Samuel Adams (1706 - 1788)

Born 3 May 1706 in Milford, New Haven, Crown Colony of Connecticut

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Fairchild) Adams — married 7 Mar 1729 in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut Colony

Descendants

Died 12 Nov 1788 at age 82 in Litchfield, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States

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Before making changes to this profile, please read the note below. (Orcutt got it wrong!)

Notes

Quote from Orcutt (1886) vol. 2, page 1198, children of Zechariah Fairchild: No. 25: Mary, b. May 7, 1698; m. Samuel Adams (prob. son of Edward of New Haven, Milford and Fairfield.) They had 6 children ... The family removed to Litchfield not long before Mr. Adams’ death in 1788, ae 85. Mrs. Adams lived until August 29th, 1803; in her 106th year. She lived in three centuries.

Jacobus (1930) vol. 1, page 718, History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield, has a special appendix note on this problem, questioning Orcutt’s conclusions:

• Mary Fairchild m. 12 Mar 1712/3, Benjamin Brooks.
• Mary Fairchild m. 14 Feb 1721/2, Ephraim Burritt.
• Mary Fairchild m. 7 Mar 1728/9, Samuel Adams.

  To answer the requirements of these three marriages, just three Mary Fairchilds were found in records sources. One was Mary, dau. of Zechariah, b. 1698. The second was Mary (Booth) Fairchild, left a widow by Zechariah’s son Agur in 1712. The third was Mary, b. 1708, dau. of Samuel, a cousin of the above Mary and Agur.
   If Orcutt can be believed, both Mary (b. 1698) and Mary (b. 1708) married Samuel Adams in 1729. Most accounts make her dau. of Zechariah b. 1698, but this would make her 31 at first marriage, and 53 when her first child was born, and 105 at death. Actually, the Conn. Herald at the time of her death in 1803 stated her age was 105. Despite this, Samuel Fairchild’s dau. was called Mary Adams in the probate records, and wife of Samuel Adams in Fairfield Land Records when she conveyed inherited property with other children of Samuel Fairchild. We are therefore correct in calling this Mary dau. of Samuel b. 1708.
   The deed recently discovered in Stratford by Mr.s Katharine H. Fogarty, in which Benjamin Brooks and Mary his wife joined with other heirs of John Booth, identifies this Mary with the widow Mary (Booth) Fairchild. This leaves Mary dau. of Zechariah (b. 1698) free for the marriage to Ephraim Burritt in 1722, when she was nearly 24 years old. Thus all three Marys are accounted for, with record evidence for the history of two of them. Orcutt’s account of them was inherently improbable, and is proved incorrect.

Biography

Birth

This profile is part of the Adams Name Study.

Samuel Adams was born on May 3, 1706 in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut, son of William Adams (1678–1742) and Abigail Oviatt (1674–<1712).^[1]

Family

Samuel married Mary Fairchild (born on October 27, 1708 in Stratford, Fairfield, Crown Colony of Connecticut; daughter of Samuel Fairchild and Ruth (Beach) Fairchild). Their children were:

• Samuel Adams (1729–1810)^[2]
• Andrew Adams (~1729–1734)^[3]
• Elijah Adams (1731–1782)^[4]
• Lemuel Adams (1734–1734)
• Andrew Adams (1736–1797)
• Mary Adams (1745–~1826)^[5]

Military

Samuel Adams served as Corporal in Jones' Company of Artillery, Connecticut, 16 Feb 1778 ^[6]

Samuel died on November 12, 1788 in Litchfield, Litchfield, Connecticut, USA, aged 82.^[7]

Research Notes

The Barbour Collection gives birth records for three children named Samuel Adams, each having parents named Samuel and Mary. All three cite page 57 of Vol. 5 of the Stratford Land Records.

• Adams, Sam[ue]ll, Jr., s. Sam[ue]ll & Mary, b. Jan 1729/30
• Adams, Samuel, s. Sam[ue]ll & Mary, b. Sept. 15, 1734; d. 25th day of same month
• Adams, Samuel, s. Sam[ue]ll & Mary, b. Sept. 19, 1751

Sources

1. ↑ Birth: "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906"
   citing FHL microfilm: 2887;
   FamilySearch Record: F7WT-BXX (accessed 2 June 2023)
   Samuel Adams born on 3 May 1706, son of William Adams & Elizabeth, in Milford, New Haven, Connecticut.
2. ↑ Birth of son Samuell Adams: "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906"
   citing FHL microfilm: 2887;
   FamilySearch Record: F74X-W35 (accessed 2 June 2023)
   Samuell Adams born to Samuell Adams on 2 Jan 1729 in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut.
3. ↑ Birth of son Andrew Adams: "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906"
   citing FHL microfilm: 2887;
   FamilySearch Record: F74X-WMK (accessed 2 June 2023)
   Andrew Adams born to Samuell Adams on 11 Dec 1736 in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut.
4. ↑ Birth of son Elijah Adams: "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906"
   citing FHL microfilm: 2887;
   FamilySearch Record: F74X-WMN (accessed 2 June 2023)
   Elijah Adams born to Samuel Adams on 19 Dec 1731 in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut.
5. ↑ Birth of daughter Mary Adams: "Connecticut Births and Christenings, 1649-1906"
   citing FHL microfilm: 2887;
   FamilySearch Record: F7W4-B76 (accessed 2 June 2023)
   Mary Adams born to Samuell Adams on 28 Oct 1745 in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut.
6. ↑ SAR: Ancestry Sharing Link
7. ↑ Connecticut Deaths and Burials Index, 1650-1934

• Jacobus, Donald Lines. History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield (Genealogical Publishing Company, 1930) Vol. 1, Page 718.
• The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records (NEHGS, Boston, 2011) Vol. Stratford Page 1. Marriage record.
  • Samuel Adams m. Mary Fairchild 7 Mar 1728/9 Vol. LR5, Page 57
• Orcutt, Samuel. A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut (Tuttle, Morehouse & Taylor, New Haven, Conn., 1886) Vol. 2, Pages 1115, 1198.

See also:

• Woodruff, George C. A Genealogical Register of the Inhabitants of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut (Case Lockwood & Brainard, Hartford, Conn., 1845)
• Kilbourne, Payne. Sketches and Chronicles of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut (Case, Lockwood & Co., Hartford, 1859) Page 185.
• Hale Collection of Connecticut Cemetery Records and Newspaper Notices, 1629-1934
• Yates Publishing, U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 (Provo, UT, USA, The Generations Network, Inc., 2004)
• Fairchild, Timothy Marsh. The Name and Family of Fairchild (Mercer, Iowa City, Iowa, 1944)