01399 Eleanor R. Wesson, "A Probable Wife for Thomas Axtell," Connecticut Nutmegger 31[1998].

[page 390]

A probable wife for Thomas AXTELL

by Eleanor R. Wesson, CSG# 9355

Thomas AXTELL was baptized 26 January 1619 at St. Peter=s Church in Berkhamstead, Hertforshire,
the son of William and Thomasine AXTELL. (Berkhamstead Parish Register; Axtell: AXTELL Tercentenary
1643-1943). He came to Sudbury, Mass. with his wife, Mary, and two children by 1643 when he bought five acres
of land from Edmund RICE (Axtell Tercentenary, p. 14). His first two children were baptized in Berkhamstead:
Mary (Marie) and Henry. (Berkhamstead Parish Register; AXTELL Tercentenary p. 15). The third child, Lydia,
was born in Sudbury 1 June 1644. (Vital records of Sudbury, Massachusetts, to the year 1850, Boston, Mass.,
1903, p. 12). Thomas died in Sudbury 8 Mary 1646 (Sudbury V.R. p. 195), and Mary married 2.) John
MAYNARD 16 June 1646 in Sudbury. (Ibid. P. 163).
Edmund RICE, born Ca. 1594, married Thomasine FROST 15 October 1618 at St. Mary=s Church in
Bury St. Edmund, Suffolk. (Smith, Elsie Hawes: More About Those RICEs, Meador Press, Boston, Mass., 1954, p.
12). He died in Marlborough, Mass. in May 1663, and was buried in Sudbury, Mass. 18 June 1654 (History of
Sudbury p. 201). Edmund and Thomasine RICE lived for a while in Stanstead and then moved to Berkhamstead.
Their children were:
i. Mary, bp. 18 Aug. 1619 in Stanstead (Stanstead Parish Register).
ii. Henry, bp. 13 Feb. 1620 in Stanstead (Stanstead Parish Register; Smith: More about those RICEs p.
12; TAG X: 136); d. 19 Feb. 1710/11 in Framingham, Mass. (Holman, Winifred Lovering: Ancestry of Colonel
John Harrington STEVENS and his wife Frances Helen MILLER, vol II, 1952, hereafter Stevens-Miller, II, p.
131); m. in Sudbury, Mass. 1 Jan 1643 Elizabeth MOORE (Sudbury V.R. p. 258), daughter of John MOORE and
Elizabeth RICE.*
iii. Edward, bp. 27 Oct. 1622, Stanstead (Stanstead Parish Register lists him as Edmund; TAG X: 136);
d. 15 Aug. 1712 in Marlborough Mass. (Marlborough V.R. p. 384; Ward, A Genealogical History of the RICE
Family p. 6; Stevens-Miller II, p. 130); m. Agnes BENT, daughter of John BENT and Martha (Stevens-Miller II, p.
130; History of Sudbury pp. 45-46).
iv. Thomas, bp. 26 Jan. 1625/6, Stanstead (Stanstead Parish Register; TAG X: 136); d. 16 Nov. 1681,
Sudbury, Mass. (Sudbury V.R. p. 323); m. Mary KING; m. Mary KING [sic], daughter of Thomas KING and
Anne, b. ca 1630 (Stevens-Miller, v. 1, 1948, p. 85).

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v. Lydia, bp. 9 Mar. 1627/8, Berkhamstead (Berkhamstead Parish Register, TAG X: 1360: d.. 5 Apr. 1675
in Boston, Mass; m. Hugh DRURY (Stevens-Miller II,. 131).
vi. Matthew, bp. 28 Feb. 1629/30, Berkhamstead (Berkhamstead Parish Register, TAG X: 136); d. 1717,
Sudbury; m. in Sudbury 7 July 1654 Martha LAMSON, bp. 13 Jan. 1633/4, daughter of Barnabas and Marie
LAMSON (Gozzaldi, Mary Isabella: History of Cambridge, Mass. Supplement and Index, 1930, p. 447; Sudbury
V.R. p. 260).
vii. Daniel, bp. 1 Nov. 1632, Berkhamstead (Berkhamstead Par. Reg.; TAG X: 136); bur. 10 Nov. 1632,
Berkhamstead (Parish Reg.).
viii. Samuel, bp. 12 Nov. 1634, Berkhamstead (Berkhamstead Par. Reg.; TAG X: 136); d. 25 Feb. 1684/5,
Marlborough (Stevens-Miller II p. 130); m. 1.) Elizabeth KING, b. Ca. 1635, daughter of Thomas and Anne KING
(Stevens-Miller I p. 85) on 8 Nov. 1655 in Sudbury (Sudbury V.R. p. 260); 2.) Mary (DIX) BROWN; 3.) Sarah
(WHITE) HOSMER, widow of James HOSMER (Stevens-Miller II, p. 130).
ix. Joseph, bp. 13 Mar. 1637, Berkhamstead (Berkhamstead Par. Reg.; TAG X: 1136 [sic]); d. after 10
Feb. 1684, Sudbury= m. 1.) Mercy (Martha) KING, b. ca. 1638, daughter of Thomas and Anne KING (Stevens-
Miller I p.85) on 4 Mary [sic] 1658 in Sudbury (Sudbury V.R. p. 259) >2.) Mary BEERS; 3.) Sarah (PRESCOTT)
WHEELER (Steven-Miller II p. 130).
x. Benjamin. b. 31 May 1640, Sudbury (Sudbury V.R. p. 119); d. 19 Dec. 1713, Sudbury (Sudbury V.R. p.
322); m. 1.) Mary BROWNE; 2.) Mary (CHAMBERLAIN) GRAVES (Stevens-Miller II p. 130).
By his second wife, Marcy (________) BRIGHAM, widow of Thomas BRIGHAM, Edmund had:

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 xi. Lydia, b. ca. 1657; bur. in Boston 26 Oct. 1717; m. ca. 1678, probably in Boston, James HAWKINS,
Jr. (Stevens-Miller II p. 131).
xii. Ruth, b. 29 Sept. 1659, Sudbury (Sudbury, V.R. p. 123); d. Wethersfield, Conn.; m. Capt. Samuel
WELLES on 20 June 1683 (Stevens-Miller II p. 127).

The eldest child of Edmund RICE, Mary, has variously been dismissed as having died before her father
(TAG X: 136), or simply as "no further record" (Smith: More About Those RICEs p. 12). There is no reference for
the statement that she died, and no record of her death in either Stanstead or Berkhamstead, although her brother,
Daniel=s burial was registered in Berkahmstead Parish Register. I propose that she was the wife of Thomas
AXTELL. She probably married him before her father left for

[page 392]

America and therefore did not accompany her family to the new country.
No record of the marriage has been found. However, it is obvious that the two families were well
acquainted and most probably related. They both lived in Berkhamstead before they emigrated and both went to
Sudbury. The three AXTELL children bore the names of three of Edmund RICE=s children and in the same
order.
Edmund RICE was one of the founders of Sudbury in 1638 (Stevens-Miller II. p. 110); History of Sudbury
p. 26). Thomas AXTELL and Mary went directly to Sudbury within the next five years. Edmund RICE sold part
of his land to Thomas AXTELL, which he later bought back from Mary after Thomas died in 1646 (AXTELL
Tercentenary p. 14-16). Edmund RICE sold land to Philemon WHALE (his sister-in-law=s husband) in 1645 and
later bought land from Philemon WHALE, perhaps the same property (Stevens-Miller II p. 112). He sold land in
1642 to John MOORE, his niece=s husband (Hist. Sudbury p. 41; Stevens-Miller p. 111).

The children of Thomas AXTELL and Mary were:

i. Mary, bapt. 25 Sept. 1639 in Berkhamstead (Parish Reg.); d. 14 Apr. 1704 in Sudbury (Sudbury V.R. p.
306); m. 19 Sept. 1656 John GODDENOW in Sudbury (Sudbury V.R. p. 203).
ii. Henry, bapt. 15 Oct. 1641 in Berkamstead (Par. Reg.); killed by Indians 21 Apr. 1676 (Hist., Sudbury
p. 49); m. 14 June 1665 Hannah ________ (Marlborough V.R. p. 214).
iii. Lydia, b. 1 June 1644 in Sudbury (Sudbury V.R. p. 12). Each of these names is reflected in the names
of Edmund RICE=s children and in the same order.

John MAYNARD died in Sudbury 10 Dec. 1672 (Sudbury V.R. p. 315). Mary=s death was not recorded.
When Thomas AXTELL died intestate, Edmund RICE, Philemon WHALE, and Edward RICE took
inventory of his estate (NEHGS Reg. III, Boston, Mass. 1849, p. 81). Obviously, the families were closely
connected. It is my belief that Mary, Thomas AXTELL=s wife, was Edmund RICE=s daughter, Mary.

*Elizabeth RICE was the daughter of Henry RICE, Edmund's brother, and his wife, Elizabeth FROST,
sister of Thornasine. They were married Nov. 1605 in Stanstead. Henry RICE was buried in Nov. 1621 (Stevens-
Miller II p. 109) and Elizabeth m. 2.) Philemon WHALE (TAG 63: 134).

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