyske, and on back into the 1300's in Laxfield, Suffolk, England.  (The Fishers were from nearby Syleham, Suffolk, I believe.)  Other of Jeduthan's descendants may be interested in this.  Off the top of my head, I am 12 generations from Edmund.   I have it all written down somewhere among the scattered papers in my office.

We have Jeduthan Rice, b 5 January 1760, Sudbury, MA. Is this your ancestor? At this time we have additional generations in our association books but not in our association master computer data set.

I would be happy to provide the information I have on Jeduthan on down to me, if anyone is interested.  Also, applicable cousins may be interested in the Fiske info as well.  Perhaps all of this is old news.

Indeed, we have an active effort to build our master data set from the late 1700s forward in time. If you have not already done so, take a few minutes to browse our association web pages at the URL on my signature block.

[Below is George’s explanation on lineage exchange that I think everyone will find very helpful.  The Editor]

I have found the following most useful to begin an exchange of information:

We are always keen to get a contact like yours so that we can exchange more detailed information about more recent generations of descendants. Occasionally we even get new information from the late 1700s from fellow researchers!

We welcome information that you may have from Jeduthan Rice forward in time. For our part I will prepare a detailed report, including source citations, of the ancestors of Jeduthan Rice as the information appears in our association master data set. I need to know if you are comfortable exchanging information as attachments to e-mail notes and what word processor you use.

For information already in a computer file or data set, I prefer to exchange information as attachments to e-mail. I use WordPerfect 8 and Word 2000 so can format the reports to be recognized by all common word processors.

Our genealogy program, The Master Genealogist, reads data sets directly from most of the common genealogy programs - without having to go through the GEDCOM translation. TMG can also produce a GEDCOM file of the information in my reports.

For paper documents and if you are not comfortable doing attachments to e-mail, we will use the USPS.

The Edmund Rice (1638) Association is very conscientious about recording sources for all of our information. As I write this, the ERA has an active program to document our early Massachusetts Rice ancestors from primary sources. All information that you provide will include a cite to you for your effort and encouragement.

If you have any records of births, marriages, deaths, etc, either civil, church, or newspaper, I encourage you to make and send copies to me so that I can cite them with your new information. My postal address is:

Col. George W. King
264 Nottingham Road
Williamsburg, VA 23185-5012

To protect the privacy of living descendants, we do not exchange dates or event information for living people. I define living as having a birth year of 1915 or later and no death or burial event. We do show relationship information with the remark; "is presumed to be still living."

To help assure that I have entered your information correctly, it is also my practice to provide a report to my correspondent that shows the new information as it appears in our data set. This gives me corrections and allows you to identify any personal information that you want deleted.

If you would like to learn more about our association and promote research into Edmund Rice's ancestors, I will arrange for you to receive a complimentary copy of our association newsletter - no obligation. I will need your postal address.

Looking forward to a mutually useful exchange,
George

George W King, Vice President
Edmund Rice (1638) Association
http://www.edmund-rice.org

From: Gary & Patti Miller <gmpcmiller@earthlink.net>
To: George King <gwk@widomaker.com>,
 <kcallen@webzone.net>
Subject: RE: Rice Cousin - found lineage
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002

George and Keith:
I found my papers and here are the ancestral lines to yours truly.  I will send George a more comprehensive listing for your database as a Word document.

Edmund Rice
Thomas Rice
Ephraim Rice
Gershom Rice
Ephraim Rice
Jeduthan Rice
Alpheus Rice
Fanny Caroline Rice
Edmund Herbert Willis
Milton Powell Willis
Ann Willis
Gary Michael Miller;
   + my sons:
  Benjamin Carmichael Miller
  Noah William Miller

Thanks!
Gary

Richard C. Pierce
rcpierce@myexcel.com

Edmund Rice = Thomasine Frost
Henry Rice = Elizabeth Moore
David Rice = Hannah Walker
Bezaleel Rice = Sarah Buckminster
Bezeleel Rice, Jr.= Susanna Jennings
Hezekiah Rice = Abigail Eames
Sally Rice = Jacob Pettis
Sally Sophia Pettis = John L. Temple
Susan A. Temple (1844 -1915) = (1859) John A. Pierce (1835-1919)
William L. Pierce (1877-1959) = (1898) Eliza Crapo (1878-1945)
Lawrence A. Pierce (1913-2001) = (1935) Helen Clark (1916-)
Richard C. Pierce (1939-) = (1960) Kathleen Prendiville (1941-)

Richard recently joined the ERA and is preparing his Rice lineage documentation for George King. Richard is also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Founders and Patriots of America Society.

I Belong To Clan Helena

 “We have pleasure in enclosing your MatriLine chart. Your DNA sequence shows you to be a direct maternal descendent of Helena”, said the letter from Oxford Ancestors.

What a strange sensation! About four weeks after I mailed a buccal sample to Oxford Ancestors, I learned in that matter of fact sentence that my mitochondrial DNA traces back to a woman living 20,000 years ago where today’s France and Spain meet.

My MatriLine, or The Seven Daughter of Eve, chart shows interconnecting circles on spokes of various sizes and colors with the DNA reference sequence at the bottom.

The seven clusters of circles, each in a different color, represent a distinct DNA sequence found in Europe and in those of European descent. The bigger the circle, the more descendants that clan woman has.

 Clan Helena has the larger circle and most interconnecting, smaller circles. Not surprisingly, that means Helena is the most widespread and ‘successful’ of the clans; in fact 47% of all modern Europeans are her children. Therefore, Oxford Ancestors uses the Clan Helena mtDNA as the reference sequence.

The “DNA sequence for Keith Mayo Capen Allen of the clan Helena” has two variations or mutations from Helena’s. My exact match is located on a small circle at the end of a radiating spoke, marked by a gold star. (Reminds me of elementary school.)

All this doesn’t say anything about my family history but it is fascinating to connect oneself through time. I do know, though, that my ‘family’ had reached England by 12,000 years ago because the mtDNA of a young male skeleton found in Gough’s Cave, Somerset shows he belonged to the clan of Helena.

-Keith Capen Allen

Why Genealogy?

It all started in the spring of 1990 when I bought my first PC (a lap top) and obtained a shareware genealogy program.

I had heard about Rices all my life growing up in Barre, Massachusetts where there were at least a dozen different Rice families. I also had Elsie Hawes Smith’s books, Edmund Rice and His Family and, More About Those Rices.

I became a member of the ERA at its annual reunion in Worchester where Dennis Rice introduced me to The Master Genealogist computer program. I bought TMG, joined the Falmouth Genealogical Society and heard Richard Eastman speak. I was hooked. I started going to Boston to use the library of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

It had always been my assumption that through intermarriage any descendant from a family such as Edmund Rice, who arrived in 1638, must be related one way or the other to most of the early colonists, including those on the Mayflower and those who fought in the Revolutionary War.

Actually, when I learned more about the Rices and the families of my male ancestor’s wives it became apparent that most of the yeoman or farmers lived quite separately from the merchants, bankers, lawyers, and professors of Boston. It was not until I got to my grandfather’s wife that a Mayflower connection appeared. (Bowen’s History of Woodstock, Connecticut in eight volumes contained the evidence.)

My adult life was spent in academic science where the most important accomplishment was to publish. Ability, not ancestors was what mattered. So I came to genealogy bemused by it all and a little suspicious, but the addiction to follow leads that might prove a link soon removed doubts that family history was improper for a democrat with a small d.

While its true that most genealogists are very democratic and accept whoever or whatever turns up in their lines, one can still encounter a few who try to deny or alter ‘undesirable’ ancestors. Some people I fear are drawn to genealogy to boost their self-confidence, perhaps feeling that their lives are mundane and dull, adopting the attitude that I really am somebody if my family has been here a long time.

In the ‘40s and ‘50s I found that most areas of the country outside of New England had no knowledge of their forebears unless related to royalty and one was thought to be bragging if a royal connection was mentioned. My wife who was from Colorado, found it incredible that I knew about Edmund Rice emigrating from Sudbury.

Why do we devote so much time and energy to genealogy? In my case, to start with, it was the hope of finding sources for genetic diseases found in my family. These were not well-recognized diseases for the most part but proclivities or susceptibilities to diseases that I perceived, rightly or not, to be prevalent in my family lines.

You can tell I paid more attention to nature rather than nurture. In fact, I did discover one real genetic disease but by now, family history research is just a pure unadulterated addiction. There seems to be no end in sight and now with genetic markers there is a sense of a new beginning.

All the above said, it is also true that comparative biochemistry and analysis of the human genome and other species’ genomes clearly show the interdependence of all life on the planet.

Population genetics has not found any human group separate from any other. We are all just humans together.

- Bob Rice