In 1910 Census Isabelle is listed as boarder in East Hampton, MA. There is an article in The Star Democrat, Easton, Maryland on August 29, 1941 on page 4 about the death of William roger RiceMILDRED SMITH LORD AND WILLIAM ROGER RICE Mildred was daughter of Ellen E Smith and Burt George Lord; granddaughter of Isabella Patterson and William Smith Parents of Mildred Ann Rice (married to Stephen Joseph Murphy) Grandparents of Michael James Murphy and Stephen Vincent Murphy Great-Grandparents of Colin Eaton Murphy and Devon Eaton Murphy
BIRTH, DEATH OF MOTHER, IMPRISONMENT OF FATHER, ORPHANAGE Mildred Smith Lord was born December 8, 1899, to Burt George Lord, a hostler and machinist, and Ellen E. Smith, a mill operative. They lived on 30 Fort Street in Northampton, Massachusetts when she was born. Her parents married at Payson Congregational church in Easthampton. Her older brother George Earl Lord was born on August 23, 1897. They were born in Easthampton, Massachusetts. A younger brother, Ralph W. Lord was born on March 28, 1901 and died on July 25, 1901 within four months of his birth of Cholera Infantum (severe diarrhea that affects infants) at Mt. Tom Hospital. The infant was buried at Brookside Cemetery. In 1900, the family rented a home at 23 Maple Avenue in Northampton, Massachusetts. At the time, Burton worked as a cutter in a pulp factory.
Burt George Lord's father was from Scotland and mother was from England. Burton was born in New York. Mildred was born December 1998, and her brother George Earl was born August 1987 according to 1900 Census. Burton's father Benjamin and mother Mary were farmers in Clinton, New York in 1870 according to the Census. It came be inferred that Benjamin's father, also named Benjamin, lived with them and was a 66-year-old farmer.
Ellen's mother, Isabella Patterson, was born in March 1835 in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1870 she lived in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Her father William Patterson was born about 1800 In England. In the Bannockburn, Stirlingshire, Scotland 1851 Census lists William Paterson age 57, was listed as a handloom weaver, wife Janet (Dobbie) Paterson age 53, daughter Isabella age 15, wool mill worker. Isabelle Patterson and William Smith were married on November 26, 1857. She may have arrived in Boston on the North America out of Liverpool, England as a seventeen year old.. Her occupation was listed as weaver. Her siblings were Jennette Smith, born about 1859, John R. Smith, born about 1861, Margaret born in 1870, William born in 1870. Her father William was a weaver, working in a cotton mill, and may have died of cholera influenza on August 9, 1875 or April 21, 1875 in South Hadley, Massachusetts, when he was almost 50. There is a record in 1871 of William Smith's occupation as being stage man. l Perhaps, this is the same man. At the South Hadley Falls Cemetery, it indicates that his parents were John Richard Smith (1801-1861) and Margaret Foard (Fourd) (b. 1809). John Smith, a 23-year-old weaver born in Lancashine, England on November 4, 1827, and Margaret left Liverpool, England, and arrived in Boston, Massachusetts on the ship "Parliament" on January 1, 1852. Her brother John Smith was a weaver and he died of cardiac dilatation in Holyoke, Massachusetts one October 20, 1896 at age thirty-six. John and Margaret are buried in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Isabelle Smith died on June 2, 1915 of a cerebral hemorrhage and is buried at the Brookside Cemetery in East Hampton.
When George was twelve or so, he came home from school to find his mother dead on the floor and his eleven-year-old sister Mildred sitting by her side, dissolved in tears. Ellen had committed suicide on May 26, 1909 by carbolic-acid according to the death report. Ellen was buried at the Brookside Cemetery on May 28, 1909. Their father was in a prison hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts. George took his sister and ran to neighbors who called the authorities. The two children were taken to an orphanage perhaps in Boston. In 1910, according to the census, George (12) and Mildred (10) lived with Ziba and Eva Bartlett and two other children Annie (13) and John Copliski (10) in South Salem as well as a sister to Ziba or Eva who worked as a dressmaker in a department store. According to George’s daughter, Helen Dube, Ziba was a man of Polish descent who owned a drugstore, drank and beat the children. His wife treated the children kindly. School authorities noticed indications of mistreatment and removed the children.
FOSTER PARENTS Lena Whittsley Adams (b. August 16, 1887) and her husband, Earl L., seven years younger, wanted to foster George so he could help on the farm, but the lad, always protective of his sister, threatened to run away even if they beat him if they didn’t take Mildred as well. The two young children attended school in Georgetown in the building that is now a town hall. George worked on the farm. One chore was leading the cows to a nearby pond before school while Mildred helped with house chores. Both children both worked hard and were treated well. In addition to living on a farm, Mr. and Mrs. Adams also ran a dance studio and taught ballroom dancing. The studio might have been in Salem, Massachusetts. George was a wonderful dancer and when he grew older, he also taught dancing. The Adams fostered George and Mildred and adopted Anne Phyllis, who might have been the illegitimate daughter of Mr. Adams. George went to school through fifth grade and Mildred went to school through sixth grade. In 1940 Lena and Earl lived on Grant Street in Lynn, Massachusetts.
After their marriages, Mildred and George brought their own children to the farm. As they aged, George helped his foster parents paint and repair their home and mow the lawn, while his wife baked for them. Millie Murphy remembered them owning a goat named Esmeralda. After Earl’s death, Lena Adams and her companion Mr. Haskell attended George’s daughter (Helen)’s wedding. Gramma Adams had a big library and encouraged Mildred’s daughter, Millie, to read and give her book reports. She gave Millie a moonstone ring, which Millie gave to Cathy Eaton. Millie’s remembers refusing to eat a pet rabbit that had died even though Gramma Adams insisted the lunch was actually chicken. George’s first married Catherine Hennessey and later Alice Flynn. His daughter Helen married Paul Dube, and they had three daughters: Paula M, Suzanne H, and Kathryn (Kate) LeGere.
WILLIAM ROGER RICE: BIRTH, MARYLAND, AND FIRST WIFE William Roger Rice was born in Talbott County, Maryland on June 15 in 1878. William Roger Rice’s married his first wife Bertha F. Mullikin, in 1901 in Maryland. Bertha was born in December, 1877. According to Walter Rice, the couple had several children, one of whom was a policeman and another a fireman. Millie never met her half-siblings. His son, Walter Rice, reported that he had located two half-brothers in Maryland, one a fire fighter, and the other a police officer. No records have been found to confirm that. One census shows that the couple had two children who died young.
WILLIAM’S PARENTS William’s father was John W. Rice (1839-1904), and his mother was Annie Isabelle Tarbritton (October 6, 1850- to February 13, 1916.) During the months of July and August, 1863, John W Rice was listed as subject to military duty. His occupation was listed as laborer. John and Anne were married in 1875 and had seven children including Clarence, George Edward, William Roger, John Harvey, Anna L, and Walter K. When William Roger Rice was born on June 15, 1878, his father, John, was 39 and his mother, Anne, was 27. In the 1880 and1900 Census, his occupation was listed as farmer. Both his parents and her parents were born in Maryland. John W Rice died on June 13, 1904 at age 65. His wife lived twelve years after his death.
WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS, CAREER, AND DEATH OF FIRST WIFE On September 12, 1918, William Roger Rice registered for the draft. He was forty years old. His occupation was Blacksmith at the Watertown Arsenal on Arsenal Street, in Watertown Massachusetts. His wife Bertha F Rice was listed as closest relative. They lived at 409 Green Street in Cambridge Massachusetts. He had gray hair and brown eyes. Bertha died in 1920 and is buried in Easton, Maryland.
In 1920, Mildred worked in a factory and lived with her foster parents, Lena and George, both employed in the newspaper industry.
MARRIAGE Around 1921, Mildred Smith Lord married William Roger Rice. It was her first marriage and his second marriage. Mildred was about 22 and William was about 42 when they married. They on 496 Main Street in Charlestown, Massachusetts in 1941 as listed in the city directory.
CHILDREN, CAREER, AND PERSONALITIES The couple had five children: Roger, Millie Ann, Walter Rice, Evelyn Phyllis Rice (McCleary), and Barbara Alta Rice. William worked at the MBTA elevated T as a blacksmith mechanic. Their children, Millie and Walter, remember him as being a smart, quiet, tall man who had few friends and wasn’t very social. They recalled him being mean when he drank. Walter described his parents’ relationship as tense. William’s favorite past time was listening to the Red Sox on the family radio while smoking a pipe. He always read the newspapers. They lived in an apartment in Charlestown, which was fed by steam and owned by the mayor of Cambridge. After their son Walter was badly burned by the steam heated radiator bursting, William helped everyone in the building convert their coal or wood stoves to oil. Mildred took the badly injured child to the town hall where Whitey Bolger presided and helped them medical assistance. Williams’s best friend was Dave Landry whose wife Evelyn (Mimi) was great friends with Mildred. If Mildred didn’t have enough food for the children, Mimi would always help out and give them from her minimal food supplies.
According to the 1930 census, they lived on 54 Woodlawn Street, in Everett, Massachusetts when Evelyn their fourth child was a baby, Walter was w, Millie was 4, and Roger W was five. At the time William Rice was 52 and Mildred was 32.
DEATH OF WILLIAM ROGER RICE Possibly William died in bar fight on August 15, 1942. There is an article in The Star Democrat, Easton, Maryland about the death of William Roger Rice on August 29, 1941 on page 4. It mentions George Lord. (Unfortunately I couldn't access article.)
According to Walter and Millie, Mildred was outgoing and loved people. They said she didn’t boast. She loved wallpapering and painting. If the roof had a hole, she was up on the patching it. Mildred passed her work ethic and ability to fix anything to her daughter, Millie. Mildred worked cleaning houses and also had a job at a hospital. She was ingenious with her hands and enjoyed making things.
Mildred made sure the children went to camp and had clothes. She got them a new suit and a pair of shoes at Easter, which had to last the whole year. Millie had to polish her white shoes and Walter had to polish his dark shoes. They got their shoes from Morgan Memorial, a social fraternal organization. The shoes were re-heeled and resoled. When the shoes got holes, the kids cut out cardboard the right size and put it under their socks. Walter recalled being happy to get his first long pair of pants one Easter and not having to wear knickers.
Mildred and her five children moved to Woburn where they have five acres. Mildred tilled one half acre and had a root cellar where she put up canned peaches, apples, and blue Hubbard squash. There was a summer kitchen shed where there was an old fashion stove where Mildred began canning in late July. Walter remembered a larger copper kettle boiler with metal racks that had quart jars. Mildred might can 350 to 500 jars each season. She owned chickens and slaughtered them. Mildred worked hard in her garden to supplement store-bought food. They always had enough food even if was macaroni and cheese or beans. There were never many toys. Mildred, who rarely went to church, made sure her children attended church regularly.
Walter recounted a story about Evelyn finding her mother, when she was older, on top of refrigerator leaning out the window to clean it. Evelyn yelled at her because she might have fallen out the window. Telling this tale, Millie and Walter laughed because they said Mildred would have died happy. Her grandchildren used to visit her, and she often visited them.
SOMERVILLE, MASS and WOOLWORTHS At some point, Mildred began living with her friend Mimi Landry from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and together they worked at Woolworths in David Square in Somerville. For a time, Mildred had a boyfriend that Millie remembered as being snotty. Walter remembered him always wearing a suit. The grandchildren were afraid to drive with their grandmother. When Mildred came to visit her children, she would strip her bed and get her suitcase and put it by the front door when she was ready to go home. When she came to visit, she brought sliced ham and sliced crab even when she couldn’t afford it. One day she painted Steve Murphy came home from work, only to have that Mildred had painted their Adirondack chairs bright orange and yellow. She also crochets blankets in vivid purple, red, orange and yellow.
MILDRED AND WILLIAM ROGER RICE’S CHLDREN Roger Williams Rice worked at First National Grocery store during high school. He’d bring home cardboard boxes of food. Roger Williams Rice, died in WW II. First, he was in the Merchant Marines and then he was in the Air Force with the 669th Bomber Squardron 416th Bomber. He died on September 16, 1944 with the rank of S SGT, and there is a monument in Lorraine, France. [Block 40, Row 5, Grave 124]. He was awarded the Purple Heart Medal and Air Meal. His plane was shot down on September 16, 1944. For a while he was missing in action. Eventually he was buried in a US military Cemetery in St. Avold, France. Roger had a friend named Bill Moore, wealthy friend from Harvard. They met through fellowship at church, St. John’s Episcopal in Charleston. Bill was tall, skinny, and handsome like Gary Cooper. Mrs. Moore sent down payment for a house in Woburn out of Bill’s pension. After Bill died, a notary came. After Roger died, they received $25 or $50 a month. The family was related to the Pulitzer family. At the time of his death, Mildred was living at 38 Woods Street in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Mildred Anna Rice (March 30, 1926 to September 10, 2011)married Steve Murphy (June 16, 1916 to February 8, 1984). They were married on November 3, 1950. Steve had a long career as a master baker. They had two children: Michael James and Stephen Vincent. Sadly, Millie miscarried five children. See sections on Millie Murphyand Steve Murphy.
Walter Earl Rice (April 24, 1928- to February 1, 2012) went to Gordon Bible College. Millie and her mother Mildred worked hard to help him pay tuition. He married Audrey Doris Rice on January 1, 1951. Walter taught elementary school, was a principal, and a minister. They lived in New York and South Carolina and had two children: Kenneth Wayne who married Lorraine (four children: Stephen, Laura, Andrew, and Gregory Cooper); Linda who married Bob Chase. They had two children: Justin Adam and Alexandra (Allie) Lauren. Walter and his family moved to Audrey’s home town in Port Jeff.
Evelyn Phyllis Rice (September 18, 1929 to August 2, 2016) married Jim McCleary (June 28, 1929 to July 11, 2016, who drove trucks. They were married on November 11, 1950 and lived in Medford, Massachusetts. They had four children: Jimmy who married Val, Roger who married Mary Beth, Cathy who married Eddie, and David who lived with his parents until he died.
Barbara Alta Rice, born on March 22, 1933, died when she was 41 on May 22, 1974 of pancreatic cancer and had a daughter as a teenager, who came to Mildred’s funeral. She was married to Ralph D. Peterson and they had 13 children: his children, her children, and their children. At the time of her death, she lived in Wilmington, Massachusetts. Only Millie and Mildred kept in touch with her. She may have married in 1951 in Redding or Woburn, Massachusetts. Social security benefits helped her get by. She is buried in Wildwood Cemetery.
Mildred Rice was very proud to go to her grandson Michael Murphy’ s graduation at Hamilton College. She was thrilled to meet Danny Kaye, who was very gracious toward her. Michael was her first grandchild to attend college. Mildred and William Roger had fourteen grandchildren. Toward the end of her life, Mildred was crushed when she had to give up driving her car at eighty-five. Losing her independence made her cry. At the end of her life, she was rail thin.
DEATH OF SIBLINGS MILDRED SMITH RICE AND GEORGE LORD Mildred died on May 12, 1979. At her funeral, her son Walter presided over the ceremony, and there was an open casket. Mildred was a gutsy hard-working woman who took good care of her family and who was fiercely independent. According to his daughter Helen Dube, “George Earl Lord died on June 14, 1988.” The two siblings, orphaned so young, remained close throughout their lives, worked hard always, and raised their children in loving homes.