Henry Adams II (1609 - 1676)

Born 10 Jan 1609 in Barton St. David, Somerset, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 21 Feb 1676 in Medfield, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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Henry Adams II migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1620-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

This profile is part of the Adams Name Study.

Biography

Henry Adams II was born in 1609 in England, emigrated to Massachusetts with his father Henry. mother, and six siblings on the ship Mary & John in 1638 ^[1], settled first in Braintree, and then removed to Medfield to help found that town in 1651.

He was the first town clerk of Braintree, Massachusetts, and later also of Medfield, Massachusetts. He was Representative of the latter town in the General Court for 1659, 1665,1674, and 1675.

He was Lieutenant of the Medfield military company, which fought against the Indians in 1675-76. He was killed by Indians waiting in ambush in his doorway, as he responded; to the alarm for their raid on Medfield on Feb. 21, 1675/6 ^[2], the second year of the war. His wife was accidentally shot the same day, at Rev. Mr. Wilson's house, and died 29th of Feb. She was confined to the house by sickness, and was in a bed in the chamber, when the gun in the hands of Capt. John Jacob of Hingham, who had charge of a company of about 80 men stationed at Medfield, was accidentally discharged in the room below her, the ball passing through her bed."

Henry was also considered to have been a resident of neighboring Sherborn, where he owned property. His is the first name recorded on Sherborn's monument to its sons who died in war. See image at right.

He married Elizabeth Paine on October 17, 1643 in Braintree, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. He was the father of at least eight children in New England, first three in Braintree, ^[3] the last five in Medfield. ^[4]:

• Eleazer, born August 5, 1644
• Jasper, born June 23, 1647
• Elizabeth born November 11, 1649,
• John, born July 14, 1652,
• Henry, born July 14, 1652, died 1653
• Moses, born October 26, 1654
• Henry, born November 19, 1657
• Samuel , born December 2, 1661

Research Notes:

• Henry Adams III reportedly was earlier married to a Rachel _____, and perhaps had a child by her, Elizabeth born 1632. Two other possible children were Joseph, reportedly born in Braintree on June 23, 1647, and another John, reportedly born in Medfield on February 18, 1656. (No primary sources identified for those events. Further research needed.)
• Adams-16917 15:12, 29 March 2018 (EDT) Shouldn't this be Henry !! ?

Henry was massacred at his front door in 1676. ^{[5] [6]}

Sources

1. ↑ See father's profile
2. ↑ The New England Historical and Genealogical Society, Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts to the Year 1850 (Boston, Mass. 1903)(Free e-book) (Records are also available at ma-vitalrecords.org) p. 190
3. ↑ Records of the Town of Braintree 1640-1793, pp. 628
4. ↑ Norfolk, Vital Records of Medfield, Massachusetts to the year 1850, pp. 9-13
5. ↑ Colonial Families of the USA, 1607-1775,
6. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #57938698

See also:

• Bates, Samuel. Records of the Town of Braintree, 1640-1793 (Daniel H. Huxford, Randolph, Mass., 1886) Page 629

• Adams, Andrew Napoleon. A Genealogical History of Henry Adams, of Braintree, Mass. (The Author, The Tuttle Co., Printers, Rutland, VT, 1898). View on Archive.org

• http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Henry_Adams_(1609-1676)

• King Philip's War, George Madison Bodge's Soldiers in King Philip's War, p. 284

• Tilden, William S., Ed., History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts, 1650-1880, p. 281.

• Adams, Herbert Baxter. History of the Thomas Adams and Thomas Hastings Families, of Amherst, Massachusetts ( Amherst, Mass., 1880); p. 26

• Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Wisconsin. 1906. Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Wisconsin: list of officers and members, including pedigrees and a record of the services performed by ancestors in the wars of the colonies. Milwaukee, Wis: Burdick & Allen. Page 76.

• https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/the-forgotten-ones/P49312.php

• http://quinnbradleesancestors.wikia.com/wiki/Henry_Adams_(1583_-_1646)

• By Single Threads a Fabric: The Lineage and Heirs of Simon Willoughby Smith

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