Ebenezer Rice and Esther Shepard married c. 1796, probably in Otsego NY. His father was Ebenezer Royce of Claremont NH---the spelling was starting to change.

I need some help to prove that Ebenezer's wife Esther was the same Esther Shepard who was born to Henry and Esther (Bundy) Shepard in Canterbury CT and baptized in Coventry CT in 1779. Esther's family name was also spelled Shepherd.

The tombstone for the wife of Ebenezer Shepard in Scott County IN says: "Esther Rice, wife of Ebenezer Rice, born April 22, 1778, Died June 12, 1848." This birthdate is given in "The Shepard Families of New England" as the birthdate for Esther Shepard, daughter of Henry and Esther (Bundy) Shepard. But I need to find some other proof that these were the same two ladies.

Are there any Rice family bibles out there from their many descendants (Lemaster, Cline, Clines, Cooperider, Law, McCaslin, Earwood, Stansbury, Baker, Condrey, Bell, Vest.) How about wills, land records, anything to tie the Rice and Shepard families?

Thanks so much.