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Richard Adams (c. 1651/6–1728), probably son of James Adams and Frances Vassall

Rebecca Davis (c. 1656–1709/28)

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Richard Adams, probably the son of James Adams and Frances Vassall, was possibly born on 19 April 1651 or say about 1656. He died in Newent in Norwich, New London County, Connecticut on 24 August 1728. [1] He married Rebecca Davis on 24 June 1679 in Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. [2]

Rebecca Davis was probably born about 1656, based on the date of her marriage. She died between 1709 and 11 May 1728.

Kendall P. Hayward says that Richard Adams was in Plainfield as early as 1694. He demonstrates, with a series of land records from 1701 to 1706, that there were two Richard Adams in Plainfield then, and one was the uncle of the other. He concludes that it is likely that the uncle was the Richard here and the second Richard—the nephew—was the Richard who was baptized as the son of William and Elizabeth on 22 August 1678 in Sudbury. The Richard here and William, the father of the other Richard, were the sons of James Adams. [1][2] The only difficulty is that, while James Adams had sons named Richard and William, the Scituate records indicate that Richard died shortly after birth. The conclusion is that it is likely that either this record is an error or that the Richard here is an unrecorded son of James, born, say, 1656.

It has been claimed that Rebecca was the daughter of Robert and Bridget (Loker) Davis of Sudbury. [3] This seems plausible, but there is no apparent evidence that they had a daughter named Rebecca.

Richard was a member of Captain Mosely's company from Sudbury in King Philip's War. After the fighting on 19 December 1675, he was listed as one of nine wounded men at Rhode Island on 6 January 1676. [4]

In 1695 in Plainfield, Benjamin Palmer, a tenant of Major Fitch, was arraigned for refusing to pay rent to Major Fitch, for striking the rent collector, Richard Adams, and swearing that he would kill Major Fitch. He was ordered to pay a fine of £70 or be whipped fifteen stripes on his naked body. [5]

On 13 November 1699, Richard, Major James Fitch, Joseph Spalding, Joshua Whitney, Benjamin Spalding and James Kingsbury signed a petition to incorporate Plainfield and hire a minister. [5]

In 1699 Richard Adams was chosen collector for the for the west side of Plainfield; Jacob Warren was chosen a collector for the east side. [5] In 1702 Richard was a surveyor for the west side of Plainfield. [5]

On 17 November 1701 Richard Adams bought land in what is now Canterbury from Major Fitch. [1]

On 8 April 1702 Major Fitch of Plainfield in the county of New London deeded Richard Adams (the nephew) 60 acres of land next to his uncle's land for five pounds. [1]

As crossing the Quinebaugh River to attend religious services was difficult, on 24 December 1702 the settlers of Plainfield agreed to divide the town into two religious societies. Richard signed the agreement as a settler in the west part. [5] In 1703 land from Plainfield on the west side of the river became the town of Canterbury. In 1706 it was rumored that Major James Fitch was attempting to have land between Plainfield and Canterbury—where Richard Adams lived—become part of Canterbury. Richard was deputized to protest this to the court. Unfortunately, he was weak and sick with a contagious illness and only got half way to Hartford. However, he penned a request that this area not become part of Canterbury and it was granted. [5]

On 1 May 1703 Richard Adams of Plainfield sold Major Fitch 500 acres of land next to the land owned by Richard Adams Jr. for 240 pounds. [1]

In 1703, Richard Adams of Preston bought 3,000 acres of wilderness for 200 pounds from Major Fitch. [5][6] Larned says that Richard Adams, Jr. settled on part of this land. [5]

Major Fitch deeded the land that he bought from Richard Adams, described as bounding the land of Richard Adams Secundus, to his son Jedidiah Fitch. Jedidiah sold it on 21 Mar 1706 to Charles Davenport, describing it as bounding the land of Richard Secundus. [1]

On 27 December 1706 Richard Adams of Preston (the nephew) sold his land in what is now Canterbury, that bounded the land of Charles Davenport. [1]

Rebecca, the wife of Richard, was admitted to full communion in the church in Norwich in 1709. [7]

In October 1714 the land that Richard lived on became part of Canterbury. [5]

Richard Adams, husbandman of Newent in Norwich, being “sick and weak,” made his will on 11 May 1728. He named his sons Richard, John, Daniel, Joseph, and Isaac Adams and his daughters Rebecca Hagget, Sarah Adams, Hannah Bacon, Mary Baldwin, and Abigail Brown. His witnesses testified on 2 October 1728 and his inventory was exhibited on 12 November 1728. [8]

Children of Richard Adams and Rebecca Davis: Births of the first six recorded in Sudbury as the children of Richard an Rebecca. [2]

i. Richard Adams was born on 11 April 1680. He died on 3 October 1745 in Pomfret, Windham County. [1] He married Mary Cady on 21 July 1709 in Canterbury. [1] Mary, the daughter of Daniel Cady and Mary (Green) Cady, was born on 20 October 1684 in Groton and died on 22 May 1752 in Canterbury. [1]

Richard Adams, Jr. was admitted to the the church in Canterbury in 20 September 1713. [7]

ii. Rebecca Adams was born on 2 February 1682. She died on 9 January 1760 in Newent. [1] Rebecca, the daughter of Richard, married Moses Haggett on 16 October 1712 in Canterbury. [1][7]

Rebecca was admitted to the church in Lisbon, New London County in 1724/5; Moses was admitted in 1726. [7]

iii. Sarah Adams was born on 8 May 1683. She died on 16 April 1753 in Pomfret. [1] She married Henry Adams on 19 December 1706 in Canterbury. [1] Henry was the son of Samuel Adams. [1]

iv. John Adams was born on 26 October 1686. He died in 1733/4 in Pomfret. [1] He married Esther Cady on 27 March 1710/1 in Canterbury. [1] Esther was probably the daughter of John and Joanna (Whitney) Cady. [1]

v. Daniel Adams was born on 4 March 1688. He died on 20 March 1774 in Pomfret. [1] He married Elizabeth Larabee on 25 March 1718 in Pomfret. [1] She was possibly the daughter of Greenfield Larabee and Alice (Parke) Larabee, born on September 1692 in Norwich. [1]

vi. William Adams was born on 29 January 1689/90. He died on 1 August 1727 in Norwich. He married Susannah Woodward.

viii. Captain Joseph Adams was baptized on 29 June 1708 in Norwich. [7] He died on 10 October 1753 in Pomfret. [1] He married first Mary Davenport on 3 November 1724 in Pomfret. [1] Mary, the daughter of Charles and Waitstill (Smith) Davenport, was born on 14 March 1705 in Dorchester and died on 23 February 1737 in Pomfret. [1] He married second Elizabeth Cary on 23 February 1738. [1] She died on 3 September 1753 in Pomfret. [1]

Joseph is referred to as Captain Joseph in his father's estate papers. [8]

ix. Isaac Adams was baptized on 29 June 1708 in Norwich. [7] He died on 26 April 1757 in Pomfret. [1] He married Eleanor Unknown. [1] She died about 1784 in Pomfret. [1] She married second Benjamin Fassett on 5 February 1758 in Pomfret. [1] He was born in 1690 and died in 1764. [1]

x. Mary Adams was baptized on 10 August 1708 in Norwich. [7] She married Unknown Baldwin. She married John Baldwin on 22 February 1720/1 in Canterbury. [1] John, the son of Benjamin and Hannah (Knolton) Baldwin, was born about 1697 and died on 6 July 1759 in Canterbury. [1]

xi. Abigail Adams married first John Brown on 20 November 1721 in Canterbury. [1] She married second Unknown White. [1]

References

1. Kendall P. Hayward, “Richard Adams of Sudbury, Mass.; Plainfield and Norwich, Conn.,” The American Genealogist 23 (1946): 141–9.

2. Vital Records of Sudbury, Massachusetts, To the Year 1850 (Boston: New England History Genealogical Society, 1903), 10, 161–2.

3. Alfred Sereno Hudson, History of Sudbury (Sudbury: the town, 1889), 48.

4. George Bodge, "Soldiers in King Philip's War," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 37 (1883): 185.

5. Ellen D. Larned, History of Windham County, Connecticut, vol. 1 (Worcester, MA: Charles Hamilton, 1874), 107, 112–3, 117, 119, 149, 192–3.

6. John Warner Barber, Connecticut Historical Collections, 2nd ed. (New Haven: Durrie & Peck and J.W. Barber, 1836), 413.

7. "Connecticut, U.S., Church Record Abstracts, 1630–1920, database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/3032) > Volume 15 Canterbury, images 4–8; Volume 59 Lisbon, image 62; Volume 84 Norwich, images 8–9.

8. "Connecticut, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1609–1999," database with images, Ancestry (2015 : https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/9049) > Hartford > New London District, Probate Packets, A–Ames, S, 1675–1850, images 191–6; New London > Probate Records, Vol C–D, 1725–1742, image 200 (transcript).

9. Gale Ion Harris, "The Estate of Martha Harris and Early Bacon Families of Eastern Connecticut," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 167 (2012): 23–34.

10. Jan Marotte, "The Widow Bacon Who Wasn't," Connecticut Nutmegger 30 (1997), 208–10.

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07-Jan-2023