General Notes

The family of Cyrus Rice moved from Barre to Conway, when little Josiah was a baby.  In the spring of 1762, Cyrus took his gun, provisions, and tools, and started on the long trek over the dim trail to Deerfield.  Here he bought a section of land high on a hillside, with a spreading view of the Connecticut river before him.  All summer he worked alone, building a cabin home, and planting crops in the open spaces.  In the fall he went back to Barre, and brought his wife and five small children (ranging from 9-year old Elizabeth to the toddling Josiah) and what belongings could be transported, back over the forest trail, to his new home in the wilderness.  They were the first family to settle in the area, later to be the town of Conway.  (Our Colonial Lines, p. 63)


Elise Hawes Smith, in her book, "Edmund Rice and his Family", has this to say about Cyrus Rice:  "At a meeting of citizens called to determine whether they should support the decisions of the Continental Congress in 1776, Cyrus Rice presided, and the following resolution was adopted:  If the honorable Continental Congress should think it requisite for the safety of the North American Colonies on this continent to declare a state of Independency of Great Briton that we will abide by and conform to their wisdom to the expense of our lives and fortunes."  (Our Colonial Lines, p. 64)


Cyrus Rice fought in the Revolutionary War, and Cyrus Rice, Jr., also served his country in the same war, as did many other Rice men, some of them sacrificing their lives, and much of their fortunes.  Some became officers of high rank.  (Our Colonial Lines, p. 64)

  Recorded Events in His Life

• Moved: to live on the frontier (at Barre and Conway).

• Fact: Elizabeth and Cyrus are 3rd cousins.

• Cyrus served in the military: fought in the Revolutionary War.