If I Believed in Reincarnation: The Story of Susan Rice

[Linda Alexander]

copyright Linda Alexander, 2007. No use or reprint without author's permission

“Well, she set fire to a barn once and got clear of that; then murdered a child got into States Prison and got out of that; but they have got her into a hole now where she will stay.”

If I believed in reincarnation, I’d certainly be in a position right now to worry over the above quote. Old Azariah Stebbins, of West Hartford, Connecticut, spoke the words at the 1850 burial of Maria Trunkey Moore. So why would I, a fifty-one year old woman in the 21^st century, worry about a woman who died one hundred and fifty one years ago?

Maria Trunkey came from an immigrant French family. In the late 1700s, her father, a deserter from the British army during the Revolutionary War, brought his wife to the northwestern mountain area of western Connecticut to start a new life. Maria was one of a large handful of children in that family, and virtually nothing is known of her life, except for the period during which she was married to Harvey Moore, of West Hartland, Connecticut.

Now, it bears mentioning here that Harvey was the son of a prominent townsman, a Revolutionary War Captain that fought for the United States. He helped build up the area, and supported it during its infancy, becoming a well-known figure about town, buying and selling land, lending money to neighbors through a sort of personal banking system, and even owning the building and land for an inn and tavern that he operated at the town’s crossroads. In today’s world, 2001, that structure still stands, now as a personal home.

Harvey must’ve met Maria through their families, who at least were connected by various business transactions, as evidenced by documents now held in the Hartland [CT] Historical Society. They appeared to have lived across the street from each other, and had to have come in contact on a nearly daily basis. Whether it was a union based on love or on family obligation is unknown. They did marry, though, and set up housekeeping on a plot of land at the edge of Harvey’s father’s property. A home was built, and their early married life appears to have been unremarkable, if the lack of documentation about those years is any indication. Yet, during the year 1842, for unknown reasons Harvey contracted with the town of Barkhamsted, Hartland’s next-door neighbor, to take into his home a seven year old girl named Susan Rice.

Susan was, it seems, an orphaned child, or at least an abandoned child. In 1842, she was at the mercy of the Selectmen Council of Barkhamsted, and apparently they felt the need to divest themselves of her care. There is no recorded reason as to why Harvey took her on. There is a record, however, showing where the Selectmen paid Harvey Moore $10 to take her out of their care. The actual indenture read as follows:

Indenture by Select Men with Harvey Moore Suzan Rice

Thiz indenutre made thiz 27^th day of October 1843 between Richard A Doolittle Elijah Tiffany & Linus Bliss Select Men of the Town of Barkhampsted with the assent of George Merrells Justice of the Peace for the County of Litchfield residing within said town of the one part and Harvey Moore of the Town of Hartland in the county of Hartford of the other part witnesseth that Susan Rice a minor child having received supplies from said Town of Barkhampsted said Select Men have deemed it their duty and do hereby with the consent of George Merrellz Justice of the Peace for the County of Litchfield and residing in said town of Barkhampsted bind out Susan Rice to live with and serve him the said Harvey Moore from the date hereof until she attainz to the age of eighteen years of age which will be May the 7^th [crossed out, says “eighth”] one thousand and eight hundred and fifty four if she livez to that age and the said Select Men do by this presents and by virtue of the Statute in such case provided give to the said Harvey Moore all the right to the time and servicez and the same power and authority [next 15 words crossed out] over the said Susan Rice during said time as a Master lawfully has to and over an apprentice in other casez and the said Harvey Moore on hiz part in consideration of the promizez does agree and covenant with said town of Barkhamsted and the said Harvey Moore iz teach her and instruct her the Susan Rice in the branchez of education taught in common schoolz to permit her to attend school sufficient to attain the object to provide for and furnish her with suitable food clothing washing and ladying [??] medicine [x] Medical assistance in sickness and all the necessary [??] proper and suitable for the said Susan Rice in sickness and health and to teach and instruct her in domestic affairs to oversee and guard her morally and train her to habits of obedience subordination and industry and economy and at the expiration of said time to give her such clothing as suitable for her age [x]

In testimony whereof said parties have set our hands thiz 27^th day of October 1842

In presence of George Merrills

Richard A. Doolittle

Elijah Tiffany Select Men

Linus Bliss

George Merrells Justice of the peace

Harvey X [hiz mark] Moore

The rest of this story is strange, real strange. I bought Susan's original indenture papers, found them while rummaging through a haphazard pile of old documents, photos, miscellaneous ephemera. The document's purpose was not immediately obvious but as soon as my fingers touched it, the nearly-ancient parchment crinkling with long-forgotten emotion, I knew it was mine. I had to have it. I made the purchase at an antique shop in Frederick, MD. The date I bought the document: May 7th. My birthday: May 7th.

When I got home and really read over the 19th century document, I was floored. It turned out to be the indenture of a 7-year old girl, the above-mentioned Susan Rice. She lived in Barkhamsted, CT, and as a poor child, became a product of white slavery thanks to the above-named town fathers.

Oh, by the way. Why this story is so weird? Susan Rice's birthday was May 7th. She lived with Harvey Moore and his wife, Maria Trunkey Moore, as discussed above, for only two years. She would've probably stayed until her eighteenth birthday, when she would have been emancipated by the terms of the indenture . . . but, instead, she was beaten to death by Maria with the branch of a thornbush. Maria went to Connecticut prison for her murder, quite unusual for a woman in the mid-1800s. Hardened criminals, mostly men, went there. She was considered "touched." Unfortunately, to this day, I know more about Maria and Harvey than I do about Susan . . . but I'm still searching.

No one would've ever known, or really cared, about the life of Susan Rice if not for this one document, this old, old document that I happened upon--there is no such thing as coincidence--in that antique shop. I paid all of $4.50, less than half what Harvey paid for Susan when he bought her from the town of Barkhamsted.

How sad is that? How did I come upon those papers on my birthday? On Susan's birthday? Why? Oh, and by the way . . . I have visited Barkhamsted and surrounding areas a number of times, doing research on this story. While I've never found a picture of Susan, there probably weren't any, each time I was there I found black-eyed Susans. Everywhere.