In October 2022, I published an article about John Adams (1595 to 1633). He was one of the first newcomers to America. His name appears on the 1621 passenger list for the ship, Falcon, which sailed from London to Plymouth, Massachusetts.

I began the post by saying “There are no historical documents that have tied John Adams of Plymouth to his English counterpart“.

This statement is true. There are no documents in the Plymouth Colony Records that supply his birth year, birthplace, or his parentage.

The contributors of the Puritan Great Migration Project on WikiTree.com have stressed this fact. They reference two publications:

Charles Banks “The English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers“, Page 105, published in 1929.

The author listed four men named John Adams. He was speculating that John Adams must have been born in or around the city of London, England.

Robert Charles Anderson’s “Great Migration Begins; Immigrants to New England, 1620 to 1633”, Pages 11 and 12, published in 1995.  On Page 12, the author refers to Robert S Wakefield’s “Men of the Fortune: John Adams”.

This article was published in The American Genealogist, Volume 55, Pages 212 to 214.  On Page 213 of this publication, the author suggests that John may have had a brother named James Adams. He died “at sea” in 1651 onboard the ship, James, of London. This is one clue to finding John Adams’ English connection.

I discovered another lead while researching Henry Adams of Braintree, Massachusetts. He was the great-great-grandfather of the 2nd U.S. President John Adams.

There is a book entitled “Memorial of Captain Thomas Abbey” on the Internet Archive website. It was written by Alden Freeman and published in 1917.

On Page 49 of this publication, the author stated that John Adams was the brother of Henry Adams of Braintree, Massachusetts. He also said they were supposedly the brothers of Thomas Adams of Plymouth, England. He was an assistant to Governors Cradock and Winthrop.

Taken as a whole, this would mean there were four brothers; John, James, Henry, and Thomas. But, were there?

I believe the above-mentioned authors were speculating on a connection. Charles Banks said that John Adams was “probably from London”. Robert Wakefield stated that James Adams was “probably” the brother of John Adams. Alden Freeman used the phrase “supposed to be brothers of Thomas Adams”.

I found another book entitled “Henry Adams of Somersetshire, England, and Braintree, Massachusetts”. It was compiled by Joseph Gardner Barlett. It was published in 1927.

This book traces Henry’s ancestry back three generations and lists some of his descendants to the 1920s. On Pages 45 to 46, Mr. Bartlett supplied information on Henry and his three siblings. This information came from their father’s Last Will & Testament.

As shown on Page 45, Henry did have a brother named John Adams. He was born in 1577 in Barton St David, Somerset, England. He died in 1609 in that same parish.

This negates Mr. Freeman’s statement that John of Plymouth was Henry Adams’ brother. Mr. Barlett made no mention of James or Thomas Adams.

Are We Back to Square One?

There is no known documentation to establish John Adams’ parentage. That is true.

I knew I would have to leave this question unanswered. Then a thought occurred to me that changed my mind.

DNA testing!

DNA testing for genealogical purposes began in the late 1990s. Many companies offer these tests at a reasonable price. There are also family tree websites that have added DNA databases.

WikiTree has a section entitled DNA Connections. It shows a person’s connection to ancestors up to eight generations.

I started my search on John Adams’ profile page. There were no DNA connections. There were also no connections shown for his son, James Adams. I did find a connection for his grandson, Richard Adams.

Here is the DNA Connection section for Richard Adams. It shows the names of three people.

When I clicked on the green square to the right of William Adams’ name, it shows the eight generations of his ancestors.

William Adams or Adams-51133 is the sixth great-grandson of Richard Adams (1651 to 1728). That would make him the 8th great-grandson of John Adams of Plymouth.

I have sent an inquiry to William Adams. I asked him if it is possible to connect his DNA with someone born in England. I told him that we might be able to trace this person’s ancestors back to find John Adams’ parents.

I will update this post as soon as I receive a reply from William Adams.

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.