The Hindman Family
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1809 – 1896Primary sourcewhat does this mean?

Amasa Rice

Operated a stage line between Springfield, Massachusetts and Albany, New York; the business was ended by the construction of the Boston and Albany Railroad (mid-1840s). Married Sarah Dean Hubbard on 6 April 1848. Settled in Pittsfield, Berkshire County, Mass., where he died 28 October 1896 at age 87. The Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield holds an Amasa Rice collection: letters, calling cards, hay receipts dated 1840 and 1841, and an 1884 deed to land in Pittsfield purchased by Amasa. Four children with Sarah: Robert A. Rice (b. 19 Mar 1850, our direct ancestor), Martha B. (b. 1860, m. Matthew A. Bozeman 1885, of Montana), Henry H. (b. 1862, d. 1872, age 10), Mary E. (b. 1864, m. Leon Morgan 1895).

Occupations

  • stagecoach operator on the Springfield, Mass. to Albany, NY route
  • landowner in Pittsfield

Stories

Amasa Rice's stagecoach, ended by the railroad

1830s to 1840s
Before he settled in Pittsfield, Brant's great-great-great-great-grandfather Amasa Rice ran a stagecoach line. Springfield to Albany, across the Berkshires. The 1840 and 1841 hay receipts in the Berkshire Athenaeum collection give the timestamp; the curator at the Berkshire Museum's science department confirms the route. The work ended when the Boston and Albany Railroad was built across the same corridor. The stage was obsolete the moment the rails arrived. Amasa stayed in Pittsfield. He married Sarah Dean Hubbard on 6 April 1848. Sarah, born Charlestown New Hampshire 8 October 1814, was the eldest daughter of Henry Hubbard the 18th Governor of New Hampshire. Through Sarah, Brant's family connects to the New Hampshire political establishment of the 1830s and 1840s. Four children with Amasa, the eldest being Robert Addison Rice, born Pittsfield 19 March 1850.
Source: Amasa Rice papers, Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield, Mass.

Documents and artifacts

hand-drawn-family-tree
Rice family tree (Edmond Rice 1594 to mid-20th-century descendants, including the Hindman marriage)
Current location: Brant Hindman's family papers
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