Ancestors of William B. Rice of White County, Tennessee

Family of Francis and Sarah (Womack) Rice of Henrico, Amelia, and Prince Edward Counties, Virginia

compiled by Willie D. Smith - wolfman@blomand.net

FRANCIS RICE was born about 1711 probably in Virginia. He may have been the grandson of an earlier Francis Rice  who died in Warwick County, Virginia circa 1698. Francis Rice appears in deed records in Henrico County, Virginia about 1732, living near Thomas Womack Sr. He married Sarah Womack, daughter of Thomas Womack Sr. and Mary Farley, between 1732 and 1734. In 1739, Francis relocated to Amelia County, Virginia and lived in the western section of the county which was split off to form Prince Edward County in 1754. He died after March 1770, when he deeded his estate to his son, Abraham Rice, which also included land in Charlotte County, Virginia. 

SARAH (WOMACK) RICE was born about 1711 in Henrico County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Thomas Womack Sr. and Mary Farley. Thomas wrote his will in 1733. By 1734, she had married Francis Rice as his wife, Sarah, relinquished her dower rights to two tracts of land sold by Francis Rice that year. Mary (Farley) Womack was the daughter of John Farley and Elizabeth Aiken. Roger Womack has compiled considerable data on Sarah's ancestors and may be seen at his Womack Family News website. Mary (Farley) Womack wrote her will in Henrico County, Virginia, naming daughter "Sarah Rise", and died 1759 in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Sarah's brother, William Womack, died about 1799 in Charlotte County, Virginia and in 1803, his estate was divided between his siblings and their children. Sarah's children were given as follows:

A. FRANCIS RICE (JR.) -  Born about 1735. He died in Prince Edward County, Virginia in 1806. Francis Rice's first wife is unknown, but he remarried in February 1790 to Mrs. Eleanor (McGehee) Smith, widow of Jonathan Smith. Francis left his portion of his mother's division of the William Womack estate to his son, Isham Rice, in his will of 1806. His children included:

1. Josiah M. Rice - Josiah settled his step-mother Eleanor's estate in 1810.

2. Isham Rice

3. William Rice - No information, but he is also a candidate to be OUR William B. Rice of White County, TN.

4. Thomas Rice - born 1785. He married Susannah Biggers in Prince Edward County, Virginia in 1807. He died 1839. They had two known sons: John Frank Rice and Joseph Rice, per the 1845 will of their maternal grandfather James Biggers. A descendant of John Frank Rice through his son,  Alexander "Sandy" Rice,  tested as a DNA match to our William B. Rice of White County, TN.

5. John Rice

6. Samuel Rice

B. ABRAHAM RICE - Born about 1737-1740. Abraham Rice died sometime after 1816, per records in Caswell County, NC dealing with the continued settlement of the William Womack estate in Charlotte County, Virginia. He may have been the Abraham "Reece" living next door to Robert Puckett in Fluvanna County, VA in 1790. Prior to that time, he was in Orange County, NC in 1775 as a witness to the will of John Moore, Sr. In 1777 he appears on the tax lists of Caswell County, NC along with his uncle, Abraham Womack. He was with his brother, Thomas Rice, in Southwest Virginia in the late 1790's. His daughter Elizabeth married Joshua Phipps about 1797 in Washington County, Virginia. His known children (there are possibly others yet unidentified) were:

1. Thomas Joules Rice - Thomas was born about 1783 in Virginia. In 1810 through 1830, he lived in Wayne County, Kentucky near his brother James. In 1830, his brother William Rice appears on the census record for the first time in Wayne County. He married twice, and settled in Randolph County, Missouri, with a large family. A descendant of his probable son, Mitchell Hansford Rice, tested as a DNA match to our William B. Rice family in White County, TN.

2. Rev. William Rice - William was born 1785 in Virginia. He was murdered by Confederate guerrillas at his home in Wayne County, Kentucky in the Fall of 1863.  He had a large family. A descendant of William has tested as a DNA match to our William B. Rice in White County, TN.

3. James Rice -  James was born about 1786 in Virginia. He settled in Monroe County, Missouri after 1830.

4. Elizabeth Rice - Elizabeth was born about 1779, possibly in Caswell County, North Carolina. She married Joshua Phipps in Washington County, Virginia in 1797. They settled in the area of Adair and Green Counties, Kentucky.

5. Sally Rice - Sally Rice married twice. Her second husband was Elijah Terry. After her death about 1838, Elijah moved to Randolph County, Missouri near Sally's relatives there.

6. (probable) Abraham Rice Jr. - We believe the Abraham Rice who married in Adair County, Kentucky in 1802 to Elizabeth Stagg may be Abraham's son. His daughter Elizabeth (Rice) Phipp's family is known to have been in the Adair/Green County, Kentucky area at the same time, and appear in Green County in the 1810 census.

C. ISHAM RICE - Isham Rice was born about 1745 in Amelia County, Virginia. He married Francis "Fanny" about 1765-1770 in Virginia. Her maiden name is unknown. He died 1804 in Rowan County, North Carolina. His children included:

1. Francis Rice - He married Jemima Oliver in Rowan County, NC. Francis died before 1816. His wife Jemima was legatee on his behalf, along with Abraham Rice, in the continuation of the estate of William Womack, in Caswell County, NC in 1816. Francis and Jemima had one known son: Silas Rice, who may have moved to Mississippi.

2. Philip Rice - A descendant of Philip Rice has tested as a DNA match to our William B. Rice of White County, Tennessee.

3. William B. Rice - Born about 1790. He married Sally Marland in Rowan County, NC in 1812. We at first thought this was OUR William B. Rice. However, he is only a cousin. This William B. Rice died in Rowan County in 1837 and is buried there.

4. John Rice

5. Edmund Rice

6. Elizabeth Rice

7. Mary Rice

D. THOMAS RICE - Thomas Rice was born about 1747-1750 in Amelia County, Virginia. His wife's name is unknown. He named five children to whom he assigned to his part of his mother's share of the William Womack estate in Charlotte County, Virginia in 1803. They were:

1. WILLIAM RICE - We believe this to be our William B. Rice of White County, Tennessee, although another William Rice, son of Thomas's brother Francis Rice, Jr. is another possibility. DNA results of two direct descendants of Francis Rice, Sr. matches with other known descendants of this family, in Group 9 of the Rice haplotype study. William was born 1794 in North Carolina. He married Eleanor (maiden name unknown) about 1812. She was born 1792 in South Carolina and died May 1865 in White County, Tennessee. William B. Rice's White County property fell within the new county of DeKalb in 1837, and he was a resident of DeKalb County at the time he wrote his will in 1845. In 1854, when Putnam County was established, the Rice property fell partly within Putnam County and partly in White County.

2. Benjamin Rice - No information.

3. Charles Rice - No information.

4. Nancy Rice - No information.

5. Sally Rice - No information.

E. SAMUEL RICE - Samuel was born about 1750 - 1754 in Amelia County, Virginia. He married Eleanor (maiden name unknown) about 1776 in Prince Edward County, or Charlotte County, Virginia. He died in Prince Edward County, Virginia in 1807. Eleanor removed to Williamson County, Tennessee in 1813 with several of their children. Eleanor was born 1757 in Ireland and came to New England when she was 12 years old (about 1769). She died in Williamson County, Tennessee October 1, 1846. Their children were:

1. Francis Rice - died 1860 with a will in Williamson County, TN.

2. Isham Rice - died 1855 with a will in Williamson County, TN.

3. James Rice - James never married. His estate record in Williamson County, TN identifies his siblings, and several of their children. He died between 1835 and 1847.

4. Sterling Rice - Sterling married twice in Virginia. He may be the 'Starling Reece' found in records in Nottaway County, Virginia and southeastern Kentucky about 1820 or 1830.

5. Stephen Rice - Stephen Rice died before 1845 probably in Halifax County, Virginia, where Thomas G. Coleman was appointed guardian of his minor children. His wife is unknown.

6. Frances "Fanny" Rice - Fanny was born about 1782 in Prince Edward County, Virginia. She married Asa Harper there in 1804, and they moved with her mother to Williamson County, Tennessee. They died between 1860 and 1870 in Williamson County, TN.

F. MOLLY (RICE) CHEATHAM  No information.

G. ELIZABETH (RICE) PUCKETT - Was born about 1742 in Amelia County, Virginia. She married about 1760 to Robert Puckett, probable son a the Charles Puckett who's property adjoined that of Francis Rice in Prince Edward County. Because of Robert Puckett's infidelity, Elizabeth left him and settled in Campbell County, Virginia with their children. Robert was living with his paramour, Sally Potter, at time of his death in 1799. Sally's son Robert Potter shot him, and he died shortly thereafter. Robert Puckett had written his will in 1795 in which he names his children:

1. Charles Puckett

2. Nathaniel Puckett

H. FRANCES "FANNY" RICE - No information.