[ In response to ]
Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2004
" I have been to Rainbow Cemetery in Washington County, Ohio and photographed Nathan and Jemima's grave sites. Oliver died in Brookfield, Worcester County, Mass. I assume he is buried there. I've not seen any evidence that he went to Ohio with Nathan and Jemima."
Anita Cooper.Rainbow Cemetery in Washington County, Ohio re: Oliver Rice, Nathan & Jemima Rice.
Don and Ben,
I have copied an excerpt, below,
from the Edmund Rice Association web page.
All the early information that I have on my direct Rice ancestors, I have gotten from the ERA. I do have some proofs.I did find at the Massachusetts State Archives in Boston, the Sudbury marriages. On page 257 is listed Rice, Benjamin and Mary Graves, Apr 1, 1691. I put both in my database because both are referenced in the ERA works.
Mary Chamberlain was born on 30 January 1648/49 at Woburn, MA; (it has also been guessed that she was born c1645, possibly in Sudbury, but the Sudbury candidate's father, Richard Chamberlain, mentioned a daughter Mary Smith in his will of 1673, not Mary Graves).2,4,5,6 She married Benjamin Rice, son of Deacon Edmund Rice and Thomasine Frost, on 1 April 1691 at Sudbury, MA; under the name Graves.1,2,3,7
Your authors note that there is widespread confusion over the identities of the two Marys who married two Benjamin Rices
(WRN 10 and 32). The marriage records give only the names and dates, with no additional details, so the identification must rest on circumstantial evidence. To begin, we have the two marriages: 1691 in Sudbury to Mary Graves and 1692 in Marlborough to Mary Rice. Almost exactly nine months after the Marlborough marriage, a child was born at Marlborough to Benjamin and Mary, and there is a gravestone at the Old Common cemetery in Marlborough for a Mary, wife of Benjamin Rice, with a reported age that indicates her birth to be about 1671 (consistent with the observation that the Marlborough couple had nine children at regular intervals starting in 1693). There are no births recorded in Sudbury for children of Benjamin and Mary there. We believe these facts provide a convincing case for the identifications presented here: the Sudbury couple were middle-aged widower Benjamin Rice and middle-aged widow Mary (Chamberlain) Graves, both of Sudbury, (rather than young Benjamin Rice of Marlborough and Mary Graves, daughter of Benjamin Graves of Concord), and the Marlborough couple were young Benjamin Rice and young Mary Rice, both of Marlborough. There is an unexplained discrepancy of two years between the recorded birth of Mary Rice (WRN 62) and the gravestone-indicated birth of the wife of Benjamin of Marlborough, but such discrepancies are relatively common (and Mary Graves of Concord is no improvement). Her married name was Graves. Her married name was Rice.Also on the ERA web page, there are 6 Ebenezer Rice's listed, none of which birthdate fits being the son of Benjamin b. 1666.
I have been to Rainbow Cemetery in Washington County, Ohio and photographed Nathan and Jemima's grave sites. Oliver died in Brookfield, Worcester County, Mass. I assume he is buried there. I've not seen any evidence that he went to Ohio with Nathan and Jemima. Someone was gathering gravesites of Rices for the ERA a while back. You could contact them for more info. No, I don't have any info on Jonas Rice.
Thank you for sending the update on the Wilt's. I appreciate it.
If there's anything else I can help you with, please don't hesitate to ask. As you can see from the above, you might get more help and answers from the Edmund Rice Association. If you are not a member, I encourage you to join. It's only $10 a year. Maybe you can go to the Reunion meeting in September in Mass. I've gone a couple of times. Nice bunch of people - and they're all cousins!
Anita
Other views
[ Nathan Rice] [ Jemima
Rice ] [ Zilpha Rice Brown]
