Adams Family Mayflower Connection

The John Adams Family Mayflower Connection

Excerpts from a story that was published in 1878 in the Grindstone Advertiser:  

The John Adams family left Waterbury Connecticut in the late fall of 1810 to move to Ohio

“The members consisted of John Adams Sr. his wife Cynthia (Fitch) Adams and their 6 children. Lucius, John Jr., Horace F., Ransom, George and Hannah (Daughter of John Adams first wife) . The family was in two wagons Father, Mother and the 5 Sons were in one wagon and Hannah and her cousin Marshal Bronson were in another. They got to Buffalo in early December and stayed for a couple of days due to a snow storm.  The road through the woods was blocked so they took the more hazardous beach route they had to make a passage around a very dangerous prominence and the wagons had to enter the lake to get around it. They lost the wagon and all the goods in the wagon that Marshal was driving.  Hannah also died in this accident. “

The rest of the family made it and settled on the Olmsted area. John Adams was a Revolutionary war veteran. But we knew very little about his wife.   

A couple of weeks ago we were doing some work in the Fairview Library. The Genealogy Specialist brought me a folder she had received. She said I probably be interested in the information in it. The Information was originally sent to the Olmsted Falls Library who later turned it over to Fairview as it is the Genealogical research library. A cover letter said it came from Priscilla Adams Wood in Chula Vista, CA. Pricilla is the Granddaughter of Charles Adams of Olmsted Falls. He was the Great-grandson of  John Adams Sr. 

The Paragraph that caught my eye was this one:

“I would also like to note that Cynthia (Fitch) Adams is my Mayflower ancestor. She and husband John Adams are buried in Butternut Ridge Cemetery.  Her family goes to Alice (Bradford) Adams Fitch, Daughter of William Bradford. I hope that will help someone looking for their Mayflower connection.”

She included a Pedigree chart:

Cynthia Fitch 1763 – 1819 (2) Ebenezer Fitch 1724/1725 – 1773  (3) Ebenezer Fitch 1689/1690 – 1724 (4) Major James Fitch 1649 – 1727  M Anne Bradford Adams 1687

We checked the Bradford book in the Mayflower decedents registry. And verified her entries.  

We have 2 other families that have Mayflower connections they are Elias Paddock and his descendants are a direct line to Elder William Brewster.   Priscilla (Sears) Thompson and her Descendants also are a direct line to Elder William Brewster  

The story of Jacob Foster

We received an Email the other day asking if there was a Jacob Foster in Butternut Ridge Cemetery.  They had a death record showing that he died in 1897 and was buried in Lot 34 Section 3 but no Grave #.  They also had a copy of the Coroner’s report.  They had contacted City hall and the person there could not find him in the records so they gave them my email address. 

 There was a notation in the Manuscript that we are proof reading, for Helen Shaw CG, that in Lot 34 there was thought to be a Jacob Foster buried in that lot. And his Civil War Military record was listed in the back of the old book and he was in lot 34.  I have been working with the old record book (We believe it was started in about 1910 by Asher M Coe Jr who was the Sexton of both North Olmsted township cemeteries for about 20 years ) Grave 3 is empty so Jacob Foster could be possibly in the lot.

The probability of Jacob being buried in grave 3 is very high. The interesting part of this story is the Coroner’s Report.   Jacob died at the age of 64 in the house of Henry Harrison Briggs.  (A former owner of the Briggs House in Frostville) 

Henry’s Deposition transcript follows:

” What is your Name? “        Henry H. Briggs

“May you state your Age?”   My Age is 52 Years.

“Were you acquainted with Jacob Foster?”  Yes sir

“How long has he been in your employ?  Nearly two months, but there was no contract.

“When and how did you first discover anything wrong with said Foster? “ About 6 A.M.  April 2^nd 1897. He was called to breakfast and gave no answer, and I went up to see what was the matter, and found him lying on floor dead, he was lying on his back beside of the bed cold and stiff just as he was when viewed by the Justice of the Peace.

“Has he any personal effect now in your possession?”  He has four shirts two pair of boots and a few work cloths not to exceed in value two dollars in value, and four dollars that I owe him for services.

Signed by Henry H. Briggs

His total Inventory Follows:

Four shirts, two pair of boots and a few work clothes         $2.00

Cash in Wallet                                                                                   .43

Due from Henry Briggs for labor                                               $4.00

One trunk containing a number of articles of clothing

badly worn, worth not to exceed                                              $2.50

                                                                                    Total            $8.93

Jacob was born in Switzerland, and was a Soldier in the Civil war.  He was married and divorced after the war and became an iterant farm laborer. Pay was about .50 per 12 hour day with room and board

Genealogy Information and Pitfalls

This is a little information learned while working on this project.  First I have completed a history of my family back to the 1600. I worked on that for about 7 years.  My two primary citation sources are Ancestry.com and Family Search.com.  While doing my research I found a few interesting things. 

Only use the Public Trees in ancestry as a reference. You must have another source or two to meet the standards. The do offer some really good hints.  I have found many errors.

Headstones and Death Certificates are good for death dates but are only a reference for a birth date.  An example of this is Caleb Cook and his wife Eliza Payson.  Their birth Certificates, from Massachusetts, both showed a different date from their Headstones and it showed that Elisa’s full name was Catherine Eliza. 

Remember a woman changes her name at every marriage.  If you can’t find where a wife is buried check for a marriage license using her married name.  Example Samantha Palmer married Oscar Coe.   Mr. Coe died young and she Married Jabez Bainbridge.   Samantha Palmer Coe Bainbridge Is buried in Butternut in a Plot owned by her second husband’s parents along with her is parents George and Melissa Palmer. The part I am curious about is that George Palmer has his own plot in Butternut.   The only one buried in it is his grandchild Oscar Coe Jr.

Cuyahoga County Probate court changed their website.  You can no longer access the early marriage license records on their site easily.  I have found that Family Search has very good Ohio County Marriage records that can be easily accessed in their updated site any questions send me an email and I can give you some help

The Mystery of Mr. and Mrs. Coe.

     Lot 217 Is owned by Mr. Henry Sanford Sr.  Buried on this lot are Abigail Caswell his first wife she died 13 April 1841 28 years old.  Samuel Beckley he died 10 Oct 1840 29 years old. Both of them have headstones.  Mr. Coe and Mrs. Coe were the other two buried in the lot. They have no headstones.  The first two were easy to figure out?  (back to this Later). 

       First we had to figure out what were the first names of the Coe Couple.  Since we already have a Merton Coe and a baby Oscar Coe, we started there.  They were both children of Oscar Coe Sr. Checking on Oscar we found in the Coe Ridge Cemetery listing so it wasn’t him.  We did a census on Oscar and found him to be the son of Samuel Coe and Sarah Smith.  Further research showed that Samuel was the son of Ephraim Coe and Nancy Robinson of Berlin CT.  

       We did notice when we were checking the actual census for Samuel and Sarah that they were the next door neighbors of Mr. Henry Sanford Sr.  I also found in the Grindstone Advertiser transcripts (A Local Newspaper ‘1868 -1884” that the SW Cuyahoga Genealogical copied out the pertinent Births, Deaths, and Marriages) that Samuel Coe died suddenly in 1875 from smallpox.  We have found quite often that neighbors would provide a lot for a sudden death of a neighbor.   

     Back to Samuel Beckley his headstone says that he is the son of S and S A Beckley.  In researching his parents we found they were Samuel and Sophronia Adaline Beckley.  Another article in the Advertiser had the obituary for the passing of Samuel Beckley.  Mr. Beckley was born in Berlin CT in 1791. Before he left Connecticut he married Sophronia Adaline COE on 5 May 1815. They left for Ohio in 1821. The article also stated that he died in the home of his son in law Mr. Henry Sanford Sr.  Polly Beckley was Henry’s second wife. Polly Beckley's mother Sophronia A Coe is the Sister of Samuel Coe.  We have always thought that Butternut Ridge Cemetery was at least 60% related

The Carpenter Family in Butternut Ridge Cemetery

     John Carpenter and his wife Lucena Thompson came to Olmsted In about 1829 with 7 of their 9 children from Vermont. Two of their children were born in Olmsted.  Their children consisted of eight boys and one girl were as follows:  William Sears (1813-1877), Barlow Green (1816-1868), Lydia (1819-1832), John Jr. (1821-1839), Jonathan T (1824-1904), Richard (1826-1892), Charles (1827-1883), George W. (1830-1896), Unnamed Infant(1833-1833).  John Sr. and 8 of his children are buried in Butternut Ridge Cemetery.  Barlow Green is buried in Wellington Ohio.

     Barlow and William S married sisters from Wellington area with the last name of Horr. Barlow’s wife was Lucinda.  Lucina was William’s first wife.  

     Richard and Jonathan were married to daughters of Rev Solomon and Claracy Dimock. Richard married  Augusta and Jonathan married Mary Jane.  Rev Dimock was a prominent circuit preacher in the Buffalo and Northern Ohio area. He and his wife retired to the Olmsted area and are buried in one of the Carpenter plots in Butternut Ridge.

     Lydia died in 1832 at the age of 13.  John Jr. died at the age of 18. There was an infant that was only alive for about 3 days. It must have been a rough birth as Lucena was about 41 years old at the time. Charles was married to Helen O Bennet in 1848. We can’t find any information on her parents there is a possibility from the 1850 census that Nathaniel and Elinor of Lagrange might be them.    

     George was the youngest brother. He married Mary Jane Thompson the daughter of Levi and Ann Thompson. She was born at Kelley’s Island another connection to the island and Olmsted. Her parents are also buried In Butternut Ridge Cemetery.

     The Carpenter Home has been restored and preserved in the Frostville Museum on Cedar Point Road in the Cleveland Metro Parks.  It is open on Saturdays and on special function days in the Summer.  Contact the Olmsted Historical Society for more information.  www.olmstedhistoricalsociety.org  for information on the Cemetery www.OHSGenealogy.org

Kelley's Island

A Neighbor of mine who lives in the North Olmsted Historical District told me that the person who built his house was Daniel Kelley Huntington and  wondered if he is buried in Butternut Ridge Cemetery he also knew that Daniel was born on Kelley’s Island. I found that he and his wife Emily Farr are both buried in Butternut. That started my research.

        Kelley’s Island was originally known as island #6.  Later it was called Cunningham Island.  In 1833 Datus and Irad Kelley started purchasing the property for about $1.50 per acre. By 1840 they had completed the purchase and renamed it Kelley’s Island. Datus Kelley was a successful business man from Rocky River and Irad had become a successful Real Estate investor in Cleveland. They created several businesses on the Island including Lumber and Quarrying. They also had many summer visitors from both Dover and Olmsted township. Datus Kelley’s’ daughter Emeline Married George C Huntington Daniel Kelly Huntington is one of their children. He Lived in Olmsted in the winter and on the island in the summer.  I have found a couple of other people in the cemetery that were born on Kelley’s Island.

        Daniel Married Emily in Cuyahoga but met her up at the Island her family spent summers up there. Emily’s sister Hannah Married Albert Stow Kelley a son of Datus Kelley They had a son Hermon A. Kelley who became a very prominent lawyer in Cleveland. He was also a board member of some of the big corporations in Cleveland. 
      Hermon and Daniel became friends Hermon bought 2 Lots in Butternut Ridge Cemetery. He sold one To Daniel Huntington into the other He moved the remains of the parents and family of Hannah and Emily Farr. I have not found out were they were buried before they were moved. Here is what might have happened.
       I was at Frostville today and found a reproduction of a 1878 map of Rockport township. It showed a farm on the border of Rockport and Dover Townships owned by Julius Farr at the back of the Property it shows a cemetery. Some of the old farms had family cemeteries in the back of the property. The family was moved in the early 1900's. I would have to assume that the farm was sold and to keep the family together they were moved to Butternut. Julius Farr died and was buried in Butternut in 1905. That is about the time everyone was moved by H. A. Kelley.