William Madson Adkins (1884 - 1957)

Born 17 Nov 1884 in Hager, Lincoln County, West Virginia, United States of America

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Cordova — married 27 Jun 1908 (to about 1919) in Monroe, Florida

Husband of Minerva Smith Adkins — married 20 May 1920 in Lincoln County, West Virginia

Descendants

Died 18 Jun 1957 at age 72 in East Liverpool, Columbiana, Ohio, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Pattie Plummer-Everett [send private message]

Biography

William Madson Adkins was born in Hager, West Virginia on November 17th, 1884 to Aaron Dawson "Doss" Adkins and Martha Strickland. ^[1]

On July 23rd, 1908 he married his first wife, Mary Cordova in Florida. They had one son together, Wilfred Adkins who was born on 13 Feb 1912 and died while storming the beaches of Normandy on 6 Jun 1944. ^[2] It is unclear if Mary passed away, or if they divorced, as no records have been located to indicate either way.

William married second, Minerva Smith (Adkins) Adkins on May 20th, 1920 in Lincoln County, West Virginia. ^[3] William and Minerva had 5 daughters; Roberta, Gladys, Dora, Dorothy and Gertrude and 3 sons; Allen, William and Arnold. ^[4]

William worked for the Crucible Steel Company for about forty years. He was the clerk of the tool room and a member of Local 1212, United Steelworkers. He was also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.^[4]

William passed away on June 18th, 1957 after an illness of five months. He is buried in Riverview Cemetery in East Liverpool, Ohio. ^[5][1][6]

Research Notes

William's marriage certificate to Minerva shows his name as "William Miller Adkins" and his bride as "Minerva Smith". William's middle name, Madson, can be seen in his own hand writing on his WWI Draft Registration. ^[7] It can also be seen on his WWII Draft Registration. ^[8]

Minerva is shown in many documents with a LNAB of Smith, however her middle name was Smith and her LNAB was Adkins. Her Adkins line does not cross William's for several generations but the stigma of marrying someone with the same last name may be the reason she chose to use her middle name as her last name. ^[9] The birth certificate for Gertrude shows her mother's maiden name as Adkins. ^[10]

• Alpha R. Adkins age 43 born WV (widower) living next door with "5" children on 1950 census. He was a Millwright at the steel mill.

Sources

• National Archives:6 April 1950 census, 711 east on 4th street, East Liverpool Columbiana Ohio.household:
• William Adkins (head) age 66 born WV, keeper of tools in tool room, Steel mill.
• Minerva (wife) age 48 born WV
• Allen J. (son) age 22 born Pennsylvania, truck driver, dirt truckers
• Gertrude (daughter) age 15 born Pennsylvania, waitress, food diner
• Arnold E. (son) age 14 born Pennsylvania, grocery clerk, grocery business.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Find A Grave, database and images (accessed 26 September 2019), memorial page for William Madison Adkins (17 Nov 1884–18 Jun 1957), Find A Grave Memorial no. 16168013, citing Riverview Cemetery, East Liverpool, Columbiana County, Ohio, USA ; Maintained by Carrie L. Nease-Eckstein (contributor 48016159) .
2. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (20 May 2014), Wilfred Adkins, Jun 1944; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
3. ↑ West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Marriage Record
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "The Evening Review", East Liverpool, Ohio, Tuesday, June 18, 1957
5. ↑ "Ohio Deaths and Burials, 1854-1997", database, FamilySearch (19 January 2020), William M. Adkins, 1957.
6. ↑ Ancestry.com. Ohio, Soldier Grave Registrations, 1804-1958 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017. Original data: Graves Registration Cards Collection, Ohio History Connection, Columbus, Ohio.
7. ↑ "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (16 October 2019), West Virginia > Lincoln County; A-Z > image 296 of 3868; citing NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
8. ↑ The National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; World War II draft cards (Fourth Registration) for the State of Pennsylvania; Record Group Title: Records of the Selective Service System; Record Group Number: 147; Series Number: M1951
9. ↑ Family recollections passed on to Pattie Everett
10. ↑ Original birth certificate for Gertrude in the possession of her daughter, Pattie Everett

See Also:
1930 US Census
"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (10 December 2015), Pennsylvania > Beaver > Glasgow > ED 58 > image 2 of 8; citing NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002).