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Major Henry Rice of Warwick and His Family
Cherry Fletcher Bamberg (note)
Henry4 Rice was born at Warwick, Kent Co., Rhode Island, ca. 1718 and died
their 14 November 1800. (1) He was the son of John Rice "ye third" [III]
(John, Jr.2, John, Sr.1) and his wife Avis (Tibbitts/Tibbetts) Rice
(Henry2, Henry1). (2) He married first ca. 1740 Martha ______, whose birth
date is unknown, yet died after 9 October 1754. (3) Henry married second
ca. 1755 Phebe (Allen), (4) who was born ca. 1734, and died 26 Dec. 1811,
buried in the Arnold lot, Warwick Historical Cemetery 12, (5) daughter of
Mary Allen. (6)Henry Rice started life with all the advantages of a large, prosperous,
well-connected family and made the most of them. The Rice's had been
freemen of Warwick and Kent County landowners since before King Philip's
War. (7) He was related many times over to most of the old families in
town: the Arnolds, Holdens, Greenes, Staffords and Gortons. On his
father's side alone at least eighty-four first cousins had been born in
Kent County. His father John Rice III, his grandfather John Rice Jr., and
his uncles Thomas, Nathan, William, and Randall held a variety of military
and political offices on the local, county, and state level, in some cases
overlapping with his own service. His brother Thomas and brother-in-law
Benjamin Arnold were both prominent, affluent men in Warwick.From 1742 when he was first elected to the post of pender (i.e., pound
keeper) for Warwick until his final term as pender in 1793, he was
constantly involved in the life of the town. (8) He served in the Warwick
Co. of Militia 1745-1747 and 1752, and in Kent Co. Regiment 1754-1757,
reaching the rank of Lt. Col. (9) He was usually referred to as Major
Henry Rice or Henry Rice, Esq.Henry was appointed Sheriff of Kent County eleven times between 1763 and
1776. (10) Although technically an unsalaried public servant, the sheriff
was entitled to numerous small fees that provided a good living. In
addition to arrests, he was responsible for collecting forfeited bail from
those who left prison and selling property of convicted men to raise money
for their fines. He supported Stephen Hopkins in the bitter political
struggle that preceded the Revolution. (11)In the RI military census of 1777, Henry was listed as between the ages of
50 and 60 and unable to bear arms. (12) He is listed in the DAR Patriot
Index, Centennial Edition, for civilian service. (13)The wills of his father John Rice III (made 31 Jan. and proved 29 Mar.
1746), and his paternal grandfather John Rice, Jr. (made 17 Aug. 1753 and
proved 10 Feb. 1755). Point to other sources of income. (14) Both men left
substantial sums in bonds and notes of land. His grandfather left a total
of £1,057-9-6 in bonds, £273-11-8 in notes, and his father left £967-6 in
"money due by bond" and £45-10 in notes. In the era before banks, people
like the Rice's were the local "money store." John Rice III left Henry
£100 in "bills of publick credit," as well as "all that house and land
where he now dwells," a right in a thatch bed at Chippanoxet, and half his
wearing apparel, books, and thick material for making clothing. (15)Henry Rice continued the family business of loaning money in loan
certificates and notes of hand. When he was making his own will in 1798,
the chief asset was $3,040.00 in loan office certificates, bringing in 2%
interest annually, though the value had diminished to $2,696.74 when the
inventory of the estate was taken in 1801. (16) Two paragraphs of his will
are devoted to provisions for fairly distributing the fluctuating asset:And whereas all the afore mentioned Legacies herein before given in money,
are all to be paid out of my loan office Certificates which Certificates
are now Computed to be worth Three thousand & thirty dollars, and there is
two per Cent to be paid yearly of the principal of said Securities. And my
Will is that if at the time of my Decease my Securities in the loan office
shall not be of as much value as they are now computed, that every Legatee
Shall have the Legacy therein to them given, lessened in proportion t the
lessening of the whole loan office Security, by the two per Cent of the
principal, being yearly as afore mentioned. -Item, My Will is written that my Legacies herein have given, are to be
paid at certain Periods of time and times, after my Decease by my Executor
herein after appointed, by my will is to be understood that whereas the
legacies are to be paid out of my loan office Certificates, and by the
time of payment of all such securities there is no more than two per Cent of the principal yearly to be paid, and in Consequence thereof my Executor
cannot thereby raise money to pay said legacies at the time and time they
are to be paid, Therefore it is my Will and meaning that my Legates have
the said Securities Divided amongst them in the proportion as they are
given, and take Securities in their own names, or otherwise Divide said
Securities as in Equity will be Right, and that my Executor herein after
appointed be not liable to Raise the money or to pay the said Securities
any other ways then is afore mentioned. (17)Public service and financial dealings were, however, far from Henry Rice's
only means of support. He registered an earmark 3 April 1747, (18) and the
inventory of his estate shows farm implements and animals. (19)Henry supplemented his income by selling liquor and keeping "an ordinary"
at his house. (20) He sometimes enjoyed his own wares. Samuel Tillinghast
noted acerbically in his diary for 19 Jan. 1761: "King George the Third
Proclaimed at Newton [East Greenwich] and Henry Rice Sheriff of ye People
got drunk." (21)
Warwick town council meetings were held at his house or that of other
innkeepers for many years. When is estate was appraised 13 March 1801,
one of the rooms noted in his house was the "Bar-room Chamber," which by
its contents served more as lodging room than a bar. It seems more likely
that the town council meetings were held in the Great Room with its nine
"Barrister Backed" chairs and a desk. (22)Having inherited a substantial amount of land, Henry Rice was involved in
modest real estate transactions. He appears occasionally in Warwick Land
Evidence records, mostly transferring small lots or deeds of gift. (23)
Henry and his second wife Phebe Rice sold a "swamp lot" #5 on the original
plat in Coventry to Samuel Shippee of East Greenwich 7 March 1771. (24) He
and his brother Thomas jointly bought land in Coventry in 1784, and each
later transferred ownership to Henry's first son Caleb. (25) He also made
deeds of gift in Warwick to son Henry Rice, Jr., in 1786 and Wanton Rice
in 1793 and 1798. (26) Although his name appears frequently in East
Greenwich land records, these sales were part of his sheriff's duties
rather than personal. In 1757 he paid a tax of £5-9-1 on his property in
Warwick, a comparatively small amount." (27) Henry Rice did invest, along
with his brother Thomas, in "Ohio lands." (28)The feature of Major Henry Rice's life most interesting to the genealogist
is his family. We have seen that he inherited a generous legacy from his
father. He took his widowed mother into his home. When "Old Mrs. Avis
Rice" died 15 July 1760, she "was moved from her son Henry Rice to her
brother Randalls & there Buried (& there buried her husband)." (29)His wives have always been somewhat mysterious figures. As neither
marriage is recorded in Kent County records, the dates for both must be
deduced from the birth dates of his children. Nothing definite is known
of the family of his first wife Martha and very little more about that of
his second wife Phebe. It is tempting to suspect that Martha's father
might have been Caleb, since she gave this name, which does not occur
previously in the Rice family, to her firstborn son. Identification of
the second wife Phebe as the daughter of Mary Allen rests shakily on a
lonely but convincing piece of evidence - a note in Phebe Rice's Bible. On
the disintegrating page where the births of Henry Rice's children are
written, there are these lines in a different hand: "Mary Allen Heir
book/1760/[torn]en to Phebe Rice Heir/Dafter, test Step Arnold." (30) It
is, of course, possible that Phebe's maiden name may have been different
if her mother remarried after her birth.Phebe survived Henry by about ten years during which time she showed a
lively interest in her own rights and property. Her widow's thirds were
carefully protected in sales of real estate, (31) and she personally
brought two small lawsuits, one against neighbor Noah Dowd, "husbandman of
Warwick," for $9.35, and the other against Henry Whitman for $38.58 plus
costs. (32) She made her will 10 October 1806; it was proved 18 January
1812. (33) "Phebe Rice, wid.," was counted in the 1810 Census as head of
household of two women, presumably herself and her single daughter
Margaret. (34)Phebe was buried originally in the Arnold lot, Warwick Historical Cemetery
12, with two of her daughters and some of her grandchildren. (35) Their
graves were moved to the Greenwood Cemetery, Coventry Historic Cemetery
59, ca. 1970 to make way for a shopping center. No gravestones have yet
been found for Henry or his first wife Martha.With his two wives Henry Rice fathered eleven daughters and seven sons
between 1740 and 1777, all but one of who lived to adulthood. Warwick
vital records list only eleven of these births. (36) These entries are
confirmed and amplified by Phebe Rice's birth records of the children in
the previously mentioned family Bible. (37)Even more important is Henry Rice's will, made 13 March 1798 and proved 9
March 1801. (38) These invaluable genealogical document names seventeen
children, as well as sixteen of his more than eight grandchildren, in
gratifying detail. The only grandchildren named are children of Henry's
sons and daughters who predeceased him; they received legacies in the
place of their dead parent. He specified two of his children Thomas and
Martha, one by each wife, as having been raised by his childless brother
Thomas and Wife Anne (Stafford) Rice. Although both these children
received only token legacies, there is no reason to believe that they were
not close to their father. Henry Rice's son Thomas was executor after
another son Wanton declined. Martha named a son after her Uncle Thomas.
When the need arose, Henry Rice took responsibility for raising or
arranging for care of his orphaned grandchildren.An Illustration of intricate web of Henry Rice's family occurs in the 1790
US Census for Warwick. Among fifteen consecutive heads of household the
informed reader will find a striking cluster of related families: Henry,
two sons, five sons-in-laws, an Uncle, and two fathers of his sons-in-law,
a brother-in-law of a daughter, and a father of a grandson-in-law. (39)Although Henry Rice bloomed where he was planted, his sons and grandson
struck off in new directions, especially after his death. Some became
farmers or mill supervisors or factory owners. The difference was not
entirely generational for Henry's sons-in-law more nearly followed the
pattern of his life than did his own sons. Some of his descendants went to
sea, and more went west. This family that was spread over so many years
ultimately spread over many, many miles.Children, with his first wife Martha:
1. Barbara, b. 4 Nov. 11740; m. John Paine/Pain;
2. Avis, b. 17 Oct. 1742; m. Jonathan Niles;
3. Caleb, b. 16 Nov. 1744; m. Freelove Jerauld;
4. Elizabeth, b. 7 Feb. 1746, d. after Mar. 1801; m. Michael
Mellone/Malone;
5. Mary, b. 19 Oct 1749; m. James Jerauld;
6. Anne, b. 1 July 1752; m. Nathan Millard, Jr.;Children, with his second wife Phebe:
7. John, b. 18 Jan 1756, d. young;
8. Phebe, b. 14 Oct. 1747; m. Dr. Gorton Jerauld;
9. Henry, Jr., b. 18 May 1760; m. Susannah Jerauld;
10. Marcy, b. 27 Apr. 1762; m. John Rice Arnold;
11. Naomi, b. 28 May 1764; m. Dutee/Dutey Arnold;
12. Thomas, b. 3 July 1766; m. Sarah Arnold;
13. Wanton, b. 2 Oct. 1768; m. Mercy Gardner;
14. Margaret, b. prob. 20 May 1770, d. prob. At Warwick 27 Aug. 1842,
unmarried;
15. William, b. prob. 26 September 1772; m. Sarah Greene;
16. Sally, b. 1775; m. Elisha Brown;
17. Tibbetts, b. 26 April 1777; m. Sarah [Unknown].
Endnotes:Note: Cherry Fletcher Bamberg, "Major Henry Rice of Warwick and His
Family," (Rhode Island Roots, March/June 1998 Volume 24, Nos. 1 & 2: 1998]
(pp. 1-60); pp. 1-9 shown here. Parts of this document and pages 10-60
have been incorporated with a GEDCOM file.1. James N. Arnold, Vital Record of Rhode Island: 1636-1850 [hereinafter
Arnold, RIVR] (21 vols., Providence, RI: Narragansett Historical
Publishing Company, 1891-1912), 1:1:199. His death was reported in the
Providence Gazette of 15 Nov. 1800 (Arnold, RIVR 14:221).
2. Warwick Wills, consulted at the archives of Warwick City Hall, Warwick,
RI [hereinafter Warwick Wills], 2:46.
3. Martha's first child was born 4 Nov. 1740 and last child was born 9
Oct. 1754 (Arnold, RIVR 1:1:198-199).
4. Phebe's first child was born 18 Jan. 1756 (Arnold, RIVR 1:1:199).
5. John Sterling, Warwick, Rhode Island Historic Cemeteries [hereinafter
Sterling, Warwick … Cemeteries] (Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, Inc.,
1997), n. page. This cemetery was moved ca. 1970 to the Greenwood
Cemetery, Coventry Historic Cemetery 59.
6. Phebe Rice, "Rice Bible" (2) [hereinafter Rice Bible (2)] at Rhode
Island Historical Society Library [hereinafter RIHSL], edition/date
unknown as first few and last pages are missing.
7. John O. Austin, The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, (1887;
repr., Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1995), p. 162.
8. Town Meeting Records consulted at Warwick City Hall, 1:4, and 3:447.
9. Joseph Smith, Civil & Military Lists of Rhode Island [hereinafter Civil
& Military Lists of RI] (three vols., Providence, RI: Preston and Rounds
Co., 1900), 1:107, 113, 119, 154, 168, 175, 184, 194.
10. Ibid., 2:239, 247, 266, 282, 290, 295, 298, 302, 310, 326, 345.
11. David S. Lovejoy, Rhode Island Politics and the American Revolution
1760-1776, Brown University Studies XXIII, (Providence, RI: Brown
University Press, 1969), p. 142.
12. Mildred Chamberlain, transcr., The Rhode Island 1777 Military Census
[hereinafter RI 1777 Military Census] (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical
Publishing Co., Inc., 1985), p. 120.
13. D.A.R. Patriot Index, Centennial Edition [hereinafter DAR Patriot
Index] (three vols., Washington, DC: National Society of the Daughters of
the American Revolution, 1990), 3:2447. A Henry Rice, who may or may not
have been the same man, carried dispatches in 1780 according to John R..
Bartlett, Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
in New England [hereinafter Bartlett, Recs. Of RI] (Providence, RI: Alfred
Anthony, 1857-1865), 9:74. Henry Rice of Providence, definitely a
different person entertained LaFayette at Providence in 1784 at his Golden
Ball Tavern (Ibid., 10:74); also John Hutchins Cady, "The development of
the Neck" Rhode Island History, 3:[1944] 130-1.
14. Warwick Wills, 2:46, 2:302.
15. Warwick Wills, 2:46.
16. Warwick Wills, 5:128-129. It is interesting that his brother Thomas,
who died shortly before Henry, left all his bequests in silver dollars
(Warwick Wills, 5:12-17).
17. Warwick Wills, 5:122.
18. Librarian of the Rhode Island Society, ed., Early Records of the Town
of Warwick, Providence (Providence, RI: E.A. Johnson Co., 1926), p. 29.
19. Warwick Wills, 5:129.
20. Warwick Town Council Meetings, vol. 1, 1759-1763, licenses issued 1
June 1761 and 13 June 1763, consulted at RIHSL.
21. James N. Arnold, transcr., "The Samuel Tillinghast Diary," manuscript
at the Knight Memorial Library, Elmwood Branch, Providence, RI, n.d., n.
page. The original Samuel Tillinghast, "Diary, containing Remarkable
Events, Winds and Weather," Jan. 1761-Dec. 1766, is now at John Carter
Brown Library, Brown University, Providence, RI. Arnold found this entry
appears out of sequence, at the bottom margin of the unnumbered almanac
page for Jan. 1761.
22. Warwick Wills, 5:128.
23. Warwick Land Evidence records, consulted in archives of Warwick City
Hall, 7:169, 433; 9:201; 11:36; 12:56; 13:8, 465.
24. Land Records, Town of Coventry, RI [hereinafter Coventry Land
Records], at Coventry Town Hall, 4:360.
25. Ibid., 9:451.
26. Warwick Land Evidence, 12:56, 13:8.
27. "Warwick Taxes, 1757, 1759, 1760," (W Mss), photocopy at RIHSL.
28. Albion Morris Dyer, "First Ownership of Ohio Lands," The New England
Historical and Genealogical Register [hereinafter Register] (Boston, MA:
New England Historic Genealogical Society [hereinafter NEHGS]), 65 [1911]:
222.
29. "Samuel Tillinghast's Diary, 1759-1760," manuscript at the Newport
Historical Society Library. No gravestone has been found for her or her
husband.
30. Rice Bible (2) [Note 2]. This unnumbered page occurs at the end of
"Prophets" and before "Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus."
Stephen Arnold has yet to be identified among several men of that name in
Warwick. One of Henry and Phebe's daughters, Naomi Arnold wrote her
married name in the Bible in several places. Phebe Rice willed her Bible
to Naomi's son Horatio Arnold (Warwick Wills, 6:145).
31. Warwick Land Evidence, 14:86-87, 19:96, also Mss 9001-R at RIHSL.
32. Kent County Court of Common Pleas [hereinafter Kent Co. C.C.P.],
records consulted at Rhode Island Judicial Records Center, Pawtucket, RI,
6:318, 346.
33. Warwick Wills, 6:145.
34. 1810 US Census, Kent Co., RI (Warwick), p. 57; National Archives
[hereinafter NARA] Microfilm M252, roll 59.
35. Sterling, Warwick … Cemeteries.
36. Arnold, RIVR, 1:1:198-9.
37. Rice Bible (2) [Note 2]: Also Josephine Keefer Short, transcr., "Rhode
Island Bible Records," [hereinafter Short, RI Bible Records] 4:41,
typescript at RIHSL. All names through Margaret (fifteenth child) appear
to have been entered at once in the Bible, with William, Sally and Tibbits
(the sixteenth through eighteenth children) added later in the same hand.
The edges of the pages have been sharply trimmed in rebinding, cutting off
page numbers and first names for the fifteenth through seventeenth
children.
38. Warwick Wills, 5:119-123.
39. Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States, Taken in
the Year 1790, Rhode Island [hereinafter 1790 US Census-RI] ([Washington
DC: Government Printing Office, 1908], repr. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical
Publishing Co., Inc., 1992), p. 14. The sequence of names is: John
Stafford, Gardiner Spencer, Henry Reynolds, William Rice, Duty Gerauld,
Nathan Miller, Nathan Miller, Jr., Caleb Carr, James Gerauld, Thomas
Pierce, Henry Rice, Jr., Michael Melowney, Henry Rice, Nicholas Arnold. Of
these only Gardiner Spencer, Henry Reynolds, Caleb Carr, and Thomas Pierce
have no know relationship to Henry Rice's family.2
Father: John RICE b: 6 APR 1696 in Warwick, Kent, RI
Mother: Avis TIBBITTS b: ABT 1699 in Warwick, Kent Co., RIMarriage 1 Martha ? b: ABT 1713 in Warwick, Kent, RI
Married: ABT 1740
Children
1. Barbara RICE b: 4 NOV 1740 in Warwick, Kent, RI
2. Avis or Avice RICE b: 17 OCT 1742
3. Caleb RICE b: 16 NOV 1744 in West Greenwich, RI
4. Elizabeth RICE b: 7 FEB 1746
5. Mary RICE b: 19 OCT 1749
6. Anne RICE b: 1 JUL 1752
7. Martha RICE b: 9 OCT 1754 in Kent,RI
Marriage 2 Phebe ALLEN b: ABT 1734Married: 1755
Note: According to birth of first child in 1756.Children
1. John RICE b: 18 JAN 1756
2. Phebe RICE b: 14 OCT 1757
3. Henry RICE b: 18 MAY 1760 in West Greenwich, RI
4. Marcy RICE b: 27 APR 1762
5. Naomi RICE b: 28 MAY 1764 in Warwick, Kent, RI
6. Thomas RICE b: 3 JUL 1766 in Warwick, Kent, RI
7. Wanton RICE b: 2 OCT 1768 in (or 1758) Warwick, Kent, RI
8. Margaret RICE b: 20 MAY 1770
9. William Henry RICE b: 26 SEP 1772 in Apponaug or Warwick, Kent, RI
10. Sally RICE b: 1775
11. Tibbetts RICE b: 26 APR 1777
Sources:1.publication "Major Henry Rice of Warwick and His Family" by Cherry
Fletcher Bamberg courtesy of Daniel M. White (dwhite@premier1.net)
2.Vital Record of Rhode Island (1636-1850) First Series, BIRTHS, MARRIAGES
AND DEATHS. "A Family Register of the People" by James Arnold, Editor of
the Narragansett Historical Register. Volume 1, Kent County. published
Providence, RI 1891Henry's will, made 13 March 1798 and proved 9 March 1801, is an invaluable
genealogical document since it names seventeen children as well as sixteen
of his more than eighty grandchildren.publication "Major Henry Rice of Warwick and His Family" by Cherry
Fletcher Bamberg courtesy of Daniel M. White (dwhite@premier1.net). Cherry
Fletcher, 141 Prendisville Way, Marlboro, MA 01752. (bamberg@tiac.net)also AFN: 21Z5-JF8;Vital Record of Rhode Island (1636-1850) First Series,
BIRTHS, MARRIAGES AND DEATHS. "A Family Register of the People" by James
Arnold, Editor of the Narragansett Historical Register. Volume 1, Kent
County. published Providence, RI 1891Kindred Konnections Internet Database
www.kindredkonnections.com
801-229-7967Lorrain Smith Powell, 421 E Terrace Ave, Gilbert, AZ 85234