Abraham James Brice and William Henry Brice

Some students were from large and growing families.

Abraham (Abram) James Brice
Born: ca. 1860

William Henry Brice
Born: ca. 1861
Race: African American
Students in 1871

Locust Grove Schoolhouse student Abraham Brice was the oldest child of Samuel and Elizabeth Brice. The Pocopson School Board minutes note exonerations for paying school tax. Rarely do the minutes note a reason for the exoneration, yet in 1872, the reason, “because he has three pairs of twins” is noted by the name, Samuel Brice, Abraham’s dad. Abraham had a large family in 1872.

The 1860 census shows his parents, Samuel and Elizabeth Brice as members of two neighboring households. Samuel was a farm laborer in the household of Ann Walker, and Elizabeth, with son Abraham, was a domestic servant, in the William Walker household. In 1870, Samuel and Elizabeth headed their own household in a unique dwelling but did not own real estate. Samuel was still a farm laborer, but Elizabeth was “keeping house.” By that year, 1870, Samuel and Elizabeth Brice had 7 children under the age of 11, but only two sets of twins according to the census records. (The family is not recorded in the 1880 census, so it is unknown whether another set of twins was born between 1870 and 1872.) Abraham (Abram) Brice, age 10, and his younger brother, William James Brice, age 9, attended the Locust Grove School in 1871 through 1872. Eliza Slack taught the boys that year. Abraham attended 66 and William 57.5 days out of 144 days that year. Both children received marks of “four” in conduct and progress. The scale appears to be based on five possible points.