There are no historical documents that have tied John Adams of Plymouth to his English counterpart. I believe the only way this could be done is if his name, John Adams of Plymouth, was found in a Last Will & Testament in England. The difficulty would be finding such a document.
John Adams
Born: 1595 in England
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown
Spouse: Ellen Newton (1598 to 1681)
Married: 1625 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA
Children:
James Adams (1626 to 19 JAN 1651)
Susanna Adams (1629 to Unknown)
John Adams (1630 to Unknown)
Died: 11 NOV 1633 in Plymouth, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, USA
Timeline:
1621 Arrived at Plymouth Bay Colony
1625 Married Eleanor Newton
1626 Birth of son, James
1629 Birth of daughter, Susanna
1630 Birth of son, John
1633 Death and Burial
Occupation: carpenter
Records:
U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, the 1500s to 1900s
The U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700
The U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900
Variations of Surname: none
A Little History:
In 1621, John boarded a ship named the Fortune. In August, the ship left London and arrived at the Plymouth Bay Colony in late November.
John’s name appears on three documents:
The 1621 Passenger List for the Ship, Fortune:
This list was derived mainly from a document called the 1623 Division of Land. Caleb Johnson, a member of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants, explains:
“In 1623, the Pilgrims divided up their land. The people mentioned in the Division of Land came on the Mayflower (1620), the Fortune (1621), and the Anne (1623). A couple may have arrived on the Swan (1622) or the Little James (1623), but these were small ships carrying mostly cargo. The Division of Land is recorded in Volume XII of the “Records of the Colony of New Plymouth”, and reprinted in the “Mayflower Descendant”, 1:227-230. Each family was given one acre per family member.”
The 1627 Division of Cattle List:
Caleb Johnson explains:
“On 22 May 1627, the Division of Cattle was recorded in the Plymouth Colony Records. This is a very important document because it names all the members of each household, including the names of women and children — making it in essence a complete census of 1627 Plymouth.”
The 1633 Plymouth Colony List of Freemen:
The Wikipedia website defines a freeman of Plymouth Colony as a man who did not need to be a member of the Church. He was elected to this position by the General Court and had the right to vote.
You can view this list on a PDF file from mypageofmystery.com. John is the sixth name listed in the righthand column.
Historical Publications:
John’s name appears in many historical publications about the Pilgrims, Plymouth Bay Colony, and Massachusetts.
“The Signers of the Mayflower Compact” was written by Annie Arnoux Haxtun and published in 1896. On Page 17, you will find her narrative of John Adams and his family.
“The Planters of the Commonwealth” was written by Charles Edward Banks and published in 1930. On Page 50, you will find the passenger list for the Fortune.
“The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers“, also written by Charles Edward Banks and published in 1962. On Page 105, the author listed four men named John Adams.
I believe the author was speculating that John Adams of Plymouth could have been one of these individuals. That is because no one knows when or where John was born. No record exists that has established an English connection to John Adams of Plymouth.
Note: On my family tree, I entered John’s birth year as 1595. This birth year came from other family trees but it is simply an estimate. He could have been much older or younger. There is no document that shows how old John was when he died.
“Plymouth Colony, Its History and Its People” was written by Eugene Aubrey Stratton and published in 1986.
On Page 231, the author suggests that Robert S Wakefield’s “Men of the Fortune, John Adams” gives more information on this family. I have not found this publication online. It may have been published by the New England Historical Society.
If anyone has a copy of this publication or knows its source, please contact me. My email is dlwakenight@yahoo.com. You can also leave a message in the Comments Section of this post.
Marriage:
From the historical documents, we know that John Adams arrived at the Plymouth Bay Colony in 1621. Ellen arrived in 1623. The 1627 Division of Cattle List shows that they were married. Their son, James, was also included on this list.
There is a marriage entry in the publication entitled “The U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700”. The book was written by Clarence Almon Torrey and published in 1985. You can read this book on Ancestry.com with a paid subscription.
You will find an explanation of how to read these entries on Page xiv of this book. Here is what I think the marriage entry says:
John Adams, age unknown, died in 1633,
and Eleanor, who may have been called Ellen,
maiden name Newton or maybe Worden,
she died in 1681 at the age of 83 years old,
her second husband was Kenelm Winslow,
John and Ellen were married in 1623 or 1624.
John’s Wife, Ellen:
The vital information for Ellen comes from historical publications. This data did not come from any known documents. The authors of these books gave their best guess as to Ellen’s age, origins, and surname.
These historical publications have established that Ellen Newton was a passenger aboard the ship, Anne. In 1623, this ship, along with the Little James, made the three-month voyage from London to the Plymouth Bay Colony.
The 1623 passenger lists for these ships were derived mainly from the 1623 Division of Land document. I found a copy of this list on the Plymouth Colony Archive Project.
The following excerpt is one portion of the full list. It shows that one acre of land was awarded to seven individuals, four acres to a family, and one acre each to three people living in the same house.
It has been suggested that Ellen was widowed when she made the voyage to Plymouth. That was because young women did not travel alone. It would have been too dangerous. They would have traveled with their family or under the protection of another family group.
There is a consensus that Ellen may have been related to one of the people shown in the 1623 document. This connection has not been confirmed.
In 1633, a deadly smallpox outbreak hit the Plymouth Bay Colony. Twenty people died including their only physician, Samuel Fuller. John may have been one of these twenty people.
In June of 1634, Ellen married her second husband, Kenelm Winslow. Four known children were born during their marriage. The oldest child was born in Plymouth. The other children were born in Marshfield.
Kenelm Winslow (1635)
Eleanor Winslow (1637)
Nathaniel Winslow (1639)
Job Winslow (1641)
Kenelm Winslow was born on 29 APR 1599 in Droitwich, Worcestershire, England. He died on 13 SEP 1672 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA.
There is a short biography for Kenelm in the “Plymouth Colony, Its History and Its People” on Page 376. He was the brother of Plymouth Colony governor and Mayflower pilgrim Edward Winslow.
Kenelm Winslow and John Adams were both carpenters. That may be how Ellen met Kenelm.
More Information:
The link that highlights Ellen’s name at the top of this post will take you to her Wikipedia profile. Under the Disputed Origins section, you will see a link entitled “Who was the Wife of Kenelm Winslow (1599-1672)”.
The Find A Grave website has memorials for John, Ellen, and Kenelm. When you view these pages, please use caution.
Kenelm’s parentage has been established through his connection to his older brother, Edward Winslow. This fact has been recorded in historical journals.
The creator of Ellen’s memorial connected her to John Newton (1565 to 1633) and Margaret Grice (1569 to 1612). This is still in dispute. The Last Will of John Newton did not name a daughter, Ellen or Eleanor.
The creator of John’s memorial connected him to John Adams (1577 to 1609). Again, there is no document that ties John Adams of Plymouth to anyone named John Adams in England.
My Thoughts:
How could Ellen or John be tied to their counterparts in England? It would have to be from a Last Will and Testament. These documents would have to mention either Ellen Adams or John Adams of Plymouth.
The difficulty would be finding such a document.
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!
Leave a Reply