Joseph Rice was born in Hertfordshire, England and presumably came to New England as an infant when his parents emigrated in 1638 or 39 although no passenger list has been found showing the details of their passage.
Birth & Baptism
Joseph Rice was baptized 13 Mar 1637/38, in Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire, England, son of Edmund Rice and Thomasine Frost.[1] (familysearch shows this as 1637, findmypast.co.uk as 1638, neither provide an image for confirmation).
Marriages
Joseph Rice[2] apparently married three times (this cited source actually says four times). Some confusion arises from the fact that many researchers believe two of these women, Mercy King and Martha Unknown, were actually the same woman. He is shown here with three wives but this should not be considered absolutely definitive.
Torrey in "New England Marriages to 1700" also shows 3 marriages, the first to Martha King with a notation that "Mary" was wrong. Torrey lists his sources as usual, they are not included here.[3] (Torrey also available free in the original handwritten format listing sources at [4]
1. Mercy King m 4 May 1658 in Sudbury, Massachusetts.[5] There is some uncertainty about whether Mercy King died soon after her marriage to Joseph or whether she is the Martha Rice, wife of Joseph, who appears in the Marlborough vital records as having died on 4 January 1668.[6] This death record image is viewable at familysearch.org and clearly says "Martha", not "Mercy". Ward[7] lists both Mercy King and Martha (?) as wives of Joseph. Note that Ward does not list primary sources in this private publication.
The Rice Genealogical Register lists only wife Mercy King and takes the death record on 4 January 1668 to be that of Mercy King. There is no mention of a marriage between Joseph Rice and Martha (Eames) in the Sudbury vital records (apparently claimed in some genealogies). On the other hand, the birth records of Joseph's first four children all list the mother as Martha (see "Children" section below for source citations).
Given that the 1675/6 Will of Thomas King lists as one of his grandsons Josiah Rice(and the only Josiah Rice recorded to be born of one of Thomas's daughters or for that matter of a son of Edmund Rice, is Josiah Rice s/o Joseph and Martha born 1663), VERY strongly suggests Mercy and Martha are one in the same and she would have died sometime after this 1663 birth.[8]
2. Mary (Beers) Rice — married by 1671
A Feb. 26, 1710 estate distribution agreement among “the children & heirs to the estate of hond father Capt. Richard Beeres late of Watertown” mentions among others “the heirs of Mary Rice deced… Joseph Rice… and to Mary Rice.”[9]
3. Sarah (Prescott) Rice, widow of Thomas Wheeler — married 22 Dec 1677 in Dedham, Norfolk, Massachusetts[10]
On 1 Oct 1675 at a meeting of Marlborough residents, Joseph's house was one of those chosen to garrison some soldiers during "King Phillip's War" against the Indians (the soldiers were Samuel Stow, John Barret and Samuel Rice, very likely a relative).[11]
On 5 Jan 1679/80 at a town meeting in Watertown, Joseph was chosen as a tithing-man[12] and in the same archive.org book the death of his wife Mary (Beers) was recorded 13 May 1677.[13] (note that this digital copy incorporates Town Proceedings and Vital Records).
Children
Children of Joseph Rice and Mercy / Martha King
Rebecca Rice b. 6 Apr 1660 Sudbury, mother listed as Martha[14]
Martha Rice b: 14 Jan 1661/62 Marlborough, mother listed as Martha[15]
Josiah Rice b. 13 May 1663 Marlborough, mother listed as Martha[16]
Joseph Rice b. 5 Jan 1671 Marlborough although note that his mother's name was transcribed as Martha like the prior set of children and the double-year is not indicated on the transcription (no image available). This raises the obvious possibility that Joseph was actually a son of Mercy/Martha King. However, a 5-year gap from the prior child seems to make it more likely his mother was actually Mary.[18]
Phineas Rice b: 24 Aug 1682 in Marlborough[23] (note that the familysearch.org entry for this birth, which is a hand-written transcription at a much later date, does not provide a date for Phineas' birth).
Death & Estate
According to Ward[7] the last recorded notice of Joseph Rice was on 10 Feb 1684 when his brother Samuel appointed Joseph one of the overseers of his (Samuel)'s will.
Joseph Rice died 23 Dec 1711, in Stowe, Middlesex, Massachusetts, and per the photo of his headstone on FindAGrave is buried in Old Cemetery, Stow.[24]
↑ History of the town of Marlborough, Middlesex county, Massachusetts, from its first settlement in 1657 to 1861; with a brief sketch of the town of Northborough, a genealogy of the families in Marlborough to 1800, and an account of the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town by Hudson, Charles, 1795-1881; Allen, Joseph, 1790-1873 Publication date 1862 pg. 431
↑ New England Marriages to 1700. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008.) Originally published as: New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Boston, Mass.: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2015.
Vol 2. pg. 1266
↑ 7.07.1 A genealogical history of the Rice family : descendants of Deacon Edmund Rice, who came from Berkhamstead, England, and settled at Sudbury, Massachusetts, in 1638 or 9 by Ward, Andrew Henshaw, 1784-1864 Publication date 1858 pg 8. etc
↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPCH-1NP7 : 31 October 2019), Joseph Rice and Sarah Prescott Wheeler, 22 Dec 1677; citing Marriage, Dedham, Dedham, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007011279
↑ The New England historical and genealogical register by New England Historic Genealogical Society Publication date 1874 Vol 40. pg. 315
↑ Watertown records by Watertown (Mass.); Historical Society of Watertown (Mass.) Publication date 1894 pg. 144
↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FCM1-29R :Eleazer Rice, 26 Oct 1672; citing Birth, Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts FHL microfilm 004198966
↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001 https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FC99-M4W Mary Rice, 15 Jun 1674; citing Birth, Marlborough, Middlesex, Massachusetts; FHL microfilm 004198966
↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F465-8ZN Jonathan Rice, 26 Mar 1679; citing Birth, Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts FHL microfilm 007009514
↑ "Massachusetts, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1626-2001," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG1K-NFSH : 2 March 2020), Joseph Rice, 23 Dec 1711; citing Death, Stow, Middlesex, Massachusetts, United States, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007011040
The Rufus Parks pedigree : seventeen centuries of one family's ancestry by Berry, Brian Joe Lobley, 1934- Publication date 1989 pg. 95 providing details on Joseph's parents
The Wheeler Family of Clermont County Ohio and Lincoln, Middlesex, Norfolk, & Worcester Counties Massachusetts Descendants of Richard Wheeler of Dedham Wayback Machine Archive, 25 Oct 2021
A genealogical register of Edmund Rice descendants : or the continuation of the descendants found in A. H. Ward's "Rice Family" of 1858 and in the 1967 "Supplement" to that book compiled by the Edmund Rice (1638) Association ; Ray Lowther Ellis, managing editor pg. 1-4
Mary Lovering Holman, "English Notes on Edmund Rice" published in TThe American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .) Vol 10, p. 133-136 $subscription
Don G. Hill, Dedham, MA, Vital Records, p. 17. (this reference was on an older version of the profile, the page 17 of "Early Records of Dedham" and "The Record of Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths...&c...1638-1845" on archive.org do not contain a reference to Joseph Rice.
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Joseph by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA.
Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree:
David, thanks again. Ive added this info to this and Mercys profile. Could you please add the source for Thomas Kings will? Appreciating your partnership on these Rice profiles.
Given that the 1675/6 Will of Thomas King lists as one of his grandsons Josiah Rice (and the only Josiah Rice recorded to be born of one of Thomas's daughters or for that matter of a son of Edmund Rice, is Josiah Rice s/o Joseph and Martha born 1663), VERY strongly suggests Mercy and Martha are one in the same and she would have died sometime after this 1663 birth.