Danford Rice, late a well-known farmer of Claremont, who died August 4, 1877, was born in this town, December 2, 1805. His grandfather, Ebenezer Rice, who was one of the earliest settlers of Claremont, coming with a little colony of pioneers from Tolland, Conn., bought considerable land in the village, but afterward removed to West Claremont. He was a carpenter by trade, and framed the old Union church at West Claremont. He was a Deacon of the church, and in the absence of a minister he used to read the services. A stanch patriot, he fought for American independence in the Revolution. His death occurred April 24, 1829. His children were: Joseph; Stephen; Ebenezer; and Phebe, who became Mrs. Timothy Grannis.
His son Joseph was a prosperous farmer, a man of influence in the town, and one of the leading members of the Union Church. He married Lucy Barron, who was born June 14, 1772. He died April 24, 1829, his wife surviving him until August 28, 1847. They had a large family of children. Minerva, the eldest, born November 30, 1795, married Daniel Bond. Horace was born July 2, 1801. He died in Cambridge, Mass., in 1872. Franklin was born May 2, 1803; and Sanford and Danford, twins, were born December 2, 1805. Sanford was lost in the Mexican War. Phebe Pamelia was born January 18, 1809, and married Harvey Tolles. George Gilbert, born September 19, 1811, lived in Cambridge, Mass., and died there in 1863. Hiram Augustus, born September 27, 1814, died in Missouri. The children of Horace Rice by his wife, formerly Maria Hall, were: Joseph Henry, born February 19, 1829; John Franklin, born June 15, 1830; and Adeline Alberta, born April 12, 1835. The children of George Rice by his wife, Harriett Hunnewell, were: Carrie M., born in 1853; George, born November 4, 1854; and D. Webster, born June 18, 1858.
Danford Rice followed his father’s vocation of farming, and was one of Claremont’s most useful citizens. He was a faithful member of the Union Episcopal Church. His wife, Caroline Jones, died September 30, 1866, nearly eleven years before his own departure. Their children were: Edward Barron, born October 29, 1835, who married Emma Hall in October, 1870; Caroline Isabella, born June 8, 1838; William Danford, born November 21, 1843, who, it is supposed, was killed in battle, September 30, 1864; and Frances Lydia, born November 16, 1846, who died September 21, 1847. The children of Edward Barron, the eldest son, are: Marian Isabella, born in September, 1871; Edward Barron, born in December, 1875; Augustus Hall, born in 1876, who died in 1896; Emma Frances, born in 1878; and William Alexander, born in December, 1882.