John Washington Adams Sr. (abt. 1783 - 1853)

Born about 1783 in Roaring River, Wilkes, North Carolina, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Sarah (Woolfolk) Adams — married about 1803 in Wilkes County, North Carolina, USA

Husband of Jane Martin (Donnell) Adams — married 29 Jul 1845 in Greene, Missouri, United States

Descendants

Died 15 Nov 1853 at about age 70 in Jackson Township, Greene, Missouri, USA

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Biography

JOHN WASHINGTON ADAMS^[1] was born near Traphill, North Carolina around the year 1783,^[2] the year in which representatives of King George III and the United States of America signed the Treaty of Paris freeing the Colonies from British rule. Traphill lies along the middle fork of the Roaring River in Wilkes County, North Carolina. John was the middle child and only son of 5 children born to the Baptist family of Benjamin and Henrietta Adams.

At the onset of the War, his father Benjamin, along with Ben’s parents and brothers, natives of Loudoun County in the flourishing northern neck of Virginia, had forsaken their land contracts with Lord Thomas Fairfax, a Loyalist, fleeing south in their Conestogas along the Great Wagon Road to the Bryan Settlement of the Yadkin River Valley near present-day Cooleemee. There they accumulated for themselves large adjoining plantations dotted along Bryan[t]s Mill, Sugartree, Dutchman, and Bear Creeks with which they proudly helped to furnish supplies to Gen. Washington’s Continental Army. For this patriotic service, Ben himself had been rewarded 100 pounds.

Successful early Baptist centers along the Road, including the Forks of the Yadkin, had been targeted by a series of punitive raids following the Battle of Alamance. Because of this, the majority of the disbanded congregations migrated further south to the back country of South Carolina. Other refugees, including the Adamses, headed west to settle in and near the short-lived State of Franklin. So it was in 1781 that Ben's brother Spencer was the first to purchase land upon the Roaring River in Wilkes County. Much of the family, including Ben and Henrietta soon followed. In late July of 1785 Ben’s brothers Spencer and Jacob witnessed his purchase of 340 acres of land on Big Sandy Creek. The mouth of Big Sandy Creek empties into the eastern prong of the Roaring River between Joynes and Traphill under Stone Mountain. Ben then sold half of this tract to their aging father, John Adams, Sr., the family patriarch, who made it his home tract upon which to retire.

As this new settlement of Baptists grew, the Roaring River Baptist Church was created. John’s mother, Henrietta, claimed, but unverified, by descendants to be a Caudill by birth, joined the Church by experience and baptism in April of 1787. She was devout and influential in her faith. She was likely of strong opinion and harbored private judgement of her peers, for she was known over the years for an occasional dispute with her contemporaries.

At any rate, here John was brought up into a rather close-knit, adventurous, and well-to-do family of Baptists, much to the relief of Ben and Ritter for desire of a son and heir, and his two older sisters Betty and Sarah had themselves a brother to torture, love on, and play with. Two more sisters, Esther and Nancy, soon followed to complete their loving family.

There is not much accounting for the young education of John or his sisters, except that it is probable that each were infused with principles of faith and morality and John taught fundamentals in planting and proprietorship. As his budding sisters blossomed into beautiful young ladies in the late 1790’s, his eldest sister Betty was first to marry the eligible Randall Holbrook. Sarah soon married the older Stephen Caudill, who had served the War and no doubt had a number of exciting stories to impress her with. If we are to assume Henrietta, their mother, had herself been a Caudill by birth, then we could further infer that the match between Sarah and Stephen may have been nurtured in an interest of strengthening family ties or wealth. The turn of the new century saw Esther married off to one William Williams.

Among John's father Benjamin’s business partners was another local planter named Joseph Woolfolk. They often collaborated and worked together in the advancement of Wilkes County’s affairs. During one such occurence, the young John crossed paths with Joseph’s beautiful daughter Sarah. Whether their chance meeting was set up by their watchful parents, no one knows. The friendship between the two, however, was a short one, for John was all but smitten with her. The manner in which John spoiled the blushing young lady, the secrets that were kept and the promises that were whispered are lost to time, but his charm intoxicated her just the same. They were married in 1803.

The last account of John Adams, Sr., the family patriarch, was in October of 1803 when he conveyed his 172 acre home tract in Wilkes County to his eldest son, John Adams Jr.^[3] It is believed that John Adams, Sr. died shortly thereafter. The death of John Adams, Sr., family patriarch, resulted in the dissolution of ties to their homes upon the Roaring River.

Also in 1803, the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from the French came as an inspiration to both families. Their hard-won country had just doubled in size, and a new world of opportunity had just stretched out before them. The Baptist movement was escalating, the western theater was widening, and letters were exchanged from all over brimming with exciting news of new opportunities and strongholds beyond the Appalachians. John's uncle Spencer, had returned with news to the Roaring River settlement about a Baptist haven beyond the Kentucky River. In March 1807, the 172-acre home tract on Big Sandy Creek was sold off to one John Holder. Spencer Adams organized a wagon train, and a large majority of the Adams and extended kin, along with our John and Sarah, were on it. Among the few who stayed behind was John's parents Benjamin and Henrietta, who still remained tied to their plantation along the Yadkin.

Ann, John Sr.'s widow, moved to Claiborne County, Tennessee to be cared for by either her son, John Owsley, or her daughter, Sarah Botts, both from her first marriage to one Thomas Owsley decades past. It is important to note that Ann was the Adams matriarch by marriage only, and that the name of John Adams, Sr.’s first wife, mother to all of his children, is now lost to time. The widow Anny Adams is last documented in a Bill of Sale to her son-in-law, Joshua Botts, who lived on Sand Lick near Big Barren Creek, recorded in Claiborne County, Tennessee^[4] on December 10, 1810.

In the fall of 1810, a little band of Regular Baptists, numbering about twenty, met at the home of Isaac Whitaker, about two miles up the Kentucky River from what is now Blackey, near a bottom known as Indian Bottom, and established the Indian Bottom Church under pastor Electious Thompson. Among the first to the vicinity of Indian Bottom was their uncle John Adams, together with his five sons and two daughters, and other kindred, settled near the mouth of Bottom Fork. Stephen and Sarah (Adams) Caudill, with their family and some of their kinfolk, settled near the mouth of Sandlick Creek a year or so later.

John’s first roots in Floyd County are found in a deed dated September 20, 1810, having purchased 50 acres of land from William Martin, Sr. on the Right Fork of Beaver Creek. It was there on Beaver Creek, and likely on some of their visits to Tennessee, that their 8 children would be born. Their names were John Washington, Henrietta, Joseph, Frances, Martha, Sowell, Sarah, and Nancy Ann. John would sell this same 50 acre tract to John Hays on August 16, 1819.

Perry County, Kentucky was created from parts of Clay and Floyd Counties on November 2, 1820 with an effective date of February 26, 1821. John Adams is listed on the Perry County tax list of 1822.

John’s esteemed father Benjamin died in 1824 and was buried in the vicinity of Mayking. The birth of his youngest daughter Nancy Ann, having been born in the spring of 1823, gives us the estimate that his beloved wife Sarah must have taken ill and passed away shortly thereafter. These two great losses in John’s life, with a home full of children without a mother, dealt quite the devastating blow for him. It is likely these two events are the reason he remained in Perry County for a time to keep his children close to their grandmother. To honor Sarah’s memory, John and his slaves would finish raising his children alone. One is left to wonder if he also took comfort in any number of his female slaves, as he would not marry again for nearly 2 decades.

On December 29, 1827, his daughter Henrietta married William, son of William Martin, Sr. from whom John purchased his first tract of land in Floyd County.

On December 30, 1828, John and his mother Henrietta, executors of his father’s estate, sold a 50-acre parcel of land on the North Fork of Kentucky River above the mouth of Thornton Creek to James Craft, his uncle John’s 37-year-old grandson, for $150.^[5]

A couple years later, his eldest son John Washington married Polly, daughter of Revolutionary War hero Anthony and Rutha Butler-Hall.

In the autumn of 1832, his son Joseph married Dicy Mullins of Shelby Creek.

In the mid-1830’s, John and his three married children decided to spread their wings. John Washington, Henrietta, and Joseph chose to remain near their spouses’ families and settled along Harts Creek of the Guyandotte River Valley in the early years of Logan County, Virginia. John’s recovered sense of adventure would take him and his remaining children along the westward trails of his youngest sister Esther Williams to Missouri’s Springfield Plateau. Congress’s passing of Henry Clay’s Missouri Compromise of 1820 had much to do with his decision. It allowed Missouri to be admitted as a slave state in exchange for the admission of Maine as a free one, so as not to upset the Senate’s balance of power. John Adams, along with Thomas Potter, William Potter, Robert Small, James Donnell, and Capt. John Ramey, were among the first settlers of township 31, range 20 in the newly organized Jackson Township, Greene County. It was here that John would live out the remainder of his life, having brought his remaining children and slaves and carving out a 280-acre corn plantation.

John’s mother would pass away in 1836 and be buried by Benjamin near Mayking. The settlement of her estate would name her son John “of Missouri” and his aforementioned siblings. In November, John and his sisters, the heirs of Benjamin Adams, collectively sold their father’s 75-acre plantation on the North Fork of Kentucky River to their brother-in-law Randolph Holbrook for $500.^[6]

During their adventures in Missouri, John and Sarah’s daughter Frances would marry James Stanphill in 1837 and move to Arkansas.

In 1838, federal troops commanded by General Winfield Scott rounded up about 16,000 Cherokees and forced them into camps. Soldiers took people from their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Over the fall and winter of 1838-1839, these Cherokees set out on the long journey west. Forced to march in the cold, rain, and snow without adequate clothing, many grew weak and ill. A quarter of them died. This harsh journey of the Cherokee from their homeland to Indian Territory became known as the Trail of Tears.

John's daughter Nancy Ann married Andrew J. Nicholas in 1840.

On July 29, 1845, John married Jane Donnell, a 32 year old daughter of the aforementioned early settler James Donnell. She had previously had children with Robert Harper, whom she had recently divorced. By John's marriage to Jane, a negro slave named Rachel came into the family. John and Jane had 3 children of their own, Mary Jane, Nelson Fordice, and Julia Ann Sypressa.

December 26, 1846, John, in exchange for $40, sold to his daughter, Martha, a 4-year-old negro girl named Amanda.^[7]

The California gold fever, which broke out early in the year 1849, greatly excited the people of the West, and Greene County was one of the first communities to take the infection. In the early spring of this year many residents of the area prepared to set out for the new Eldorado, of whose abundant and easily acquired riches such marvelous tales were told -- where, it was said, even the wave of the river and the spray of the fountain were bright with the glitter of drops of virgin gold.

On December 20, 1849, John's daughter Martha married Caswell S. Williams (1822-1897), a soldier of the War with Mexico. Caswell, a native of Roane County, Tennessee, had been honorably discharged the previous year, a 2nd Lieutenant in Capt. Thomas Jones’ Company B, Mounted Santa Fe Trace Battalion of Missouri Volunteers. The newlyweds subsequently chased all the promises of California.

I am unsure of who Sowell married or where he ended up in his travels. He was, for a time, imprisoned for grand larceny and later acquitted. What is clear to me is that he at least maintained close relations with the family of his brother Joseph, since Joseph’s son Anthony would eventually name his own son Sewell (1879-1951).

John’s slave schedule of the year 1850 shows that he owned 22 slaves; 14 of them were listed as black, while the other 8 are listed as mulatto. He gave at least one of these slaves, a boy named Lawson, to his son Joseph to serve his family and heirs. One is left to speculate the possibility of Lawson being a mulatto half-brother to Joseph.

In the fall of 1853, fearing for his mortality, he began to dispose of his estate. On September 13, in exchange for a single dollar, he "sold" unto Jane and their three minor children, Mary, Nelson, and Julia, five of his slaves slaves. They were Rachel, the woman that came to John by his and Jane's marriage; Jont, a negro man; and Henry, Jim, Lewis, and Reuben, all child slaves. In the deed, John clarifies that the purpose of the sale of these slaves is for them to be enjoyed by Jane and the family, and is not to be considered advancement of his estate. This deed of gift was witnessed by Willis Spence and John M. Donnell, Jane's brother.^[8] On October 20, John "sold" unto Jane and their minor children, in exchange for a dollar, both of his parcels of land in Greene County. One parcel was for 80 acres while the other consisted of 40, amounting to a total of 120 acres. Again, John clarifies in his deed that it is a legitimate sale and not to be regarded an advancement of his estate. This deed of gift was witnessed by John Harkness, Alexander Snider, and J. J. Phillips.^[9]

John produced his will October 24, 1853. Interestingly, he forgoes any reference to his soul or creed that is so commonly found in contemporary wills of his time. He mentions an estimated advancement close to a thousand dollars that he had paid to his eldest son, John Washington, and states that he had no desire to will him any more of his estate. The family of his deceased son, Joseph, was to keep a negro man named Lawson that they had in their home for the past few years. Frances, Sowell, and Nancy were to receive $500 each. His daughters Henrietta and Sally were to receive only a single dollar. Martha, his youngest daughter by his first wife, was to keep an 11-year old negro girl named Amanda that was left in his possession. Martha was also to receive $500 and the notes that John against the estate of her husband, Caswell Williams, were to be voided. John's widow, Jane, was to enjoy the remainder of his estate, both real and personal. In the event that Jane should marry, John willed that the remainder of his estate be divided between Jane and their three children, Mary, Nelson, and Julia.

By Jane’s own account in the settlement papers of his estate, John Adams died November 15, 1853.

Last Will and Testament of John Adams

“I John Adams of the County of Greene and State of Missouri, being feeble in health, but of sound mind and disposing memory, and bearing mind the uncertainty of human life, and being desirous in view of the contingency of death, of disposing of my temporalities in a way most satisfactory to my mind, do make and ordain this to be my last will and testament, hereby revoking all other wills by me heretofore made.
1st It is my desire that all my just debts and funeral expenses be fully paid
2nd I have heretofore given my son John W. by way of advancement about one thousand dollars. It is not my desire therefore to give him any more of my estate.
3rd I give and bequeath to my daughter [Ritter] Martin relict of William Martin deceased one dollar.
4th I give and bequeath to my daughter Frances Stanfield wife of James Stanfield the sum of five hundred dollars.
5th It’s my will & desire that the children of my son Joseph Adams have, to be equally divided among them Lawson a negro boy now owned by me – said boy having lived however, some three years with my said son Joseph and his family since his decease.
6th I give and bequeath to my daughter Sally Potter, wife of Benjamin T. Potter one dollar.
7th I give and bequeath to my son Sowel Adams five hundred dollars.
8th I give and bequeath to my daughter Nancy Ann Nichols wife of Andrew Nichols five hundred dollars.
9th I had given to my daughter Martha Williams wife of C. S. Williams before she left for California my negro girl Amanda and it being the desire of my said daughter to leave said girl with me until her return I gave my daughter as an assurance for said girl my note for five hundred dollars. It is therefore my will and desire that she have said girl and that she have out of my estate, provided said note for five hundred dollars be given up, this sum of five hundred dollars. It is further my will that certain notes I hold endorsed by my son-in-law C. S. Williams I’ve given up to him to be cancelled.
10th It is my will and desire, after the above devised sums be paid out of my estate by my executors hereinafter appointed, that all the remainder of my estate both real and personal go to my beloved wife Jane M. Adams, to be by her used and enjoyed during her natural life, or widowhood, and in the event of marriage it is then my will that all my said estate remaining at that time be equally divided between my said wife and my children, Mary Jane, Nelson F, and Julian S, and should my said wife never marry again but remain my widow then it is my desire at her death that all the remainder of my estate be equally divided between my three last mentioned children and should either of them die without issue, then to the survivor or survivors of the whole blood.
11th I hereby appoint my friend Thaddeus Sharpensteen and my beloved wife Jane M. Adams executors of this my last will and testament.
Given under my hand and seal this 24th day of October 1853.
John Adams”

Administration

October 7, 1853, because a verdict of jury empaneled and sworn to try the sanity of John Adams deemed him insane, the Probate Court appointed Andrew Bass as guardian of his estate, with Benjamin T. Potter, Thomas Potter, and John Ramy as Bass' securities.

The sale of his estate took place December 20-21, 1853. While his estate was appraised at $4,184.60 ($164,034.15, 2023), it sold for $2,821.22 ($110,590.36, 2023), netting a $1,363.38 ($53,443.79, 2023) loss from the initial appraisal.

December 22, 1853, Chatham Duke received $4 from Thaddeus Sharpensteen, executor, for assisting in appraising the property of John Adams and for clerking at the sale of his estate.

December 22, 1853, Benjamin Potter and Sally Potter his wife, Sowell Adams, Andrew Nichols and Nancy A. Nichols his wife, Caswell S. Williams and Martha Williams his wife, Reason McMinn and Susannah McMinn his wife, John W. Adams, Martha J. Martin infant by Andrew Nichols her Guardian, Bentley Martin minor by Andrew Nichols his Guardian, James Stanphill and Frances Stanphill his wife, Plaintiffs against Thaddeus Sharpensteen, Jane M. Adams, Executors of John Adams Deceased, Mary J. Adams minor, Julia Ann S. Adams minor, Nelson F. Adams minor, Henderson Dingess and Sally Dingess his wife, John Adams minor, Rhoady J. Adams minor, Solomon Adams minor, Anthony Adams and Benjamin Adams, Defendants.

January 13, 1854, Thaddeus Sharpensteen and Jane M. Adams, executors, personally appeared before James Dollison, Probate Judge, and presented a full inventory and description of the money, goods, chattels, and estate real and personal, books, papers, and evidences of debt against the estate of John Adams.

September 4, 1854, Thomas Tiller, administrator de bonis non, received a notification from C. S. & R. S. Willis that they will present an account of doctor visits and medicines spanning from August 7, 1853 to December 7, 1853, amounting to $30, against the estate of John Adams at the next court hearing on the first Monday in December 1854.

December 23, 1854, Samuel Fulbright, Sheriff of Greene County, received 50 cents from Thomas Tiller, administrator, for having served notice for R. W. Donnell vs. John Adams.

The court appointed Thomas Tiller as administrator pendente lite of the estate of John Adams. An administrator pendente lite is appointed (by a probate court) to manage an estate and probate a will during the pendency of the dispute, or until a more permanent administrator or executor of the estate in question is installed. The resolution of the legal dispute terminates the administration.

February 19, 1856, James Dollison, Judge of the Probate Court, received $1 due to him from Thomas Tiller.

1858: Interest against John's estate: $1,330. Rent of land and hire of negroes: $310.

March 28, 1859, Jane M. Adams received $240 from Thomas Tiller, Administrator Pendente Lite, it being a part of $1000 allowed for the use of John's minor heirs.

August 1, 1859, Jane M. Adams received $100 from Thomas Tiller, Administrator Pendente Lite, it being a part of $1000 allowed for the use of John's minor heirs.

August 2, 1859, Jane M. Adams received $60 from Thomas Tiller, Administrator Pendente Lite, it being a part of $1000 allowed for the use of John's minor heirs.

October 1, 1859, Jane M. Adams received $50 from Thomas Tiller, Administrator Pendente Lite, it being a part of $1000 allowed for the use of John's minor heirs.

December 23, 1859, Jane M. Adams received $50 from Thomas Tiller, Administrator Pendente Lite, it being a part of $1000 allowed for the use of John's minor heirs.

January 2, 1860, Jane M. Adams received $100 from Thomas Tiller, Administrator Pendente Lite, it being the balance of $1000 allowed for the use of John's minor heirs.

January 30, 1860, Jane M. Adams received $150 from Thomas Tiller, Administrator Pendente Lite, being an allowance made by the Probate Court for the care of an old negro woman, probably Rachel, up until December 25, 1859.

February 14, 1874, R. F. Buller, with Nancy A. Nicholas and J. Chandler bound as securities in the penal sum of $5,000, was appointed administrator de bonis non of John Adams' estate.

December 12, 1874, Jane M. Adams was served by C. B. Owen, Sheriff of Greene County, notifying her that Nancy A. Nicholas, by her attorneys Buller and Lawrence, has filed a complaint against her and Thaddeus Sharpensteen. She declares that the executors are insolvent and wasting the estate, that Thaddeus Sharpensteen is no longer a resident of the county, that J. S. Bigbee, one of the securities given by Jane in her bond as administratrix pendente lite on August 17, 1869, has died while the others remain insolvent, and she asks the court for another bond and that Jane give sufficient security. The citation states Nancy's intention to deliver a sworn affidavit of these allegations to the court January 4, 1875.

May 13, 1876, Jane M. Adams (John P. Hill, agent) was served a citation notifying her of her requirement as administratrix of the estate of John Adams to present her account on the settlement of his estate on the first Monday in July 1876 and to show cause why an attachment should not be issued against her for not having done so previously.

Nancy died at her home in Cedar Springs on February 18, 1877.

January 17, 1881, Jane M. Adams, by her son-in-law and agent John P. Hill, filed her affidavit reporting that the estate of John Adams has been fully administered, that all debts and legacies are paid, and that there are no open accounts against his estate remaining. She then requests to be discharged from her executorship. John P. Hill, acting as her agent, testified that Jane M. Adams is old, inexperienced in business transactions, and too infirm to be present at court herself. She later testified and signed her name to the affidavit March 23, 1881 in the presence of J. M. Winsett, a Justice of the Peace.

Sources

1. ↑ Dorothy A. Griffith and Robert E. Parkin. "Adams Families of Southeast Kentucky". vol. IV, St. Louis, Missouri: D.A. Griffith, c1986. online at FamilySearch pages 54-56.
2. ↑ Family Histories of Letcher Co., Kentucky. Whitesburg, KY: Letcher County Historical and Genealogical Society, 1995. page 3.
3. ↑ [WCDB C-1, pp. 531]
4. ↑ [Deed book C, page 229]
5. ↑ PCDB A, page 372
6. ↑ PCDB B, page 135
7. ↑ Greene County, Missouri Deed Book D, pp. 276.
8. ↑ Greene County, Missouri Deed Book F, pp. 328.
9. ↑ Greene County, Missouri Deed Book F, pp. 329.