Spencer Adams (1759 - 1830)

Born 1759 in Loudoun, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Nancy Ann (Irvin) Adams — married 1795 in Wilkesboro, Wilkes, North Carolina, USA

Descendants

Died 12 Oct 1830 at about age 71 in Selma, Dallas, Alabama, USA

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Biography

SPENCER ADAMS, who was born in 1759 in Loudoun County, Virginia, subsequently played an important role in political, religious and agricultural development in southeast Kentucky. He was the youngest of four sons of John Adams Sr. Yet, first in Wilkes County, North Carolina, and then in Floyd County, Kentucky, he seems to have assumed a leadership posture among the Adamses and collateral families. Spencer Adams is attributed with bringing many of them to Kentucky, although he and his immediate family later moved to Alabama. In fact, he left not a descendant behind to carry on his Adams line in Kentucky.

Spencer was ten years old when his father first acquired a leasehold to land^[1], and the boy is mentioned by name and relationship in this deed. It was customary, then, to include named of some sons, especially the youngest, in such titles in order to extend possession of a lease. Thus, Spencer also is named in a similar leasehold^[2] to his older brother, Benjamin Adams, in 1775. Together, these deeds name all four sons of John Adams Sr.: John Jr., Benjamin, Jacob and Spencer Adams.

Spencer's father and his brother, when they reached twenty-one years of age and thereafter, appear in Loudoun County tax lists, corroborating years of birth as well as relationship to one another. However, his family left Loudoun before 1780, when Spencer became twenty-one, so he is not to be found in lists of tithables there.

By the first week of 1777, his father's whole family had settled in Surry and Rowan Counties in North Carolina. Spencer, eighteen years old, served as bondsman when his brother, Jacob Adams was married on January 7, 1777 (Rowan MR), to a young widow, Mary (Stamper) Towsin.

Two years later, Spencer Adams himself was married to a young woman, named Ann Irvin. The 1779 date for their marriage is based on birth of their first child in February, 1780. This marriage, like so many others, probably was performed by a circuit riding preacher, who failed to have it recorded at the nearest county seat. In fact, Jacob and Mary Adams' wedding may have been held in Surry County and recorded when the minister reached the courthouse in Salisbury, seat of Rowan County. Probably, both marriages should have been placed in records at Dobbs, Surry's county seat.

Surry County was formed from northern portions of Rowan in 1771, and Wilkes County was created in 1779 from northernmost sections of Surry and Burke Counties.

As early as January, 1779, John Adams Sr. and all four of his sons were situated on three main forks of Roaring River, in Wilkes County.

Spencer Adams was involved in numerous transactions over land, even to a point of appearing to be a speculator. He "entered" his first settlement, "on a creek, North Fork of Roaring River," on May 10, 1781^[3]; A few years later, he also entered 100 acres on Little Sandy Creek.^[4] Both tracts were granted to him by the State of North Carolina on May 18, 1789. However, Spencer Adams much larger holdings, buying, selling and exchanging land.

Since Roaring River district was "missed" in Wilkes County's 1782 tax list, Spencer Adams is found first on the rolls for 1784; He then owned 347 acres in the Traphill area of Roaring River. Of the Adams, only his brother, Benjamin, had more land, 700 acres. In 1785, Spencer had 247 acres; In 1787, he had 397 acres and, in 1789, he owned 497 acres.

North Carolina's census of 1787 and the first and second decennial censuses by the United States, 1790 and 1800, show development of Spencer and Ann Adams' family. Their first son, John, was born in February, 1780, and their first daughter, Jane, was born in 1783. Two sons, Benjamin and William, were born in 1787 and 1788, respectively, and another daughter, Elizabeth, was born at the time the 1790 census was being taken.

Meantime, while in his mid-twenties, Spencer Adams was chosen to serve as constable "in the room" of Wilkes County Judge Isaac Morgan. He held this position for a number of years.^[5]

"On Saturday ye 14th of January, 1792," according to minutes of Old Roaring River Baptist Church, "Brother Spencer Adams and his wife, Sister Ann Adams, join by letter," transferring from South Fork of Roaring River Baptist Church. Two years later, August 9, 1794, this couple had a serious confrontation with the congregation. According to church minutes, "Report was made that Bro. Spencer Adams & his wife was both in transgression, he for charging a man to fight and she for threatening to kill a woman, for which the church thought proper to deny them both fellowship."^[6]

This incident apparently occurred a short time before the death of Ann Adams, survived by her thirty-six year old husband and their five children. She also probably was about thirty-five at the time of her death.

The widower remairried rather quickly. Sometime in 1795, Spencer Adams took as his second wife, Nancy Irvin, twenty-five year old daughter of John and Nancy (Berry) Irvin. She was about ten years younger than Spencer. They had two sons, Jesse, who was born February 12, 1796, and Irvin Adams, who was born in 1798 on their Roaring River plantation.

Land holding indicate Spencer Adams was a planter of some means. Records substantiate his ownership of slaves throughout his life. Wilkes tax lists show, in 1792, he had 200 acres; In 1793, his holdings increased by 100 acres, In 1795, he had 290 acres and two polls, one a slave since his eldest son was just fifteen; In 1796, he had 266 acres and three polls (again, two slaves); In 1797, he had 400 acres and three polls, although none of his sons was yet twenty-one. Likewise, in 1800, he had 150 acres and three polls.

During more than a quarter-century in Wilkes County, Spencer Adams had become quite prominent as a landowner, community leader and, some say, as a preacher. According to one account,^[7] based on tradition which may be somewhat embellished, Spencer went to eastern Kentucky sometime before 1803 and "ran a series of revival meetings in Floyd County's Regular Baptist churches." Then, he returned to his Traphill settlement, where he began disposing of land holdings and organized a wagon train for permanent removal to Kentucky. On August 20, 1803^[8], he conveyed twelve acres on Roaring River's North Fork and 100 acres, adjoining Brewer's old line, to his aging father, John Adams Sr. His seventy-five year old father apparently was not making the journey with them.

Organization of the wagon train seems to have inclded Spencer's brother, John Adams Jr. and his wife, Letty (Simpson), and their young brood; Spencer's nephew and nieces, namely Stephen and his wife, Mary (Webb) Adams, Elizabeth (Adams) and her husband, Archelous Craft, and Nancy (Adams) and her husband, William Caudill; other nieces and a nephew, children of his brother, Benjamin, who did not retire to Kentucky until about 1818, namely Elizabeth (Adams) and her husband, Randolph Holbrook; Sally (Adams) and her husband, Stephen Caudill; John Adams, Ben's only son; Esther (Adams) and her husband, William Williams, and Nancy (Adams) and her spouse, Charles Lewis, and son neighbor families. Most of these couples had small children. A few, such as Nancy and William Caudill and Benjamin's son, John Adams, who married Sarah Woolfolk, may have been newlyweds.

One who did not make the trip to Kentucky was Spencer's eldest daughter, Jane Adams. In 1800, she married another Spencer Adams, twenty-two year old son of the late Charles Adams of Reddies River. They had one son, Spencer Adams, who was born in May, 1801. However, Jane's husband died within a year's time at about twenty-three years of age. In 1803, Jane, not yet twenty herself, married Abner Caudill, thirty year old son of James and Mary (Abner) Caudill. They remained in Wilkes County, and, in 1807, "Spencer Adams of Kentucky" conveyed a 200 acres tract, which he had entered in 1801, to Henry Laurence^[9]; This was witnessed by Spencer's son-in-law Abner Caudill. Jane's son, Spencer Adams, was reared in the Caudill home. He was married twice, the second time to a granddaughter of old Spencer after he had gone to join his maternal grandfather in Dallas County, Alabama. Jane (Adams-Adams) and Abner Caudill lived out their lives in Wilkes. Jane died after 1860.

As the story goes, late in the fall of 1803 (although the year may have been as late as 1807), the wagon train set out for Kentucky. It went by way of Holston and Clinch Rivers to Pound Gap in southwest Virginia. It turned west, through the Gap and down to the north fork of Kentucky River, where the train stopped and weary pioneers camped. A big snow fell that night and, after a conference of Spencer and his lieutenants, they decided to settle there.

Spencer Adams assumed a leadership role in his several aspects of expertise. He received a commission from Governor Charles Scott as a justice of the peace, served as a judge of Floyd County Court, acted as revenue (tax) collector, and, during the War of 1812 when he was captain of a militia company, was nominated and sworn-in on July 1, 1815, as sheriff of Floyd County. After the second war with Britain, he served from time-to-time as justice. Meantime, he was involved in numerous land dealings and was bondsman for seventeen marriages of neighborhood young people between 1809 and 1818, although none of his own children was involved. He was cited as a dealer in real estate and livestock.

Spencer Adams and his family were members of Indian Bottom Baptist Church in 1810, when it was organized. He was ordained as an elder and, August 13, 1815, when Sandlick Baptist Church was organized, Spencer Adams was received as an elder. He also served Castlewood Church in Russell County, Virginia.

Soon after their arrival in Kentucky, on October 7, 1803^[10], Spencer's eldest son, John A. Adams, married Rachel Fletcher, a daughter of James Fletcher. On February 21, 1809,^[11] Benjamin Adams married Elizabeth Campbell. Betsy Adams married Sampson Caudill, son of James and Mary (Abner) Caudill and, perhaps, a brother of Elizabeth. On April 7, 1812,^[12] William Adams married Sarah Craft, daughter of Archelous and the late Elizabeth (Adams) Craft. On June 9, 1816,^[13] Jesse Adams married William Martin's seventeen year old daughter Rhoda. Finally, on July 16, 1818,^[14] Irvin Adams married fifteen year old Vicy Ellis, daughter of Benjamin and Hannah Ellis.

Most of these young families are found in the 1810 and 1820 censuses of Floyd County,

However, Will Adams was dead before he was thirty years of age. He left a young widow, Sarah (Craft), and two children, Spencer, who was born in 1813, and Hannah M. Adams, who was born in 1815 in their home on Pine Creek. In the 1820 census of Floyd County, these two youngsters are counted in the household of their grandfather, Spencer Adams. In June, 1812, when William Adams was appointed constable, his special assignment was to "suppress the practices of duelling," apparently a problem of those times. In addition, Will was a surveyor. Circumstances of his early death are not known.

Spencer's eldest son, John A. Adams, also gained some prominence as a local official over the years. He was called John Adams "Jr." on November 26, 1809,^[15] when his father, a county judge, assigned him to help mark a section of a road from Moses Adams' place to Jesse Gullett's and the judge's brother, John Adams to help mark a section from Gullett's to Cumberland Mountains. In May, 1811,^[16] the younger John Adams was appointed constable on Kentucky River with William Martin as security for his $500 bond. In 1814,^[17] June, 1815,^[18] and March 25, 1816,^[19] "John Adams, son of Spencer Adams," was recommended as "a propert person to fill office of Justice of the Peace." John Adams and his father served as justices until May 21, 1821,^[20] when they were replaced because their jurisdictions had been "cut off in Perry County."

In 1816, John A. Adams paid $15 for 37 acres on Carr's Fork of Kentucky River; On November 21, 1818, he sold this same tract back to Samuel Young for $150.

Perry County was formed from Floyd and Clay Counties and, in 1821, Spencer Adams and his sons, John A., Benjamin and Jesse, are listed in the new county's first tax book. The only one omitted was his youngest son, Irvin. At this very time, however, Spencer was planning to move his family again, after going on twenty years in Floyd County.

According to Perry County deeds, on May 5, 1821, Spencer Adams sold 104 acres on North Fork of Kentucky River to Stephen Adams; On August 2, he sold land on Sand Lick to Stephen Adams, and, finally, on December 20, 1821, "by his attorney,Jesse Adams," Spencer sold his remaining land to John Bunyard. This clearly shows he had completed his move to Dallas County, Alabama.

Most of Spencer Adams' immediate family again made the journey South with him. He also took William's children to Alabama. His namesake grandson, Spencer Adams, has been traced to Cherokee County, Texas; His granddaughter, Hannah, married Hoke Huckaby of Dallas County, Alabama.

Only Spencer's fourth son, Jesse Adams, remained in Perry County for a brief time. He acted as his father's attorney in disposing of property and, according to subsequent records including a family bible, moved to Searcy County, Arkansas, by way of Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.

In Alabama, Spencer Adams acquired a large plantation and slaves to operate it. In 1821, when he began a new life, he was about sixty-two years old. Age did not deter him, however.

The only members of his household in 1820^[21] are himself and wife, both between 60 and 70 years of age, and one female, 15 to 20; This, of course, is his granddaughter Hannah. Spencer Adams Jr. is in this census^[22] as are Spencer Sr.'s sons, John, Irvin and Benjamin.

Within a month, on or about October 12, 1830, Spencer Adams died, testate, at his home plantation. He was over seventy years of age.

Spencer Adams' will^[23] and subsequent probating of his estate did much to clarify identification of his heirs and descendants. He was survived by his wife, Nancy, and all of his children, except William. The two Spencers, Jane's son and William's son, are identified. Old Spencer bequeathed two slaves to each of his children and declared none of the rest of the slaves to be sold outside of the Adams family.

His homeplace (Northwest Quarter, Section 30, Township 15, Range 8) was left to his widow, during her lifetime, and, after her death to be equally divided between all of his children.

The date of death of Nancy (Irvin) Adams has not been found.

^[24]

Sources

1. ↑ Deeds, Book G, Page 122
2. ↑ Loudoun Deeds, Book L, Page 42
3. ↑ NC Grant #923
4. ↑ NC Grant #958
5. ↑ Wilkes Court Order & Minute Books
6. ↑ Old Roaring River Baptist Church, Minutes, Pages 1, 9, & 10
7. ↑ Heritage of Wilkes, 1982, Page 79)
8. ↑ Wilkes Deeds C1:529-530
9. ↑ Wilkes Deeds G&H: 337
10. ↑ Floyd Marriage Records
11. ↑ Wilkes Marriage Records
12. ↑ Floyd Marriage Records
13. ↑ Floyd Marriage Records
14. ↑ Floyd Marriage Records
15. ↑ Floyd Annals, Page 61; Court Book 1
16. ↑ Floyd Annals, Page 73; Court Book 1
17. ↑ Floyd Court Orders 2:141
18. ↑ Floyd Annals, Page 103
19. ↑ Floyd Annals, Page 107
20. ↑ Floyd Court Order Book 4
21. ↑ Dallas Census 1830, Line 8
22. ↑ Dallas Census 1830, Line 2
23. ↑ Dallas Will Book A:74
24. ↑ Griffith, Dorothy A. and Robert E. Parkin, Adams Families of Southeast Kentucky. (St. Louis, MO: Genealogical Research & Productions), 1986. Online at FamilySearch, #1131, pages 1-6.

See also:

• Ancestry.com.
• ARSEARCY-L Rootsweb.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Jeff Taylor for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Jeff and others.