Amos Adams (1728 - 1775)

Born 1 Sep 1728 in Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth (Prentice) Adams — married 18 Oct 1753 in Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts

Descendants

Died 5 Oct 1775 at age 47 in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Al Adams [send private message]

Biography

Chaplain Amos Adams served with 20th Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment (1775), Continental Army during the American Revolution.

Amos Adams is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A000397.

Early Life

Amos Adams was born on September 1, 1728 in Medfield, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Bay, "the eldest of eleven children of Henry Adams, Esq, & Jemima Jemima Morse Adams." (page 10, Lawrence, 1912). ^[1][2][3]

First Marriage

He married Elizabeth Prentice on October 18, 1753, the fifth child of Deacon Henry and Elizabeth (Rand) Prentiss, of Cambridge, Mass. ^[4][5]

Together, they had eight known children^[1], all born in Roxbury, Mass:

1. Joseph Adams
2. Thomas Adams
3. Charles Adams, b. 16 Jan 1760^[6]
4. Henry Adams, b. 29 Jun 1758^[7]
5. Amos Adams, b. 3 Nov 1755 ^[8]
6. Elizabeth Adams, born 2 August 1754^[9]
7. Amos Adams (2), b. 25 Dec 1762^[10]
8. Sarah Adams, b. March 26, 1769 , Roxbury, Mass ^[1]

Unfortunately, shortly after the death of their last child, his wife passed on August 10, 1769. ^[11]

Second Marriage

About six months following the death of his first wife, he married again on Feb 15, 1770 to the widow Abigail Mears, but she passed shortly after their marriage. ^[1]

Third Marriage

He again married, this time to Sarah Chauncy, the daughter of Rev. Charles Chauncey. They wed on July 16, 1771. ^[1]

Education and Religious Service

He began his adult education at Harvard University at the age of twenty, which was quite old for collegiate education at the time, as the second to oldest member of the class. ^[1].

He was a graduate of Harvard University, receiving a Masters of the Arts in 1752. Shortly thereafter, at a meeting of the First Parish of Roxbury, he was voted to as pastor by unanimous vote, on February 28, 1753.^{[12] [1]}. His pastorship took place in the fourth meetinghouse of the town, spanning twenty one years.

He was noted to be a good vocalist, and held sermons full of energy. However, some in the church felt his language was 'too plain.'^[12]

During his tenure, He was noted in his dedication to the production and use of domestic items, and encouraged individuals to produce items in country rather than importing, especially from the British. One incident is recalled in September 1768, where over sixty women provided Mrs. Adams with materials to produce nearly one hundred yards of linen. ^[12]

His known published sermons, as cited in History of the First church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1630-1904, by Walter Eliot Thwing, ^[13]

• "On the Death of Madam Lucy Dudley, 1736,"
• "Artillery Election, 1759,"
• "Thanksgiving for the Redaction of Quebec, 1759"
• At the ordination of S. Kingsbury, 1761, and also of John Wyeth, 1766
• "The Only Hope and Refuge of Sinners, 1767"
• Dudleian Lecture, entitled "Diocesan Episcopacy at Harvard College, 1770" (on file at Harvard College)

Religious Service of the Military

Amos Adams was a Chaplain in Col David Brewer's 20th Massachusetts Bay Provincial Regiment. ^{[14][15] [16]}

Death and Burial

He died on October 05, 1775 in Roxbury, Suffolk county, Massachusetts. ^[11]

He is buried in Eliot Bury Ground, in Roxbury, Suffolk, Massachusetts. ^{[17] [18]}

Source

• Allen, William. An American Biographical and Historical Dictionary: Containing an Account of the Lives, Characters, and Writings of the Most Eminent Persons in North America From Its First Settlement, and a Summary of the History of the Several Colonies and of the United States. 2nd ed. Boston, Massachusetts: Hyde, 1832.
• McFarland, Jack Darrell Crowder. Chaplains of the Revolutionary War: Black Robed American Warriors, Oct 18, 2017
• Adams, Andrew Napoleon. A Genealogical History of Henry Adams, of Braintree, Mass. (Tuttle Co., Rutland, VT, 1898); p. 15

• Amos Addams in death of son Amos Addams, 2 Jun 1761, in Roxbury, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009473. page 213

• Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1903); p. 9

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Adams

Rev. Amos Adams was born in 1728. He was the son of Henry Adams and Jemima (Morse) Adams. He graduated from Harvard College in 1752. He became pastor of the First Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He married Elizabeth Prentice (daughter of Dea. Henry and Elizabeth Prentice of Cambridge, Massachusetts) on October 18, 1753. She died on August 10, 1769. He married Mrs. Abigail Mears on February 15, 1770. After she passed away, he married Sarah Chauncey (daughter of Rev. Dr. Charles Chauncey of Boston, Massachusetts) in 1771.

Rev. Amos Adams was Chaplain in Col David Brewer's 9th Continental Regiment in October 1775. He passed away in 1775.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Lawrence, Robert Means, MD. The Rev. Amos Adams, A.M., (1728-1775), Patriot Minister, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and His American Ancestry, (Boston, Mass: 1912)
2. ↑ Birth of Amos Adams, 1 Sep 1728 in Medfield, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, in Births, marriages and intentions, deaths, ca. 1651-1876 (Medfield, Massachusetts), page p Compiled from original record. Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009438.
3. ↑ Primary Source. Birth of Amos Adams, b. Sept 1st 1728, son of Henry Adams and Jemima, in Births, marriages and intentions, deaths, ca. 1651-1876 (Medfield, Massachusetts), image 62 of 601
4. ↑ Primary Source, Amos Adams and Elizabeth Prentice, 18 Oct 1753; citing Marriage, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; in Births & Deaths in Cambridge, a Record Thereof, beginning in the Year 1700. Dates include 1689-1820, Volume 2. Town Clerk of Cambridge Mass. page 120, first entry, FHL microfilm 007009826; also filmed here: page 120, first entry, FHL film 007009680
5. ↑ Marriage of Amos Adams and Elisabeth Prentice, 18 Oct 1753; citing Marriage, Cambridge, Middlesex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, , in Middlesex County Marriages, Vol 1, 1745-1793, compiled from town records,page 223, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 004198966.
6. ↑ Amos Addams in birth of son Charles Addams, 16 Jan 1760, in Roxbury, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Town of Roxbury: Birth, Marriages, deaths, 1630-1867, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009473, page 91
7. ↑ Amos Addams in birth of son Henry Addams, 29 Jun 1758, in Roxbury, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Town of Roxbury: Birth, Marriages, deaths, 1630-1867, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009473, page 89
8. ↑ Amos Addams in birth of son Amos Addams, 3 Nov 1755 in Roxbury, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Town of Roxbury: Birth, Marriages, deaths, 1630-1867, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009473, page 84,
9. ↑ Amos Addams in birth of daughter Elizabeth Addams, 2 Aug 1754 in Roxbury, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Town of Roxbury: Birth, Marriages, deaths, 1630-1867, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009473, page 83
10. ↑ Amos Addams in birth of son Amos Addams (2), 25 Dec 1762 in Roxbury, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009473. page 93
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Town of Roxbury: Birth, Marriages, deaths, 1630-1867, page 98, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, Boston; FHL microfilm 007009473.
    • Elizabeth Prentice Adams, 11 Aug 1769; citing Death, Roxbury, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America
    • Amos Adams, 5 Oct 1775; citing Death, Roxbury, Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America,
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1 12.2} Thwing, Walter Eliot. History of the First church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1630-1904, (Stanhope Press, F. H. Gilson: Boston, Massachusetts, 1908)
13. ↑ "Sermons of Amos Adams," in Thwing, Walter Eliot. History of the First church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1630-1904, (Stanhope Press, F. H. Gilson: Boston, Massachusetts, 1908) list of Sermons
14. ↑ Daughters of the American Revolution, DAR Genealogical Research Databases, database online, (http://www.dar.org/ : accessed 2021-12-28), "Record of Amos Adams", Ancestor # A000397.
15. ↑ Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War (Wright & Potter Printing Co., Boston, 1896); Vol. 1, p. 36
16. ↑ The Massachusetts Magazine (Salem, Mass., 1908-1918); Vol. 10, No. 4, p. 167
17. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #92007506, Eliot Burying Ground, Roxbury, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
18. ↑ Inscriptions From The Old Burial Ground, Roxbury, Mass., The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., 1860) Vol. 14, Page 50

• Find A Grave: Memorial #92007506
• Annual Report of The Cemetery Department of The City of Boston (Municipal Printing Office, Boston, 1904) "Fiscal Year 1903-1904", Page 56.

• Heitman, Francis Bernard. Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution (W.H. Lowdermilk & Co., Washington, DC, 1893); p. 63