Growing Up in Plainfield: Memories of a Rural Childhood

Norman and Wesley Rice

What was it like to grow up in Plainfield, Massachusetts, during the middle of the 20th century? In those years, Plainfield was a small, deeply rural community with a population of only about 300 people. There were few of the conveniences and distractions that are part of everyday life today. Families often depended on one another, neighbors knew one another well, and people were resourceful, making do with what they had. Children spent much of their time outdoors, exploring the countryside, working around their homes and farms, and finding their own ways to have fun. Entertainment was often something you created yourself—and the whole community could become part of the adventure.

For young people growing up in Plainfield, everyday life could be both simple and memorable. A walk down a dirt road, a summer afternoon at a swimming hole, a neighborhood gathering, a family tradition, or an improvised game could become a treasured memory. Because the community was small, the experiences of one family were often closely connected to those of another. Stories, traditions, practical knowledge, and local history were passed from one generation to the next through families, neighbors, and friends.

The Rice family has been an important part of Plainfield’s story for generations. Members of the family have contributed to the town’s civic life, politics, and culture, creating a long connection to the community and its people.

In 2024-2025, cousins Wesley Rice and Norman Rice recorded eight, hour-long oral history interviews, reflecting on their childhoods and their experiences growing up in Plainfield. Their conversations bring to life a time when the town was smaller, quieter, and more closely connected, while also revealing the ingenuity, humor, independence, and strong sense of community that characterized rural life.

These recordings offer more than personal memories. They provide a window into Plainfield’s past through the eyes of two people who experienced it firsthand. Their stories help us understand what daily life was like for children and families in a small Hilltown community during the mid-20th century—how people worked, played, traveled, celebrated, solved problems, and relied on one another.

The eight interviews preserve a valuable piece of Plainfield’s living history. They capture voices, stories, and details that might otherwise be lost, while giving younger generations an opportunity to hear directly from those who remember Plainfield as it once was.

We invite you to listen to Wesley and Norman Rice as they share their memories of growing up in Plainfield.

Track 1: Setting the Stage

Track 2: Our Early Years

Track 3: Elementary Years

Track 4: High School

Track 5: After Thoughts

Track 6: Sugaring

Track 7: Summer

Track 8: From 18 to 88

Read more about the Rice family below

Read the Tribute to Ernest Rice given by Reverend Sylvester Robertson (1880–1981), a a prominent Congregational minister who spent a significant portion of his life and ministry serving the town of Plainfield, Massachusetts.

The Rice Family History Learn more about the genealogy of the Rice Family.

In 1978 the Rice barn, then owned by the Chudy family, was destroyed by a fire. Plainfield lost one of the most majestic barns of its kind.

Check out Dorothy Rice’s Post Card Collection

Items from Plainfield Historical Society – Rice Collection

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Ralph and Dorothy Rice Dedication from 1971 Town Report

“Ralph and Dorothy Rice? Why, they’ve always been more than just “good neighbors”: They’ve probably been about the best neighbors most families in this town ever had! It seems to me, back when everyone in town knew everyone else, it was Ralph who was always right there to organize the Bee for any family with troubles”. 

“Back when” has gone by, and so have the work bees, when neighbors did a sick man’s haying or helped rebuild a burnt-out barn. But Ralph and Dorothy Rice are still here, and still “more than good neighbors. I’d say humanitarians might be the better word” says a contemporary. 

Both have “done for the town” as well as for individuals, with an impressive 118 years of elected and appointed township offices between them, to date: Dorothy is still on the Committee for the Whiting Street Fund; Ralph is the Barn and Cattle Inspector. Ralph “got involved” in 1919, with his first election as Selectman, a post he held off and on for 28 of the next 40 years. He was also Tax Collector, Assessor, Fire Chief, Sealer of Weights and Measures, and prepared the town reports. 

Dorothy’s first elected position was in 1922, to the School Committee. She even taught a few days back then. From the late 40’s on she was School Attendance Officer (better known as Truant Officer) for the huge salary of $1 a year – until the local school closed in ’67. She served 15 years as Library Trustee, and has been on the Whiting Street Committee since 1960. 

Ralph was born here, September 15, 1891, at his family’s farm on Jones Avenue (now the Chudy place) – an event duly noted in the Town Report of that year. His second mention in the Town Reports might give his 12 grand children something to chide him about: in all his years of attendance at South School (No. 2 school, on South Street just off Pleasant) for only one term of one year (1900) was he “neither absent nor tardy”, not an outstanding record. But his friends rush to his defense here: “not from lack of tryin’ – probably had late chores – wasn’t so easy getting to school then as it is now, you know”. The point is well taken, and besides Ralph did penance for it, by driving the school bus seven years, in the 20’s and 30’s, and you can bet those students weren’t tardy. 

“Doin’ chores” has been Ralph’s life, as he is first and foremost a farmer, the son and grandson of farmers. After selling “the old place” on Jones Avenue, where he and Dorothy raised six children (five still living) they moved, a few years back, across the road, to what had been his brother Ernest’s farm on Rte. 116, and Ralph still farms it. And Dorothy is still a farmer’s wife, with all the necessary skills: she still braids room-size rugs and makes the finest donuts in town. 

Both are still active in Grange. Ralph has been a member of the local Grange for 66 years; Dorothy Skelton belonged to the Worthington Grange before she married Ralph and moved here in 1918, so is an over-60-years member in her own right. 

Ralph’s Grange-related service is known far beyond this town. One of his first loves has been Fairs. Back in 1960, on the occasion of the Hillside Agricultural Association’s 100th anniversary, Ralph – who has held about every post in the Cummington Fair’s officer roster, including Director – received a plaque for “Longest continuous years of service”. He still serves as Honorary Director, and this year marks his 50th year of “continuous service”. 

Another plaque in his living room is a 1962 award for distinguished service from the Massachusetts State Fair Association, of which he was President and Chairman of the Executive Board. 

Plainfield gives no plaques for distinguished service, yet clearly honor is due. As one of the old-timers says of the Rices, “nobody really knows all the things they’ve done to help people”. Probably not – nor will we ever know all. But what we do know adds up to more than enough to make us proud to dedicate this Town Report – our “plaque” – to Ralph and Dorothy Rice.