USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Historic homes and places and genealogical and personal memoirs relating to the families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume IV > Part 51
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(VI) Joseph Adams, son of Joseph Adams (5), born in Chelmsford, November 5, 1758; married, October 7, 1782, Lucy Blodgett, died October 12, 1803, age forty-two years. He died at Chelmsford, January 17, 1842-43. He was a soldier in the Revolution, a private in Captain John Ford's company, Colonel Jona- than Reed's regiment, to reinforce the North- ern army in 1777. Children, born at Chelms- ford: I. Lucy, born September 26, 1784, married Captain Amos Byam. 2. Joseph, born May 16, 1786, married, March, 1810, Mehitable Manning; (second) Mary Crane. 3. Ephraim, born September II, 1789, married, December 30, 1813, Tabitha Parker. 4. Sim- eon, born May 22, 1796, died May 24, 1797. 5 Deacon Otis, born June 5, 1798; men- tioned below.
(VII) Otis Adams, son of Joseph (6) and Lucy (Blodgett) Adams, was born in Chelms- ford, June 5, 1798, at what is now the Russell's
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mill place. Otis was an excellent student and ambitious for a college education, but he was never rugged, and on account of his health was denied a liberal training. At the age of seventeen he began teaching school, in which he was very successful, being well grounded in the three "R's," which were the principal studies of those days. A book is still pre- served in which is kept a record of the vari- ous schools he taught and the names of the pupils.
In one school there are recorded one hun- dred twenty-three names. This book con- tains over a thousand different names.
On April 4, 1822, Otis Adams and Abigail Osgood Read, daughter of Zaccheus and Mary Read, of Westford, were married at the Read home by Rev. Caleb Blake, coming at once to a farm located about two miles west of the center of Chelmsford which Mr. Adams had recently purchased. Here the family lived for twenty-seven years, during which time Otis carried on the farm, ran a large milk route to the new and growing city of Lowell, teaching schools in winter, ably aided in all his enterprises by his excellent wife. In 1849, on the marriage of his oldest son, also Otis, he left the farm and lived in the center of the town at the Caleb Abbott house which in after years he sold to the Misses Winn. In these years he served the town in most of the offices, settled many estates, and being public- spirited he aided many of the local interests. He was treasurer of the Chelmsford Monu- ment Association which erected the Revolu- tionary shaft on the Common, his name ap- pearing on the certificates as such. He was deacon of the Unitarian Church, was one of the founders of the Middlesex North Agri- cultural Society. He was a regularly enlist- ed member of the Chelmsford Cavalry when it was first organized. Soon after the death of his wife in June, 1872, he sold the home, gave up business and for several years lived in Chester, Vermont, later coming to his son Otis who lived on the farm where married life began for both, and here he died, January 26, 1881, aged eighty-three years. Children: I. Abigail, born May 25, 1823, married, Decem- ber 22, 1842, Hildreth P. Dutton; daughter, Mary Elizabeth Dutton, born in Chelmsford, October 15, 1849, married October 15, 1871, Hiram Laws, of Clinton; resides in Bedford; children: i. Eugene Hiram Laws, born in Clinton, September 20, 1873; graduated from Bedford high school, Cushing Academy, Ash- burnham, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1896: is assistant superintendent
of Ohio & Colorado Smelting & Refining Co., Salida, Colorado; ii. Frederick Adams Laws, born in Bedford April 4, 1876, grad- uated from Bedford and Concord high schools, and from Harvard, 1897; is super- intendent of Harvard Co-operative Society, Cambridge; iii. Kenneth Rogers Laws, born in Bedford, May 3, 1883; iv. Julia Ellen Laws, born in Bedford, January 8, 1886; graduated from Concord high school, 1905, living at home. 2. Otis, mentioned below. 3. Calvin Waldo, born April 12, 1828; married Sarah L. Byam, who died June 26, 1880; died December 1, 1879; children: i. Frances E., born June 10, 1853, died; ii. Abbie J., born July 29, 1855, died -; iii. Jesse G., born January 19, 1863; iv. Lucy F., born March I, I869.
(VIII) Otis Adams, son of Otis Adams (7), was born in Chelmsford, January 6, 1826. He was educated in the public schools of his na- tive town, and like his ancestors before him followed farming for a livelihood. He resid- ed in Chelmsford all his life. He was pru- dent, thrifty and sagacious in business deal- ings. He maintained the high position in so- ciety and in the opinions of his townsmen that his ancestors had attained. He was one of the best known and most highly esteemed citi- zens of Chelmsford. He was a man of ster- ling worth and spotless integrity, an active and consistent member of the Unitarian church. He was quiet and unostentatious in manner and loved his home above all things. He was in later life an influential Republican, but never sought public preferment. He mar- ried, November 15, 1849, Caroline S. Grover, of Chelmsford. Children, born at Chelms- ford: I. Emile E., born March 22, 1851, married. June II, 1872, Albert S. Read, of Westford; resides at Chelmsford. 2. Amos B., born July 18, 1853, mentioned below. 3. Edward Everett, born November 8, 1855, un- married; graduate of the Chelmsford public schools, the Westford Academy and the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, and is a very successful teacher of music, residing in Lowell, Massachusetts. 4. William, born November 1, 1858, died July 17. 1881. 5. Alice Gertrude, born March 20, 1862, died October, 1904, at Lowell, Massachusetts; mar- ried, December 25, 1884, Harry C. Greene, of Chelmsford. 6. Carrie L., born October 17, 1868, married William C. Ward, of Chelms- ford, an officer of the Boston custom house; children: Elizabeth and Elinore. 7. Herbert C., born November 20, 1871, resides in Nor- wich, Connecticut; married, April 3, 1894,
1
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Alice Russell, of Providence, Rhode Island; children: i. Helen Russell, born in Williman- tic, Connecticut, January 21, 1895; ii. Harriet Glover, born in Providence, Rhode Island, October 2, 1896.
(IX) Amos B. Adams, son of Otis Adams (8), was born in Chelmsford, July 18,. 1853. He was educated there in the public schools and at Westford Academy, and early in life began to work in Chelmsford, buying present homestead in 1881. He followed the same calling that most of his ancestors had fol- lowed; he has become one of the most prom- inent and progressive farmers of his native town, but is better known as a dealer in wood and lumber. He is proprietor and controls extensive woodland in Chelmsford and adja- cent towns of southern New Hampshire. He employs a large force of men during the sea- son cutting timber and hauling wood and lum- ber to market.
The site of the ancient homestead of the Adams family at Chelmsford, where this fam- ily has been prominent since the very founda- tion of the town more than two hundred and fifty years ago, is now known as Russell Mills. Of the ten generations given in this sketch, nine have lived their lives in the old town of Chelmsford. Thisis a remarkable fact and even in a work of this kind very few if any cases equal this record of the Adams family. The genealogies show that American families, as a rule, are constantly shifting their abodes from place to place. But this case is notable from the fact that the enterprise, thrift and sterling character and vigorous intellect that charac- terized the forefathers have been observed in all the succeeding generations, including the present. Mr. Adams is a man of unusual en- ergy, industry and ability. It is the ambition and intention of Mr. Adams to become pos- sessor of some of the property formerly owned by his grandparents and to this end, he is negotiating to reclaim a portion of same.
Mr. Adams is a member of Chelmsford Grange, Patrons of Husbandry ; Chelmsford Lodge, No. 218, Odd Fellows. In politics he is a Republican; in religion a Unitarian.
The Adams family early made a record in Chelmsford ; and many of that name to-day re- vert to the mother town as the place of their origin, while the patriotic deeds of their an- cestors for two centuries are an inspiration to them.
"The family of Adam or Adams (meaning red, adamah, red earth) can claim the distinc- tion of having the oldest individual name on record." Adams Genealogy.
Two sons of Henry Adams, the immigrant leader who settled in Braintree were among the founders of Chelmsford. Thomas, born in 1612, was well established with a large fam- ily when he was received as a member of the Chelmsford church, "27th of 2nd '56." Sam- uel, born 1617, was the father of a family when hé appears as town clerk of Chelmsford. They did a grand work here during the remainder of ther lives.
The former died in 1666 and the latter in 1676. It is apparent that the Adams family of Chelmsford was connected with Samuel Adams the patriot, and it is interesting that the two branches should have been so positive in espousing the cause of the patriots in the Revolution. Pelatiah Adams from Chelms- ford, who died in the service of his country at Cherry Valley, is remembered by the monu- ment on the Common in his native town; while Samuel, the leader in the Revolution, sleeps in Granary burying ground in Boston, with no slab to remind the passing stranger of the brave patriot. The Adams Library at Chelmsford is a fitting memorial of, not only the donor, but of all the descendants of the early settlers at Chelmsford by the name of Adams.
A gifted musician himself, his children have inherited his love for music and have been carefully trained in the art of playing various instruments. The family plays together as an orchestra and has more than a local fame, not only as a unique organization composed of father and children, but for the unusual ex- cellence and skill. The Adams orchestra has played frequently at church affairs, family gatherings and other occasions. The personnel of the orchestra is as follows: Amos B. Adams, clarinet and leader; Emily Belle Adams, piano; Annie Louise Adams, cornet ; William E. Adams, violin; M. Marion Adams, violin; Ruth E. Adams, violoncello; Adelbert B. Adams, drum; Edith H. Adams, cornet.
·Mr. Adams married, February 22, 1880, Hettie E. Mellen, born December 29, 1862, daughter of James and Cynthia (Barber) Mel- len, of Lowell, Massachusetts. Children, born in Chelmsford: I. Emily Belle, born May 8, 1881, graduate of the Chelmsford high school in the class of 1901, and of the Lowell State Normal School in the class of 1903; taught school in Chelmsford two years; after- ward a teacher of instrumental music. 2. An- nie Louise, born February 1, 1885, graduate of the Chelmsford high school in 1904; resides with parents. 3. William Everett, born De-
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cember 30, 1886, educated in the public schools, graduating in 1905 from the Chelms- ford high school; now a student of the Massa- chusetts Agricultural College at Amherst, Massachusetts, class of 1909. 4. Mabel Mar- ion, born April 15, 1889, a student in Chelins- ford high school, class of 1908. 5. Ruth Elizabeth, born October 30, 1890, member of class of 1908, Chelmsford high school. 6. Adelbert Barber, born August 9, 1894. 7. Edith Hazel, born February 2, 1898. 8. Leighton Mellen, born September 24, 1902.
(For ancestry see preceding Adams sketches).
ADAMS Benjamin Adams, son of Cap- tain Joseph Adams, was born in Chelmsford, December 1, 1701. He settled in his native town and was a farm- er. He married Olive He is called Benjamin, Jr., in the records to distinguish him from an older man, his uncle. He quit- claimed December 4, 1738, his interest in the estate of his brother Samuel, late of Chelms- ford, deceased. Children of Benjamin Adams, all born in Chelmsford: I. Olive, born in Chelmsford, December 24, 1724; married Timothy Colburn, of Dracut. 2. Benjamin, Jr., born February 25, 1727-8. 3. Oliver, born October 27, 1729, mentioned below. 4. William, born June 8, 1732, married Elizabeth Richardson. 5. Abijah, born about I734, died September 14, 1757.
(V) Oliver Adams, son of Benjamin Adams (4), born in Chelmsford, October 27, 1729; married, December 2, 1756, Rachel Proctor. He was a soldier in the Revolution, a private from Chelmsford in Colonel Loammi Bald- win's regiment, 1775; also in Captain John Ford's company, Colonel Jonathan Reed's regiment, September 27, 1777. He is said to have joined the Shaker settlement at Shirley, Massachusetts, late in life. He was a farmer in Chelmsford. Children of Oliver and Rachel Adams: 1. Rachel, born August 19, 1757. 2. Olive, September 27, 1759. 3. Sy- bil, born September 12, 1761; married Moses Hale. 4. Hannah, born April 12, 1764. 5. Oliver, mentioned below. 6. Nabby, born July 4, 1769. 7. Colonel Benjamin, born April 28, 1771 ; married Zerviah, daughter of Daniel and Zerviah (Houghton) Boynton; soldier in Shay's Rebellion; settled in Winch- endon, Massachusetts, where he died May 16, 1843
in 1788 settled in Rindge, New Hampshire. His widow Betsey married (second) Jonathan Blake, of Chelmsford. He died December 29, 1813. His farm at Rindge is that known at present as W. C. Brigham's place. Chil- dren, born at Rindge: I. Infant, died young. 2. Marshall, mentioned below. 3. Fanny, born January 22, 1803; married, 1828, Thom- as Baker, of Johnson, Vermont; died without issue, 1833.
(VII) Marshall Adams, son of Oliver Adams, (6), was born in Rindge, New Hampshire, March 14, 1801. He learned the clothier's trade in Rindge of Dea- con Brown. He removed, April 18, 1823, to New Boston, New Hampshire, and rented the clothing shop formerly occupied by John Kelso, situated in Lower Village, then con- taining but seven small dwelling houses, one grist mill, one clothing and carding mill, and one blacksmith shop. For three years he was engaged in the dyeing and fulling busi- ness and in the manufacture of woolen cloth. In 1826 he purchased the clothing shop of John Page, in the western part of the town, and continued wool-carding, dyeing, and full- ing until 1852. After that he followed farm- ing in New Boston until his death. He was deacon of the Presbyterian church more than forty years. Of him the "History of New Boston" says: "Of Deacon Adam's thirteen children, not one has died (1864); not one is a drunkard; not one uses tobacco in any of its forms; not one is a Sabbath breaker or a pro- fane swearer. Reared in his modest dwelling with frugal fare, he ha's sent them forth with minds and hearts well disciplined for any sphere of activity-all professing to be dis- ciples of Jesus Christ."
He married, May 9, 1826, Sarah Grafton Richards, born October 21, 1803, daughter of Thaddeus and Dorothy (Coolidge) Richards, grandaughter of Daniel and Elizabeth (Rich- ardson) Richards, and of the seventla genera- tion of the descendants of Edward Richards, of Dedham. Dorothy Coolidge was daugh- ter of David and Dorothy (Stearns) Coolidge, and granddaughter of David and Mary (Mixer) Coolidge. Her maternal grandparents were Josiah and Dorothy (Prentice) Stearns, of Watertown, Massachu- setts. Thaddeus Richards settled in Rindge in 1820. Children: I. Marshall Coolidge, born in Rindge, May 23, 1827; married, April 19, 1853, Susan B. Patterson, of Danvers; set- tled in Jaffrey, New Hampshire; children: i. died October, 1857: ii. Sarah, born August
(VI) Oliver Adams, son of Oliver Adams (5), was born in Chelmsford, January 7, 1767; . Frederick Marshall, born March 13, 1856, married Betsey Marshall, of Chelmsford, and
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17, 1858; iii. Susan Emma, born October 26, 1860; married, September 21, 1887, Waldo Lewis Stone; residence, South Sudbury, Massachusetts. (Children: Bernard Oviatt Stone, born October 3, 1888; Frederick Ray- mond Stone, April 27, 1890; Ralph Waldo Stone, July 20, 1892; Alice Adams Stone, October 7, 1893); iv. Henry Marshall, born January 10, 1863, died May 17, 1875; v. Alice Potter, born August 3, 1866; teacher and missionary in Japan; vii. George A., born February 9, 1870, farmer in Jaffrey. 2. Sa- rah Eliza, born in New Boston in 1829; mar- ried, October 27, 1856, Horace Pettee, resides in Manchester, New Hampshire; no issue. 3. Rev. William Richards, born in New Boston, August 1, 1830; married, September 9, 1861, Ellen Douglass Richmond, born in Rochester, Vermont, October 20, 1830, daughter of Hor- ace L. and Phebe (Eaton) Richmond; he graduated at Dartmouth in 1859, was or- dained May II, 1864, in the Presbyterian church, and became chaplain of the 133d regi- ment, Illinois Volunteers, May 12, 1864; resi- dence Osceola, Nebraska ; children : i. Ar- thur, born in Upper Alton, August 31, 1864, teacher in high school, Omaha, Nebraska; graduate of Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1886; ii. James Henry, born in Brighton, Illinois, April 3, 1868, attorney in Omaha, Nebraska, graduate of Coe College in 1888, and law department of Michigan University in 1892; iii. Fannie Potter, born at Shipman, Illinois, October 13, 1872, residence Osceola, Nebraska, educated at Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa. 4. Deacon John R., born March 3, 1832, mentioned below. 5. Fran- ces Baker, born September 8, 1833; married, October 31, 1857, Holmes R. Pettee; died February 16, 1892; resided at Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1896; children: i. Fan- nie Bell Pettee, born July 9, 1861, married, September 12, 1892, Eugene C. Brigham, of Manchester, New Hampshire. ii. Mary Holmes Pettee, born May 19, 1863; iii. Sarah Adams Pettee, born February 27, 1867. 6. Mary Ann, born in New Boston, July 4, 1835; died unmarried December 16, 1885. 7. Jos- eph G., born in New Boston, December 12, 1836; married, May 10, 1858, Martha J. Per- ry; was in the grocery business in Natick, and then in Manchester; died February 16, 1892; children: i. Eugene Francis, born in Natick, Massachusetts, October 14, 1859, married, September 15, 1892, Annie P.
Felch; residence, Manchester, New Hamp- shire, had daughter Beulah, born in Manches- ter, March 9, 1894; ii. William S., born in
Natick, October 28, 1865, married, Septem- ber 30, 1895, Mary G. Worthen, resides at Manchester, and has daughter Florence, born at Manchester, August 30, 1896; iii. Charles J., born in Natick, June 8, 1870, married, March 31, 1892, Ethel Gertrude Lamprey, and had daughter Hazel Perry, born in Man- chester, December 31, 1893; iv. James G., born in Natick, October 21, 1873; v. Grace P., born in Natick, August 23, 1875. 8. Henry Parker, born in New Boston, August 8, 1838; married, July 3, 1861, Frances B. Patterson, grain dealer; residence, Manches- ter; children: i. Arthur Henry, born in Man- chester, November 1, 1864, died August 5, 1865; ii. Henry Parker, born August 30, 1866, died at Dayton, Ohio, December 25, 1870; iii. Frank Patterson, born July 17, 1870, mar- ried December 24, 1890, Mattie A. George; residence, Lebanon, New Hampshire. 9. Charlotte R., born in New Boston, February 2, 1840, teacher. 10. James Christy, Decem- ber 27, 1841; enlisted September 2, 1863, in Company I, Thirty-ninth Regiment, Massa- chusetts Volunteers; died at City Island, Vir- ginia, of typhoid fever. II. Ellen Maria, born November 2, 1843; married, June 3, 1871, William C. Price, of Milford, New Hampshire; residence, San Bernardino, Cali- fornia; no children. 12. Charles Augustine, born May 25, 1847; married, October 17, 1877, Lizzie (Bartlett) French; he is manager of J. B. Varrick Company; residence, Man- chester; child Ethel, born May 16, 1882. 13. Dr. George Albert, born April 5, 1849; mar- ried Emily M. Colburn; graduate of Homoe- opathic Medical College, in 1874; practiced in Webster, Massachusetts; died January 15, 1880; child-Gertrude, born in Webster, Oc- tober 5, 1877.
(VIII) John R. Adams, son of Marshall Adams (7), was born in New Boston, New Hampshire, March 3, 1832. He was educat- ed in the district schools of his native town, and learned the trade of shoemaker. When he came of age he removed to Natick, and followed his trade. In 1853 he started in business as a shoe and boot manufacturer in the firm of Willard Mann & Company, fac- . tory at South Natick. After three years the firm was dissolved, and the next three years he was foreman for a Watertown manufactur- er. He became a very skillful cutter of up- per leather, a position of importance to man- ufacturers because of the saving or waste that can be made by good judgment or bad in cut- · ting the leather. He returned to Natick and for twenty-three years was cutter of upper
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leather and foreman for Potter, White & Bailey. He held similar positions afterward in other shoe factories of Natick and Cochit- uate. In 1900 he retired from active labor and has since then devoted his attention to . the care of his property.
Mr. Adams has taken a prominent part in public affairs in Natick, and has often been called to positions of honor and trust. He has served the town on various important committees. He has been a Republican from the time the party was organized, and has been an active member of the Republican town committee for many years and of the senatorial district committee, delegate to many state conventions and other nominating conventions of his party. He has been of great influence and usefulness in the councils of the Republican party. In town affairs he - has been particularly active in opposing the granting of liquor licenses and in many cam- paigns has worked effectively for a "no" vote when the issue was raised at the annual elec- tion. Though earnest in his work for tem- perance he had the respect and confidence even of his opponents, and to an unusual de- gree retains the esteem of his townsmen, re- gardless of political controversy or differences of opinion. During the Civil War Deacon Adams enlisted, but was honorably dis- charged on account of illness, without having seen active service. He was for many years president of the Natick Co-operative Bank. He is a devout and faithful member of the First Congregational Church, of Natick, for which for forty years he was deacon. His
faithfulness and devotion to the church have been an example and inspiration to every other member. He has been throughout life a cheerful and tireles worker, serving on vari- ous committees on church and in divers posi- tions in the Sunday School. He has resided in his present home, which he built on Win- nemay Street.
He married Jane R., daughter of Thomas and Rebecca (Taylor) Carhart, of Natick .. Children: I. Clara May, born at Danvers, Massachusetts, April 30, 1861, died October 2, 1887; married, May 14, 1883, George A. Swallow; she was a graduate of Newton high school. 2. James Henry, born January 24, 1865; died October 23, 1865. 3. Frederick Carhart, mentioned below. 4. Jessie Rich- ards, born in Natick, September 3, 1872; graduate of Newton (Massachusetts) high school, 1890; of Boston School of Gymnas- tics 1894: teacher of physical culture four years in Northfield Seminary (Moody's
School) at Northfield, Massachusetts; three years in the State Normal School of South Carolina, and two years in the Woman's Col- lege, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
(IX) Frederick Carhart Adams, son of Deacon John R. Adams (8), was born in Nat- ick, February 11, 1869. He attended the public schools of Natick, and graduated from the high school in 1886. He completed his preparation for college at the Newton high school, graduated from Williams College, and took his degree of Master of Arts in 1895. Af- ter leaving college he taught school first as sub-master of the Burr and Burton Seminary at Manchester, Vermont. He was then for two vears a teacher in the science department of the New Haven (Connecticut) high school. During the succeeding four years he was a teacher of physics in the Providence high school. He has since been teaching physics in the Boston high school. His home is on Hillside Road, Natick. He married, at Nat- ick, March 25, 1907, Elizabeth Marion Colby, daughter of William Henry Colby, of that town.
Thomas Goold, born probably GOULD not later than 1455, the first of this name of whom there is defi- nite knowledge. The name was spelled in many ways-Goold, Golde, Goolde, Gowle, Gold and Gould being some of the forms, the last being the present spelling. He lived at Bovingdon, a small village of Hertfordshire, England, still a chapelry in the parish of Hempstead, about twenty-four miles north- west of London. His will was proved Sep- tember 28, 1520, at the archdeacon's court of Huntingdon, now Peterborough. He married Joan , who was co-executrix of his will, and who perhaps was his second wife, as five children were minors in 1520. Children: I. Thomas, born about 1477; executor 1520; overseer 1537; witness 1545. 2. Richard, born about 1479 ; mentioned below. 3. John, born about 1500. 4. Alice, born about 1502. 5. William, born about 1504; married Mar- garet 6. Henry, born about 1506. 7. Joan, not nineteen in 1520.
(II) Richard Gowle, son of Thomas Goold (I), lived at Bovingdon and Stoke Mande- ville, a village about twelve miles distant. His will was dated April 25 and proved October II, 1531. There is a tablet at Bovingdon church to the memory of him and his wife Joan, whose will was made January 12,
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