MY GRANDFATHER JOHN KINCH ADAMS

FAMILY HISTORY

FROM 1625 – 2010 THE FAMILY LINE OF

JOHN, ABRAHAM, WILLOUGHBY, EZEKIEL ASHAL “ASA”, NELSON, ANCIL, & JOHN KINCH ADAMS.

AS TOLD BY

TOMMY ADAMS WITH THE HELP OF MY COUSINS, SIBLING, AND

A HOST OF FRIENDLY PEOPLE.

JOHN KINCH ADAMS b. MARCH 30, 1871 DICKSON CO. TENNESSEE

d. SEPTEMBER 6, 1956 FULTON CO. KENTUCKY

INCLUDED IN THIS HISTORY

  1. INTRODUCTION OF THE ADAMS FAMILY HISTORY
  2. FAMILY GENEALOGY – BIOGRAPHY PAGE
  3. SOUTH CAROLINA - HOME OF JOHN’S GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER JOHN BARFOOT AND HIS GREAT GRANDMOTHER PHERITY “ELIZABETH” BARFOOT.
  4. NORTH CAROLINA WHERE OUR ADAMS LINE BEGINS WITH JOHN ADAMS B. 1625 AND COMING TO AMERICA IN 1645.
  5. TENNESSEE – HAMILTON, ROANE, DICKSON, DYER AND OBION COUNTIES.
  6. KENTUCKY – FULTON COUNTY, RESTING PLACE OF OUR GRANDFATEHR.
  7. PHOTO – OLD AND NEW ON DVD
  8. PERSONAL PAGE

As I begin this history of my Grandfather John Kinch Adams and the one’s before and after him, I want everyone to know that I did not find one famous person. I did find many honest, hardworking, caring, loving and Christian people. An example of this would be the children of John Kinch and Alyce Bell Bills Adams. Although my Grandmother died young (39) and I was almost eight years old when my Grandfather died, I did know my Aunts and Uncles well enough to know that you would not find finer people in the world - people who showed their love for you when you visited them and family that made you feel welcome to their home. This is where my Dad and his siblings learned the things of life that mattered the most. Philippians 4:8 (King James Version) “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things”. Good people, like my Grandparents teach these things in good homes.

Having gone back as far as I can find information on my Adams line, I am starting this history with Ashal “Asa” Adams who was born in 1777 in Pitt County, North Carolina. No one wants to be remembered as just a statistic such as when we were born, married, bore children and died. We need to learn as much as we can about where and how they lived, where they went to Church, what was their occupation. Most of the time, you cannot find much information on an ancestor, but sometimes you are fortunate to find a good deal about the person. As I begin with Asa, I would like to share something that I read: there is a difference between Genealogy and Family History. Genealogy refers to more of the actual search for ancestors, looking for facts. Family history is the narrative of the events in one’s ancestors’ lives that is the telling of the family story. Family history is genealogy come alive and adds some color and story to your ancestors’ lives. So what I will do is write some about John and his line down to John K. Adams and then his children.

**** This added on October 28, 2009---- Thanks to some very nice people from our same Adams line, I have been able to find the Father of Asa Adams and now can go back to my 7th Great Grandfather John Adams. John Adams b. 1625 in England, came to America in 1645 as one family of ten whose way was paid for by a wealthy North Carolina land owner. His ship landed in Baltimore and then went to Bath County, North Carolina. This is our line through John Adams. Next was his son Abraham Adams b. 1685 in Bath County, North Carolina. He was the first Adams born in the U.S. One of his sons was Willoughby Adams b. 1717 in Bath County, North Carolina. His son Ezekiel Adams b. 1742 in North Carolina is the Father of Asa Adams. Through DNA testing Ezekiel can be traced back to his Great Grandfather John Adams who came to American from England. One of the men who did the DNA testing is from the line of James Adams a younger brother to my Great Grandfather Ancil Adams. What I have on the Family Group Sheets is all the information that I have on these men as of now. I will add more information later as I get it from these very nice people who are helping me with this new information.

The first time I found Asa on any census was the 1810 Marion County, South Carolina census. Here he was found with his wife Elizabeth and three children. According to the North Carolina marriage records, Asa was married to Pherity Barfoot on February 23, 1802 in Robeson County, North Carolina with John Davis as the Bondsman. On the 1790 Marion County Census you find a John Barfoot with three males under the age of 16, along with four females. This is Pherity’s father. The story goes that she was full-blooded Cherokee Indian and Asa gave her the name Elizabeth so people would not think she was American Indian. Prejudicetoward the Indians compelled him to do this. Pherity is on the marriage license, but Elizabeth is on all the census records. I’m still researching, but there is a good possibility that John Barfoot was what they called Black Dutch. When Portugal ceased their colonies in Georgia and Northern Florida in late 1600’s, they left about 200 families and never returned to get them. As the years went on they begin to intermarriage with the Cherokee’s. Since American Indians were not allowed to own land by law they would not put down Cherokee, but rather the term Black Dutch.

According to census records, Asa was born in 1777 in Pitt County, North Carolina. Pherity, according to census records, was born 1777 in Marion County, South Carolina.

After Asa arrived in Tennessee, he becamea very successful farmer. You can see his land holding increase through the years. He must have been a very hard worker and took good care of his family. You find his children living very close to him. They probably lived on his land and helped him work it.

Asa served in the military during the War of 1812 with Austin’s Regiment of the South Carolina Militia. Some information I found had his unit going into Northern Georgia and Alabama for almost a year. I hope to find more information about this military unit during the war. The time of death of Asa is not really clear, but it appears to be in the early 1870’s. Even then he was already in his 90’s, but one researcher found information that he died in February 1865. Also it states that Pherity had left Tennessee due to the Civil War being fought close to their home and went to Indiana. She stayed with friends or family and appears to have died while living there, yet she is listed as buried in Hamilton County, Tennessee. Please see the email I received from David Tucker on this subject. I hope to research this and if the information is there, I will get copies of the estate settlement.

Next in line was Nelson Adams, the third child of Asa and Pherity/Elizabeth. Nelson also a farmer followed in his father’s footsteps. While in Roane County, Tennessee Nelson met and married Martha Angeline “Patsy” Mathis. She was the daughter of Ancil and Martha Mathis. This is the first mention of the Mathis line, but it won’t be the last. Seems where you find our Adams line you also find our Mathis line. Several marriages between the Adams and Mathis occur during four generations. Nelson and Martha had a total of fifteen children. After Martha died from burns inflicted by a lantern that exploded in her home about August 10th, she lived for three days and died on her 58th birthday, August 13, 1874. Nelson remarried and had one more child giving him sixteen children. I have information on different families at the end of Adams Book #2. Nelson settled his family in an area on the Fannie Branch of the Yellow Creek in Dickson County in the early 1850’s. It is here where he built a home for his family about 1853 and lived here till he died on May 2, 1887. Not far from their home is the Nelson Adams Cemetery where Nelson, Martha and many members of the family are buried. I have pictures of their tombstones included in the pictures that are on the DVD.

Our line continues with Nelson and Martha’s 3rd child Ancil Adams. Ancil was born in Roane County, Tennessee on March 24, 1838. On May 19, 1857, Ancil married Sarah Jane Mathis, the niece of his Mother and the oldest daughter of William and Sarah “Sally” Littleton Mathis. Like Ancil, Sarah Jane was born in Roane County, Tennessee in June 1838. Like his father, Ancil was a farmer. After he married he was probably given some land by his father who owned several hundred acres in Dickson County. Here he and Sarah Jane began their family and lived until the early 1890’s when they moved to Western Tennessee to be near their daughter Nancy Jane and son Kinchen M. (John Kinch). Ancil and Sarah Jane bought a small farm located on the Obion River near Lane, Tennessee. I went to the Obion County Court House but was unable to find anything. They said that the records were incomplete and might have been lost down through the years. I do not have much information on them, but according to Charles Crittenden, the husband of my cousin Gladys Murray Crittenden, they were buriedin Bledsoe Cemetery in northern Dyer County, Tennessee. Charles took Grandfather to the cemetery 3 or 4 times. I was not able to find them on the 1900 Obion County, Tennessee Census. I did find Sarah Jane on the 1900 Obion County Census living with her son John William and listed as a widow (of one year). Ancil probably died in 1899 or early 1900. I did not find Sarah listed on the 1910 Census. She probably died between 1900 and 1910. If the 1890 U. S. Census had not been destroyed, it would have answered many questions about Ancil and Sarah Jane.

Ancil and Sarah Jane had six children that I know lived. Martha born in 1860 and married William C. Hartsgroves, Nancy Jane born 1863 and married John Kinch Mathis, Mary Louisa born 1867 no information if she ever married, John William born 1869 and married Sally Ann Wright, Kinchen M. (John Kinch) born 1871 and married Alyce Bell Bills, Sally Ann born 1874 no information if she ever married, Stephen born 1879 but lived only 2 or 3 years or so. I have some information on all that lived except Mary Louisa and this is included in the notebooks.

Next in our Adams line is our Grandfather Kinchen M. (John Kinch) Adams. I know it was a shock to find that our Grandfather’s given name when born was not John Kinch. He was probably named after his Uncle Kinchen Adams, his father’s older brother. Ancil and Kinchen were very close brothers and lived next to each other back in Dickson County. The M. in Grandfather’s name probably stood for Mathis which was his Mother’s maiden name, and remember that the Mathis name is found through out the Adams line. According to Gladys Murray Crittenden and Wesley Adams, both heard nephews refer to our Grandfather as Uncle Kinch. My Mom, Sidney Poe Adams said she called her father in law Kinch, and other people called him Kinch.

Kinchen M. left Dickson County, Tennessee in 1885/86 and went to Western Tennessee to live and work for his older sister’s husband John Kinch Mathis. It appears that this is when he changed his name to John Kinch. Why no one knows, but perhaps he just didn’t like his given name. A very nice lady in Dickson, Tennessee checked court records and verified that our Grandfather did not leave Dickson County because of any trouble with the law. When he arrived in the Obion/Dyer County area, he went to work for his brother-in- law John Kinch Mathis who was the boss of a lumber jack crew. Here he learned the value of hard work as he helped clear the thick forest of western Tennessee to be turned into farming land.

John Kinch Mathis’ mother was Maryline Mathis, the cousin of Sarah Jane Adams my Great Grandmother. Maryline was the daughter of Kinchen Mathis, the son of Ancil Mathis. Kinchen Mathis was also the older brother of Ancel’s Mother Martha Angeline “Patsy” Mathis Adams. So you see the names were passed down from generation to generation. Maryline was engaged to a man who went off to fight in the Civil War. Before he left, Maryline got pregnant but the young man was killed in the war. She named her son John Kinch Mathis. A few years later in 1868, Maryline married Stephen T. Adams, another son of Nelson and Martha Adams and younger brother to Ancil Adams. On the 1870 and 1880 Dickson County Census, Stephen T. Adams had John Kinch Mathis put down as John Kinch Adams. This was probably done to save any embarrassment since his last name was not the same as his sibling. He probably did not have his name changed legally since on his marriage license to Nancy Jane Adams he is listed as John K. Mathis. My Dad, Modie Adams, referred to John K. Mathis as Uncle Jack. According to him, his Uncle Jack was not a very nice man. Dad said he didn’t really care for him that much, but Dad thought his Aunt Nancy was a very sweet lady. I don’t have much information on them. I may have found them on the 1930 Bledsoe County, Tennessee Census. Names and ages add up, so this might be them. Hopefully, I will be able to find more information on them with my visit to the National Archives in Nashville.

The only story I have of John Kinch Mathis was told to me by my Dad. He was repeating a story told to him by his Dad, our Grandfather. Not long after Grandfather started working for his brother-in-law, while they were out cutting trees Jack fired a Black man for not working very hard. The Black man asked Jack if he could borrow a mule to ride back to town. Jack told him, “Your black ass walked out here and your black ass can walk back”. After the men had their lunch break, the Black man took one of the mules and rode off. When Jack found out, he sent some men to catch him and bring him back. When they got back, Jack was going to make the Black man an example. The other men thought that Jack was just going to scare him when Jack told them to place the man’s head on one of the stumps. Jack picked up an axe and chopped the man’s head off. I asked Dad what happened to Jack for killing the man. He said nothing. Grandfather said no one else quit or took a mule.

Some of the information I have about John Kinch Mathis and his Mother I received from a very nice lady in Dickson County by the name of Molly Simpson. Her Great Grandmother, Sarah Jane Mathis, was a sister to Maryline Mathis. Sarah and Maryline had six other sisters and one brother. Remember these were the children of Kinchen Mathis and Elizabeth Tummins.

The next child of Ancil and Sarah Jane Mathis Adams was Sally Ann Adams, born in 1874. I have a picture of her and Grandfather taken in late summer 1945. Grandfather is holding two babies. According to my cousin, Gladys Murray Crittenden, Sally died in 1948. She thinks it was in April or May because she was not able to go to the funeral. She had just given birth to her son Tommy in March. She said that Charles took Grandfather and her Mom (Aunt Vere) to the funeral in Dyersburg. Gladys also stated that Sally lived in Dyersburg. Mary Nichols told me that she and her husband Delbert Nichols had visited Sally a few times at her home in Dyersburg. Mary stated that Sally had lived in this house for many years. Even with this information, I could not find Sally on any Dyer County Census. The Dyer County genealogist are busy working and recording the 1900 – 1930 census so hopefully I can find her on at least one of the census records soon. We do not believe that she ever married.

The last child of Ancil and Sarah Jane Mathis Adams was Stephen Henry Adams born 1879. Stephen is listed on the 1880 Dickson County, Tennessee Census but he died in 1881/1882. He was probably buried in the Nelson Adams Cemetery.

This brings us to the next generation in our Adams Family line. As Grandfather worked and lived in the Obion and Dyer County area of Western Tennessee, he met a young lady who would later become his wife. How exactly he met Alyce Bell Bills is not known. They would marry July 26, 1895 in Tiptonville, Lake County, Tennessee.

In January 1898, their first child Lula Adams was born. Not much is known about Lula, but she is listed on the 1900 Obion County Census. She must have died before the 1910 Census because she is not listed on it. My Dad had told me about an older sister that died, but since he was born in 1907 he didn’t know much about her or what happened to her.