Betsey E. (Stearns) Adams (1814 - 1881)

Born 16 Sep 1814 in Bethel, Oxford, Massachusetts, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Israel Adams — married 2 Dec 1843 in Bethel, Oxford, Maine, United States

Died 11 Apr 1881 at age 66 in Manhattan, Riley, Kansas, United States

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Biography

Betsey E. Stearns was born on September 16, 1814, in Bethel, Maine, the daughter of Charles Stearns and Thankful Bartlett.^[1][2][3]

On December 2, 1843, she married Israel Adams.^[4][5] About 1870, they removed to Kansas.^[4] Their children were:^[6]

1. Darius, b. 23 Dec 1844; d. 24 Jul 1892, in Manhattan, Kansas; m. Clara J. Low
2. Sarah Elizabeth, b. 16 Sep 1848; d. 15 Mar 1851
3. Charles Arthur, b. 29 Jul 1852; d. 4 Aug 1863
4. Charles Israel, b. 11 Mar 1855; d. 5 Aug 1852

She died on April 11, 1881, in Manhattan, Kansas,^[7] where she had been residing. The following was written of her in The Congregational Telephone, based in Manhattan, Kansas:^[3]

April 11th, Betsey E., wife of Dea. Israel Adams departed this life, after a brief illness. She was born in Bethel, Maine, Sept. 16, 1814, and was married Dec. 2, 1842. For 16 years they lived at Gilead, and then resided at Bethel, until 1871 when they came to Manhattan. Four children were granted to them, of whom only one, Darius, survives. Sister Adams was a church member some 25 years. She was particularly sensitive and self-distrustful, but she knew in whom she had believed, and death possessed no terror for her. Notwithstanding her physical weakness she was a hard-working woman, and one of the most regular attendants at church and prayer meeting. Her pleasant face and winning ways will be missed by a wide circle. She is not lost, but gone before.

Research Notes

Lapham's Bethel states she instead married Isaac Adams of Gilead, Israel's brother, but this is clearly an error as all other records do not support this.

Sources

1. ↑ Lapham: Page 618
2. ↑ Hibner: Pages 119, 217
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} The Congregational Telephone (Manhattan, Ks.), April 1881, Page 2
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} Adams: Page 147
5. ↑ Spofford (1888): Page 120
6. ↑ Adams: Page 296
7. ↑ Manhattan Enterprise (Manhattan, Ks.), 15 Apr 1881, Page 4

• Lapham, William Berry. History of Bethel, Formerly Sudbury, Canada, Oxford County, Maine, 1768-1890 (Maine Farmer, Augusta, Me., 1891) Page 618
• Hibner, Aldis Everard. A Genealogy of the Descendants of Joseph Bartlett of Newton, Mass. (The Tuttle Company, Rutland, Vermont, 1934) Page 119, Page 217
• Adams, Andrew N., A Genealogical History of Robert Adams of Newbury, Mass. (Tuttle Co., Rutland, Vermont, 1900) Page 147, Page 296
• Spofford, Jeremiah. A Family Record of the Descendants of John Spofford (E.G. Frothingham, Haverhill, Massachusetts, 1869) Page 70
• Spofford, Jeremiah. Descendants of John Spofford and Elizabeth Scott 1888 (Alfred Mudge & Son, Boston, Massachusetts, 1888) Page 120