Submitted by
Mayme Hause

Richard Adams & His Descendants

     About 1600, a Richard Adams was born in Lancashire, England, then about 1626, arrived in The Colonies with a wife and a son, 12, and named Richard. This family eventually settled in Dorchester Co. MD, and the generations until. The New Frontier beckoned. After the Revolutionary War, some family lines decided to move westward into West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Crawford Co. IL, where P. W.’s, grandfather, James, was born. Census records seem to indicate the James Adams’ family remained in Illinois until the 3rd child was born. James and his wife Jane Unknown moved down into Arkansas, where the rest of the boys were born. Then this Adams line moved across the Red River into Red River Co. TX, where 2 of the boys married, and all moved on to Gonzales Co. TX. After the Civil War, most of them had migrated on to the new frontier of Texas, where some helped build this new Texas Frontier. Soon, Thomas moved to California after 1870; when John Quincy lost his place on Willow Creek in Lampasas Co. in 1867 led a wagon train to the area of what is now Phoenix AZ. This is where he settled, until his death. His daughter, the last of his children Texanna, was the first white child born in the area, and was later noted as an Early Settler of Arizona in the history of Arizona. Most of the boys served in the Civil War, some of the older ones were Citizen Rangers, later called Texas Rangers, and the younger ones in the fray itself. It seems that this family was born with an adventurous spirit seeking new frontiers up until about the beginning of the 20th century, where their descendants settled down in one place.           

     James and Jane’s children were:

     Nancy b. 1816, died 1885, Harwood, Gonzales Co. TX married 1st P. W. Roberts 2nd George Vaughan
     Mary b. abt 1818 d. 1857 in Gonzales Co. TX m. Thomas H. Doyal
     Thomas b. abt 1820 d. 1878 CA married Nancy Eveline Evelyn Taylor
     James M. abt 1824 d. 1883 Hamilton Co. TX m. Sarah Wright
     Isaac Gibson abt 1821 d 1905 m. 1st Henrietta James, 2nd Lucinda Casbeer d. Comanche Co. TX
     John Quincy b. 1830 d. 1904 Yuma, Yuma Co. AZ m. Emily Scarborough
     Jesse L. b. 1833/4 d. 1875 unknown m. Julia Rogers-after his death Julia married W.W. Bass
     Richard b. 1846/7 AR. d in Bandera Co. TX m. Sarah Taylor
           

     Jesse L. and Julia Rogers Adams had the following children:

     Alice Mae b. 1861Gonzales Co. TX d. 1933 m. W. P. Shotwell of Cego, TX
     Blanche Lazarus b. 1862Gonzales Co. TX d. 1930 m. Henry F. Greer, Falls Co. TX lived in Dot, Falls Co. TX
     P.W. b. 1864 Gonzales Co. TX d. 1939, Chilton, TX m. Rebecca Louisa Myers
     Emma Gean b. 1869 Gonzales, Co. TX d. 1937 m. John Thomas Merritt
     Lizzie b. 1870 Gonzales Co. TX d. 1903 FL m. Robert Dennard
     Bertha Julia b. 1873 Denton Co. TX d. 1946 Forreston, Ellis Co. TX m. Bud Jacobs
     Jess b. 1874 unknown d. unknown in unknown. Never married
           

     P. W. and Lou Adams children were:

     Jessie Dagmar b. 1888 Falls Co. TX d. Marlin, TX m. Robert "Bob" Urquhart
     Thomas Jefferson "Jeff" b. 1890 Falls Co. TX d. 1874 Falls Co. m. Gladys League
     Stewart b. 1893 Falls Co. TX d. 1969 m. 1st Mary Jane Sessions 2nd Myrtle Gray
     Bess b. 1895 Falls Co. TX d. 1969 m. Newton Bonnard "Bonnie" Morton
     Dewey Adams b. 1898 Falls Co. TX d. 1967 m. Clyde Farney
     Clayborne Bill b. 1900 Falls Co. TX d. 1981 m. Wilma Neely
     Boyd b. 1904 Falls Co. TX d. 1989 m. Freddie Blackman
     Floyie b. 1906 Falls Co. TX d. 1983 m Alma Byrd
     Mamie b. 1908 Falls Co. TX d. 1979 Richmond, Fort Bend Co. TX m. Herbert Rachuig
     Unnamed twin b. 1908 d. 1908
     Louisa b. 1912 Falls Co. TX d. 1916 Chilton, Falls Co. TX
           

     In a biography of P. W.’s, it stated that he had been in Falls Co. TX for 60 years. This would be 1879/1880. All the children of P.W. and Lou’s remained in the Chilton area, except Mamie, moved away after her marriage. The siblings were all born on the family farm just about ½ miles East of Dot, Texas. In 1916, P. W. built a new in Chilton, where the couple lived until P.W.’s death, and Lou remained until she moved to her daughter Jessie’s home, a few years before her death in 1957.