At first, I thought John and Eleanor’s son, James, died in 1651. This date was memorialized in two historical publications. I then discovered the man who died in 1651 was a different James Adams.

James Adams

Born: 1626 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA

Father: John Adams (1595 to 1633)
Mother: Eleanor Newton (1598 to 1681)

Spouse: Frances Vassall (1623 to Unknown)

Married: 16 JUN 1646 in Scituate, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA

Children:

William Adams (16 MAY 1647 to Unknown)
Anna Adams (18 APR 1649 to Unknown)
Richard Adams (19 APR 1651 to 24 AUG 1728)
Mary Adams (27 JAN 1653 to Unknown)
Margaret Adams (8 MAR 1654 to 2 JAN 1737)

Died: unknown

Timeline:

1643 Marshfield, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA
1646 Marriage to Frances
1647 Birth of son, William
1649 Birth of daughter, Anna
1651 Birth of son, Richard
1653 Birth of daughter, Mary
1654 Birth of daughter, Margaret
1656 The Island of Barbados
1657 The Island of Barbados
1658 The Island of Barbados

Occupation: unknown

Records:

Massachusetts, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890
Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
The U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700
The Caribbean, English Settlers in Barbados, 1637-1800

Variations of Surname: none

Mixed Messages:

When I started my research on James Adams, I came across conflicting information. Some Ancestry.com family trees asserted that he died in 1651 on board the ship, James of London. Other family trees indicated that he was still alive in 1658 and living in Barbados. All of these family trees listed James as the husband of Frances Vassall.

Which of these scenarios was correct? I decided to investigate both of these claims.

The 1651 death date was referenced in two historical publications:

John Farmer’s “A Genealogical Register of the First Settlers of New England“, Page 11

Samuel Deane’s “History of Scituate, Massachusetts, from its First Settlement to 1831“, Page 211

I discovered that the 1651 death date came from a probated inventory list. I found a copy of this document on another family tree.

The record shows that a man named James Adams died on 19 JAN 1651 on board the ship, James of London. The administrator of his estate was listed as Kenelm Winslow.

Kenelm Winslow was Eleanor’s second husband. I am sure that was why the authors assumed that John and Eleanor’s son died in 1651.

I then found three documents for the man named James Adams who was still living in 1658:

Two of these records were contracts written by Nicholas Ware. He was Frances’ brother-in-law. These documents were dated 1656 and 1658.

The other record was a land deed signed by Frances in 1657. In this document, she stated that her husband was residing on the island of Barbados.

Note: Frances referred to her father, William Vassall, as deceased. She did not refer to her husband as deceased.

These three documents confirm that John and Eleanor’s son did not die in 1651.

The Wikitree.com profile for James Adams (Adams-967) supplied one more document that confirms John and Eleanor’s son did not die on 19 JAN 1651.

The second paragraph of the Biography Section:

“The Plymouth Colony Records, under date of June 10, 1651, record that James Adams came before the governor and acknowledged that he had received from Kenelm Winslow the £5 which was to be paid to him when he became of age, and “on the 26th of December 1651, it was ordered to be entered upon the public record as paid and received.”

Reference: Plymouth Colony Records (Boston, 1855), vol. ii. p.176.

Both of these dates were after the death date of 19 JAN 1651 as shown on the inventory list.

Who died in 1651?

The name on the inventory list was clearly written as James Adams. Eleanor’s second husband, Kenelm Winslow, was named as administrator of the estate. John and Eleanor’s son was still alive in 1658.

This meant there was another man named James Adams who was somehow connected to this family. Another historical publication gave me a clue:

“Plymouth Colony, Its History & People, 1620-1691“, Page 231

The author, Eugene Aubrey Stratton, indicated that Robert S Wakefield’s “Men of the Fortune: John Adams“, could provide more information on this family.

I found this article on the American Ancestors website. It was published in The American Genealogist, Volume 55, Pages 212 to 214.

On Page 213, the author stated that the man who died in 1651 could not be the son of John and Eleanor Adams. He suggested that this man may have been the brother of John Adams.

That might be true. The inventory list did not supply an age for the deceased. Could it be that John’s brother was traveling from England to America at the time of his death?

Kenelm Winslow was the stepfather to John and Eleanor’s children. He may have taken on the duty of the administrator to ensure the children would share any proceeds from their uncle’s estate.

If only we had the 1651 passenger list for the James of London. It might contain the answer to this question.

Where are the Death Records?

No death record has been found for James or Frances. The last known documents show:

In 1658, James was living on the island of Barbados.

In 1672, Frances was granted 150 acres of land approximately eight miles north of Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA. In 1673, the land was returned to the court.

An excerpt from Eugene Aubrey Stratton’s “Plymouth Colony, its history & people, 1620-1691” indicated that Frances was “the wife of” James Adams “of Concord”. Does that mean James was still alive in 1673 and residing in Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA?

The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Volume 33, Page 411, describes Frances as “the widow of” James Adams. This may have been based on the assumption that he died in 1651.

Clarence Almon Torrey’s “U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700” indicated that James died in 1667. He did not indicate where James died.

I could also assume that when James died, Frances may have remarried. Or, vice versa. This would make it extremely difficult to locate their death records.

With all this differing information, I cannot positively say when these individuals died. For that reason, I will leave James and Frances’ death dates blank.

Notes:

John Adams (1595 to 1633) was the first person with that English surname to immigrate to North America from England. In 1621, John boarded the Fortune. This was the second ship, after the Mayflower, to bring puritans to North America. In late November of that year, the Fortune arrived at Plymouth Colony. John was the progenitor of all the Adams descendants listed in these posts.

Creating Your Family Tree

Interested in building a great family tree? Remember these important steps:

Look in your photo albums. You may have old pictures that your parents or grandparents gave you. Or, ask them for copies of photos that they have in their possession. Many people will write names and dates on the backs of photographs. Letters, diaries, and family bibles are also excellent sources for births, marriages, and deaths.

Talk to your older relatives to find out about your ancestry. They may relate stories about an ancestor that you can add to your family tree. Family history is usually not found in newspapers. It is more of a verbal memory that is passed down from generation to generation.

Find the right family tree builder that suits your needs. You can choose one that has a paid subscription like Ancestry.com. There are also free sites like FamilySearch.org.

When you start building your family tree, add documentation to your ancestor’s profile. The records can include birth, marriage, death, census, military, city, and county directory listings. Any information that you can find will help create a life story about your ancestor.

If you have a unique surname, like Wakenight, you may find databases on the internet that are useful in your search. I use SurnameDB.com for my English surnames. There are many others on the internet for other countries like Ireland, Italy, and Germany.

Genealogy is the study of a person’s “line of descent.” As you create your family tree, you would typically start with one individual and go “back into time.” You would add their parents, grandparents, and so on.  There are also family trees that go “forward into time.”  Many of these family trees start with a famous person, such as a president or royalty, and move forward into the present time.  The purpose of this type of pedigree is to establish a person’s bloodline with that famous person.

There is no limit on how big your family tree can grow. The blank canvas is there for you to use. Cherish your family history, and it will be there for generations to come!