Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 95

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 924

USA > Massachusetts > Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I > Part 95

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"Gentleman: Richard Wells Rice died at his residence in Springfield aged sixty-five years and eighteen days. Mr. Rice was clerk in this bank in 1856, elected a member of the corporation in 1857, a trustee June 7, 1895, and an auditor July 9, 1895. For forty-seven years he has fulfilled faithfully the duties of the offices held by him as a member of this

corporation. He has been painstaking and careful in their fulfillment. He has endeared himself to all his associates, and his death has removed a faithful and worthy member from our board. He loved his native city and always gave his best efforts to make Springfield a happy city of homes, and the community will long cherish his memory and mourn his loss. Our loss is great, but that of his family is greater, and we sympathize with them in their sorrow and hope the memory of his many deeds of kindness and his conscientious Chris- tian life may soften the shock of their bereave- ment."

It was moved and carried by a. rising vote

that this letter be adopted as the expression of the feeling of the board, and that a copy be sent to Mrs. Rice.

Richard W. Rice married, in Springfield, December 8, 1869, Elizabeth A. Fuller, of Springfield, who was born in Hartford, Con- necticut, daughter of Benjamin and Cynthia (Collins) Fuller. There is no living child of this union.

(For preceding generation see Edmund Rice 1).

(II) Deacon Edward, son of Dea-

RICE con Edmund and Tamazine Rice, was born probably in England. He resides in Sudbury, whence he removed to Marl- borough in 1664; was deacon of the church there; died August 15, 1712. As shown by a paper on the court files of Cambridge his age was forty-seven, October 2, 1666. If this is correct, he was born about 1619 and was not far from ninety-three years old at the time of his death. He bought land of his father and also some from his brother Benjamin. He and his wife Anna, of Marlboro, conveyed April I, 1686, to their son Edmund Rice, of Sudbury, half of this farm, lying within the bounds of Sudbury "near the spring." This deed was acknowledged April 16, 1706, and recorded August 16, 1734. Edward Rice is said in Barry's "History of Farmington" to have mar- ried (first) Agnes Bent, and that she died without issue. No record of their marriage or of her death have been found. His widow, Agnes, died at Marlborough, June 4, 1713, aged eighty-three. All his children except the eldest, whose birth record is not found, were by wife Anna-the two youngest being recorded at Marlborough, the others at Sudbury. Chil- dren: John, Lydia (died young), Lydia, Ed- mund, Daniel, Caleb, Jacob, Anna, Dorcas, Benjamin and Abigail.

(III) Daniel, third son of Edward and Anna Rice, was born November 8, 1655, and resided at Marlborough, where he died July 6, 1737. His will made May 5, 1729, was probated De- cember 19, 1737. His wife Elizabeth was probably not living at the date of his will. He married (first) February 10, 1681, Bethiah Ward, born 1658, who died December 8, 1721, daughter of Deacon William Ward. He mar- ried ( second) May 9, 1725, Elizabeth, widow of John Wheeler, of Marlborough, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Wells. Children, all by the first marriage : : Bethiah, Daniel, Judith, Luke, Priscilla, Eleazer, Deborah and Hope- still.

(IV) Daniel (2), eldest son of Daniel ( I) and

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Bethiah ( Ward) Rice, was born in Marlborough June 3, 1684. He resided in Marlborough, and in the latter part of his life in Shrews- bury. Elizabeth Rice, wife of Daniel Rice, was admitted to full church privilege at Shrews- bury, November 28, 1731. Hannah Rice, being adult, was baptized at her own request, April 16, 1732. She was the daughter of Daniel Rice and Elizabeth, his wife. Daniel Rice re- sided on the farm in the northeasterly part of Shrewsbury in 1731, and perhaps until his death, on which his brother Luke settled soon after, and which was the homestead of three subsequent generations, that is, Hezekiah, Col- onel Asa and Asa, Junior. Daniel Rice, of Shrewsbury, made a will October 13, 1733, which was proved July 14, 1734, in which he says, "having determined to travel abroad," he made his wife Elizabeth sole executrix. His inventory amounted to three hundred and fif- teen pounds, six shillings and six pence. He married, in Marlborough, February 12, 1713, Elizabeth Taylor, born in 1696, daughter of James Taylor, Jr., (born 1664) and Elizabeth, his wife, son of James (died 1713) and his wife, Sarah, daughter of Richard Newton, all of Marlborough. Elizabeth (Taylor) Rice married ( second) May 19, 1764, Captain Ger- shom Wheelock, of Shrewsbury, who had then passed his seventieth year. Children of Daniel and Elizabeth: Hannah, William, Davis, Ste- phen, Bezaleel, Abner, Jabez, next mentioned.

(V) Jabez, youngest son of Daniel (2) and Elizabeth (Taylor) Rice, was born in Marl- borough, April 7. 1727. There is no record of his death. He married, January 9, 1753, Miriam Morse, daughter of Joseph and Abigail ( Barns) Morse, of Marlborough. She died January 28, 1776; and he married (second) Elizabeth Burnet, of Marlborough, April 2, 1776. She died November 27, 1812. Children by first wife: Daniel, Miriam, William, Mar- tin, Lydia. Stephen, Phebe, Jabez, Aaron, Betty, Anna, John Hancock and Dorothy Quincy (twins). By the second marriage : Moses and Paul.

(VI) Stephen, fourth son of Jabez and Miriam ( Morse ) Rice, was born June 8, 1762. in Marlborough. About 1787 he removed from Petersham, Massachusetts, and soon after set- tled in Reading, Vermont, where he died July 12, 1802. He married, April 6, 1785, Anna Hammond at Petersham. Their children were : Haven. Aaron, Stephen, Achsah and Sylvia.

(VII) ITaven, eldest child of Stephen and Anna ( Hammond) Rice, was born at Peters- ham, Massachusetts, October 26, 1786, died in

West Windsor, Vermont, February 6, 1868. When an infant he went with his parents to Vermont where he grew up. He was a mill- wright and constructor of early grist mills and saw mills throughout Windsor county, Ver- mont. He was a Democrat in politics. In religious sentiment he was a Baptist. He mar- ried, at Reading, December 15, 1811, Abigail Davis, who died at West Windsor. Children : Lysander M., Betsey, Lorenzo Dow, Lucinda, Joseph A. and Frederick G.

(VIII) Lysander Mason, eldest child of Haven and Abigail (Davis) Rice, was born in Reading, Vermont, November II, 1812, died at the house of his son, Colonel John L. Rice, in Springfield, Massachusetts, October 29, 1903. He learned the trade of blacksmith in Ascutney- ville, Vermont, during his minority, serving an apprenticeship of four years and becoming the most expert workman in all that region. At the age of twenty-two he established himself in business in Ascutneyville, then known as Weathersfield Corners (named changed 1855), having a large shop with water power and machinery. This was in 1834, before the time when farming tools could be bought at the village stores, and until about 1848 he made practically all the farm implements used on the farms within a wide radius of his shop, as well as the small hardware, such as cutlery, pocket knives, scissors, etc. With the advent of machine-made goods he found his occupa- tion fast slipping away, and thereupon went into the employ of the Robbins & Lawrence Company of Windsor, Vermont, then largely engaged in the manufacture of military arms for the United States government as well as for foreign governments. Upon the failure of that company in 1857, he went to Newark, New Jersey, where he was engaged in the same business until about the beginning of the civil war. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, he became a contractor with the Province Tool Company, of Providence, Rhode Island, and continued throughout the war in the manufacture of arms used in the sup- pression of the rebellion. It is a singular cir- cumstances that at one time his son, Colonel John L. Rice, found the regiment of which he had command armed with rifles made by his father. During Mr. Rice's employment at Windsor, Colonel Sharpe, of Hartford, Con- necticut, invented the breech-loading rifle which bears his name, and seeking an expert work- man to fashion the parts of that famous weapon from the paper drawings, selected Mr. Rice as the one best fitted to do it. Mr. Rice with

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hammer and anvil and file made all the parts which went into the construction of the first rifle, and from those the dies were made for the manufacture of the weapon on a large scale. Mr. Rice was a lifelong Democrat in politics, but never in public life, except that in early life he was for a short time an officer of the Vermont State Prison at Windsor and was postmaster at Ascutneyville during the first administration of President Cleveland. He supported the Democratic nominee for the presidency from Andrew Jackson to William J. Bryan. In early life he had become a mem- ber of the Baptist church at Windsor and main- tained the connection till his death. In 1834 Mr. Rice built the house at Ascutneyville where he resided all the remainder of his life, and where all his nine children were born and where his wife died. After the death of his wife, he spent the winters with his children in Spring- field, Massachusetts, and his summers at Ascut- neyville. Hewent from Ascutneyville in Septem- ber. 1903, to Springfield, where he died sud- denly, of apoplexy, six weeks later. Lysander M. Rice married in Weathersfield, December 17. 1835, Clarinda Whitmore Upham, born in Weathersfield, Vermont, April 25, 1814, died in Weathersfield, September 26, 1889. She was the daughter of Asa and Betsey (Whit- more) Upham (see Upham IX.). Their chil- dren. all born in Weathersfield, were: I. Abi- gail Maria, December 16, 1836; married Sam- uel Breck, of Springfield. and died January 27, 1898. 2. Ellen E. (died young). 3. John Lovell, mentioned below. 4. Frances Eliza- beth, July 20. 1842; married (first) Daniel Colton : (second) Dr. Henry H. Banks, and died February 23. 1901. 5. Vietts Lysander, February II. 1844, died February 21, 1906. 6. George Asa. June 7, 1846, died January 25, 1900. 7. Charles, August 29, 1848, died Feb- ruary 16, 1905. 8. Clara Jeanette, August 21, 1852. died in infancy. 9. Infant, died young.

(IX) Colonel John Lovell Rice, eldest son of Lysander M. and Clarinda Whitmore ( Upham) Rice. was born in Weathersfield, Vermont, February 1, 1840, and was educated in the common schools of his native town and at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, New Hamp- shire. After leaving school he was engaged as a clerk in a store in Cornish, New Hampshire, until April 28, 1861, when he enlisted as a private in Company A, Second New Hamp- shire Volunteer Infantry, serving till Novem- ber 18. 1862. He was appointed captain of Company H. Sixteenth Regiment New Hamp- shire Volunteers, November 18, 1862, and

served with that rank until August 20, 1863. October 31, 1863, he was promoted to lieuten- ant-colonel of the Seventy-fifth United States Colored Infantry and filled that place until November 26, 1865. He was severely wound- ed, being shot through the lungs at the first battle of Bull Run and was reported dead; funeral ceremonies were held at his house, and he was deeply mourned. Meanwhile, he was suffering in Libby prison, where he remained until January 2, 1862, and rejoined his regi- ment when released. In December of the latter year he was ordered to Louisiana, where he participated in various strenuous campaigns in that state. Following is his record in brief : Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861; Siege of Yorktown, March-April, 1862; Williamsburg, May 5, 1862; Fair Oaks, May 31, June I, 1862; Oak Grove, June 25, 1862; Savage Sta- tion, June 29, 1862; Glendale, June 30, 1862 ; Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862; Bristow Station, August 25, 1862; Groveton, August 29-30, 1862; Chantilly, September 1, 1862-all in Vir- ginia ; Butte a La Rose, April 20, 1863 ; Siege of Port Hudson, June-July, 1863 ; Pleasant Hill, April 9, 1864; Cane River, May, 1864-all in Louisiana. In January, 1867, he returned to Massachusetts and took up his residence at Springfield, where he has since lived. After six years in the provision business, 1867-1873, he served two years-June 8, 1874, to April 30, 1876, as inspector of customs in Boston. He devoted his spare time to the study of law in the office of Jewell, Gaston & Field, of Boston, and was admitted to the Suffolk bar, April 24, 1876. He was representative in the general court from Springfield in 1882, chief of police in Springfield in 1882-83, postmaster at Springfield from February 7, 1886, to March I, 1890, and again chief of police from January I, 1892, to January 1, 1895. He has also been commissioner of the United States circuit court for the Massachusetts district since November 14, 1889. May 18, 1909, appointed deputy clerk United States circuit court and United States district court with residence at Spring- field. Since 1876 he has devoted his attention to the practice of law with the exception of such time as has been required in the discharge of his duties in the offices he has filled. He has been a liberal and valuable contributor to historical magazines. He has been active and prominent in the affairs of the Grand Army of the Republic and the military order of the Loyal Legion, holding the office of commander of E. K. Wilcox Post, Department of Massa- chusetts, 1870, and judge advocate, Depart-

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ment of Massachusetts, 1879. Colonel Rice married (first) at Cornish, New Hampshire, January 8, 1867, Marion Virginia Chellis, born at Cornish, 1844, daughter of Enoch F. and Sarah A. (Taft) Chellis, of Cornish. She died at Springfield, October 30, 1873, and he mar- ried (second ) at Springfield, October 2, 1879, Clara Elizabeth Galpin, born in Springfield, August 5, 1850, daughter of Allen M. and Jane E. (Dickinson) Galpin, of Springfield. Children, all by second marriage and born in Springfield : 1. Allen G., mentioned below. 2. Elizabeth Banks, September 10, 1881. married Joseph Maslen Meade, of Springfield, Janu- ary 8, 1903, and has one daughter, Eleanor, born in Denver, Colorado, May 25, 1905. 3. Ellen Birnie, April 11, 1883.

(X) Dr. Allen Galpin, only son of Colonel John Lovell and Clara Elizabeth (Galpin) Rice, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, July 20, 1880. He was educated in the public schools, graduating from the Springfield high school in 1898; then in Harvard University where he took the degree of A. B. in 1902 and that of M. D. in 1905. After receiving his medical diploma he was interne and house surgeon in the Boston City Hospital from No- vember, 1904, to November, 1906. After taking the place for a month of the resident sur- geon of the Fore River Iron Works at Quincy, Massachusetts, Dr. Rice began the practice of medicine in Springfield, January 1, 1907, and has since built up a good practice, being a member of the surgical staff of the Springfield Hospital since his settlement here and is also United States civil service examiner for this district. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, of the Springfield Clinical Club, of the Aesculapian Club, of the Harvard Medical School Alumni Association, of the Boylston Medical Club, and physician to Christ Church Parish. In religious affiliation he is a member of Christ Church ( Episcopal), and in politics he is a Democrat.

UPHAM The first mention of Upham as a surname is met with in a deed of lands to the church of Saint Maria de Brandenstock, which was a small monastery in Wills, England, founded by Walter, son of Edmund, of Salisbury. The document bears the name of Hugo de Upham, date 1208. Upham as the name of a place occurs in records previous to the introduction of surnames. That Hugo, the first of this name, is designated Hugo de Upham (of Up- liam), naturally indicates that he derived his

name from his estate, but the lands belonging to him are expressly referred to in the same document as bearing the name of Upham. The "de" was early dropped and the name passed through various forms of spelling. Although many documents have been found in which the name appears, three centuries pass from the time of Hugo before the advent of Richard Upham, from whom an unbroken line is traced to the present day. The Upham family held a copyhold estate at Gettington, in the parish of Bicton, in the easterly division of the coun- - try of Devon, and were associated with this parish for upward of three hundred years.

(I) Richard Upham (spelled Uppam), the first of the name found mentioned in Bicton, was living there in 1523. No date of his birth is given but according to the records he died in 1546. As he left no will, there is little in- formation concerning his immediate family, but from other sources it is conclusive that he left three children one of whom was John.

(II) John, son of Richard Uppam (no date of birth), died in Bicton in 1584. Only the first name of his wife is given, Joan (or Johan ). The names of three children appear: Richard, his successor at Bicton, Katherine and Thomas.

(III) Richard (2), yeoman, son of John and Joan Uppam, date of birth not given, died in Bicton in December, 1635. His wife, Maria, died in July, 1634. Children: Thomas, his sticcessor at Bicton; Joan, married Robert Martin, and both immigrated to New England with her brother John; John, the immigrant ; Sara, who also accompanied her mother to New England and may have become the wife of Richard Webb; Judith; Frances and Jane. The will of Richard Uppam is a lengthy and interesting document in which there is men- tion of certain conditional bequests to his daughter Sara and son John.

(IV) John (again spelled. Upham), son of Richard (2) and Maria Uppam, was the first to bear the name in America, and so far as is known was the ancestor of all who have since borne the name in this country. He was born in Bicton, county of Devon, England, probably in 1600. He married, at Bicton, November 1, 1626, Elizabeth Slade. The names of six children are given in the following order : John, Nathaniel, Elizabeth, born in England; Phineas, Mary and Priscilla, born in New Eng- land. John Upham accompanied by his wife, three children and two sisters above mentioned, emigrated to New England with the Hull col- ony, which set sail on the 20th of March, 1635, from Weymouth, in old Dorset, for the lands

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of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The ship cast anchor before Governor Winthrop's infant city of Boston, May 6, but it was not until July 2 that the colonists, with the permission of the general court, finally settled in Wessaguscess as their future home. On September 2, 1635, John Upham was admitted freeman, and on this date the name of the place was changed to Weymouth. It was made a plantation, with the privilege of a deputy to the general court, and this company became an important ele- ment in the community. In 1642 John Upham was one of the six who traded with the Indians for lands of Weymouth, and obtained a title from them thereto. After being closely identi- fied with the town for thirteen years, he re- moved to Malden, becoming one of the early settlers and continued through life a leading citizen of that place. He was repeatedly elected to its various offices, and the general assembly appointed him six times commissioner to settle the lesser legal matters of Weymouth and Malden. He was also actively interested in the settlement of Worcester (Lincoln's "History of Worcester"). John Upham held the office of deacon in the church for at least twenty- four years. Through his long life he retained his vigor of mind and body. He sustained himself well as an efficient corroborator among those who in time of great peril aided the foundation of a free state. He died in Malden, February 25, 1681. His gravestone may still be seen in the old burying ground at Malden. There is no record of the death of his wife Elizabeth, but it is suggested that she must have lived to be sixty-four years of age. In 1671 John Upham married ( second) Katherine Holland.

(V) Phineas was the only son of John Upham that left posterity, consequently he, as well as his father, was the ancestor of all the American Uphams. He was born in Wey- mouth, probably in 1635. He married, April 14, 1658, Ruth Wood. Nothing is known of her ancestry. According to an inscription on her gravestone which is identified in the old burying ground above referred to, she died January 18, 1696-97. There were conveyances of land to Phineas Upham in 1663-64-72. In 1673 he was appointed with three others to survey a road from Cambridge to Malden, and as early as 1672 he was interested in the settle- ment of Worcester. It appears that he pos- sessed in a high degree the energy and activity that characterized his father. In the military services of his country it is manifest that he was esteemed an efficient officer. He held the

rank of lieutenant and rendered important service in the war with King Philip. He was at the storming of Fort Canonicees, December 19, 1675, and was wounded in the battle, from the effects of which he never recovered. The government was not unmindful of this great sacrifice and bore testimony upon the records of his long and good service for his country. His death is recorded as having occurred Octo- ber 8, 1676. Children: Phineas, Nathaniel, Ruth, John, Elizabeth, Thomas and Richard. (VI) John, third son of Phineas and Ruth Upham, was born December 9, 1666, at Mal- den, Massachusetts, where he died June 9, 1733. He married, in 1688, Abigail Hayward (in one account the name is written Howard), daughter of Samuel. She died August 23, 1717, and he married (second) Tamzen Ong, 1717. Children, all but the last by wife Eliza- beth : Abigail, John, Samuel, Abigail, Ezekiel, David, Jacob (died young).

(VII) Captain Ezekiel, third son of John and Abigail ( Hayward) Upham, was born in Malden, 1700. He is known to have been at Dorchester in 1726, and in the same year he was at Stoughton, where he sold land which had previously been bought by his brother John, on a portion of which the Universalist church was afterward built. He settled at Sturbridge about 1730 and bought a tract of land there, and probably resided there the re- mainder of his life. He was one of the four- teen male members who first organized the Congregational church at Sturbridge, Septem- ber 29, 1736. He also appears to have held the rank of captain at Sturbridge, as he is given that title on the town records. He mar- ried, 1726, Hannah Stearns, of Dorchester, who died June 10, 1788. Their children were : Ezekiel, Hannah, Abigail, John, Asa, William, Isaac and Nathaniel.

(VIII) Asa, third son of Ezekiel and Han- nah (Stearns) Upham, was born May 18, 1736, in Sturbridge, where he died September 13, 1826. He went from Sturbridge to Weathers- field after he had had eight children born in the former town. He married, December 10, 1761, Lydia Pierce, who died December 11, 1822. They had: Lydia, Joseph P., Abigail, Mary, Eunice, Asa, Rachel, Lois, Ezekiel, Hannah, Thankful and Samuel.

(IX) Asa (2), second son of Asa (I) and Lydia (Pierce) Upham, was born November 26, 1771, married in Sturbridge, Massachu- setts, and died in Weathersfield, July 24, 1858. By occupation he was a farmer and well off ; in religion he was a Methodist; and in politics

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first a Federalist, then a Whig, and after the outbreak of the civil war a Republican. He married (first) Achsah Newell, who died No- vember 12, 1810. He married (second) Bet- sey Whitmore. Children by wife Achsah : Fanny, Cynthia, George; by wife Betsey: Pluma, Clarinda W., Sarah, Ann, Frances and Caro- line.

(X) Clarinda Whitmore, second daughter of Asa (2) and Betsey ( Whitmore) Upham, was born in Weathersfield, Vermont, April 25, 1814, and died in Weathersfield. September 26, 1889. She married, December 17, 1835, Lysan- der M. Rice, of Weathersfield ( see Rice ).

FALES Jonathan Fales, who was born in Massachusetts, served during the revolutionary war, his record being as follows: Order for pouches, June 18, 1775, Captain Moses Draper's company, Lieutenant Colonel William Bond's Thirty-seventh (late Gardner's) regiment ; drummer in same com- pany, same regiment, return dated at Prospect Hill, October 7, 1775: order for bounty coat or its equivalent in money, dated at Prospect Hill, December 30, 1775 ; drummer in Captain John Lincoln's company, Colonel Joseph Webb's regiment, which marched to camp, Au- gust 20, 1781, and was discharged November 29, 1781. He was a farmer in the southern part of Walpole. Mr. Fales married, March 29, 1776, Anna Graves, and had a son, James, concerning whom see forward, and probably others.

(II) James, son of Jonathan and Anna (Graves) Fales, was born in Walpole, Massa- chusetts, December 28, 1777, and died in West Medway, June 16, 1853. He and his wife Hannah are buried in the West Medway ceme- tery, appropriate headstones still marking their graves. He was a farmer and shoemaker by occupation. Four of his children, Caroline, James D., John S. and Nancy, were baptized June 3, 1810, at the Second Congregational Church of West Medway. He married, April 24, 1799, Hannah Daggett, born in 1777, died October 2, 1860. Children: 1. Nancy, born July 28, 1799, died June 5, 1869, unmarried. 2. John Smith, see forward. 3. James Daggett, born October 13, 1802, died March 1, 1864; married, November 13, 1825, Mary Hill; chil- dren : Abbie C., born February 23, 1844 ; Lewis G., February 8, 1848; George H., born Janu- ary 14, 1850, died February 2, 1872. 4. Mar- shall, born December 7, 1813, baptized July 3. 1814, died April 12, 1889; married, October 19. 1841, Hannah R. Rice ; children : Mar-

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Genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of the state of Massachusetts, Volume I, Part 95

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848- Publication date: 1910 Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company Number of Pages: 924

Author: Cutter, William Richard, 1847-1918, ed; Adams, William Frederick, 1848-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: New York, Lewis historical publishing company
Number of Pages: 924