Adams Genealogy

Genealogy of My Family

Adams family line of Larry (Martus/Adams) Wassman

Henry Adams of Braintree, the immigrant ancestor of the Adams family in America was probably born in Braintree, Essex county England. The Adams family in England is very ancient, but the exact pedigree of Henry Adams is still in doubt. He arrived in Boston in 1632 or 1633 accompanied by his wife, eight sons and one daughter. He was allotted land at Mount Wollaston, later the town of Braintree, where many of his descendants have lived. The name of his wife is unknown, and it is thought that she and her daughter, possibly also her son John, returned to England. Henry Adams died in Braintree Jun 8, 1647.

His children where:

(1) Lieutenant Henry, born 1604, married in Braintree, Elizabeth Paine, daughter of Moses Paine; he was deputy to the general court, lieutenant of the military company; was killed by the Indians while standing in the doorway of his home at Medfield, and his sick wife was accidentally killed the same day. After Lieutenant Henry fell dead, she ran to the house next door, and as she was in bed in the upper bedroom, one of the militia accidently fired his weapon and it passed through the ceiling and through Mrs. Paine’s body. She died 3 days latter.

(2) Lieutenant Thomas, born 1612, married Mary Blackmer of Blackmore; was town clerk, selectman, and deputy to the general court; he settled in Concord, Massachusetts.

(3) Caption Samuel, born 1617; married (first) Rebecca Graves; married (second) Esther, Sparhawk; was prominent in civil and military life.

(4) Deacon Jonathan, born 1619, married (first) Elizabeth Fussell; married (second) Mary ______; settled in Medfield with several brothers and had his house burned by the Indians there in 1676.

(5) Peter, born 1622; married Rachel _____, and had his house burned by Indians also in 1676, at Medfield, where he settled.

(6) John, born about 1626; possibly John of Cambridge.

(7) Joseph, born 1626, maltster; selectman; married Abigail Baxter.

(8) Ensign Edward Adams, my Great(times many) grandfather, was youngest son of Henry Adams. Born in England in 1630 married (first) Lydia Rockwood, daughter of Richard and Agnes (Bicknell) Rockwood, who died March 3, 1676; Married (second) 1678, widow Abigail (Craft) Roggles, of Roxbury, Mass. (or Abigail Day) who died 1707: married (third) January 6, 1709-10, Sarah Taylor. He settled with three other brothers, in Medfield, Mass., and was ensign in the military company, selectman of the town and deputy to the general court in 1689-92 and 1702. He died in Medfield, November 12, 1716.

John Adams, son of Ensign Edward in my line of relatives was born in Medfield, Mass. February 18, 1657; married (first) Deborah Partridge, in 1682 who was daughter of John and Magdalene (Bullard) Partridge born 1662; died before 1695; married (second) Susanna Breck, daughter of Thomas and Mary (Hill) Breck, born in Sherborn, Mass., May10, 1667 and died May 28, 1744 at Medway. John Adams inherited the homestead at Medfield and lived on it until his death March 1, 1751.

Next came John's son Thomas Adams. Born Feb 11, His mother was Susanna Breck. Thomas married Abigail Fisher about 1716 in Amherst, Mass. Thomas died in Amherst in 1742.

Nathan Adams was next in line the son of Thomas Adams and Abigail Fisher. Nathan was born in Ashford Conn while the family was living there on 16 May 1736. He married Sibyl Ward of Connecticut in 1768. He died in Leverett. Mass January 1, 1832.

His son was Erastus Adams Sr. Born in Leverett, Mass on February 1770. Erastus Married Hannah Ainsworth in December of 1802. He died in 1866 in Leverett.

His son in my line was Erastus Adams Jr. Junior who was born on Oct 10, 1806 in Leverett, Mass. He married first Lucinda Jameson, on Oct 10, 1827 in Lincoln, Maine. Lucinda was the daughter of Jeremiah and Polly (Bailey) Jameson of Lincoln. Lucinda was the first of Erastus's four wives. They had only two children with Lucinda, my great great grandfather William Ward Adams who had as a middle name of Ward, after his maternal grandfather as I have my middle name after my maternal grandfather Martus and a daughter by the name of Elvira, which became the name of my great grandmother Elvira T. Adams. It is assumed that Lucinda died during child birth with her third child. Erastus Adams came to Lincoln in 1827 and very soon engaged in the mill work at the lower mill. He built a house on the State road very near where the railroad now crosses where he lived during his lifetime. After Lucinda died, Erastus married Octavia Cushman, then Mahala Dolbe, and finally, Sylvinia C. Whitney. She died on Dec. 5, 1879 at the age of 51 years. Erastus Jr. Died in Maine on Sept 11, 1884.

The next in my line is William Ward Adams. He was born in Lincoln, Maine on December 12, 1828. He traveled and settled as a pioneer in South Dakota territory. He married Theresa Linck on Jun. 1, 1861. Theresa was living in Elk Point, Union, South Dakota. They had 6 children. One of their children was a daughter by the name of Elvira T. Adams, my great grandmother. William Ward Adams, died July 3, 1883 in Vermillion SD and is buried in the Fair View Cemetery there.

Elvira was born in the Dakotas Aug 21, 1864. She married John Martus my great grandfather on April 5, 1888 in Vermillion, Clay County, SD. One of their children was George Martus my grandfather. Elvira died of typhus on November 15, 1894. Her husband John had died of typhus as well leaving the children orphans to be raised by their grandmother Theresa until she died and then the Catholic Church.

My Grandfather was George Martus. He was born March 16, 1894 in Vermillion South Dakota and died November 7, 1991 at the age of 97. He had first married Beatrice Lee my grandmother on Nov. 7, 1917. They had one child my Mother Nancy Martus (Wassman).

My mother name was Nancy Francis Martus. She was born in Huron South Dakota on Aug. 20. 1918. She is still living and is 90 years old. She married Harry C. Wassman, my father in Vancouver, Washington Oct. 2, 1938 and I was born Nov. 11, 1941. I had one brother Dennis, who was born Dec, 16, 1943. He died Jan. 22, 1999 he was 55 years old.

Note: source material for linkage of the Adams of Maine to the Adams of Mass was provided in the book The Jameson's of America 1647-1900 page 270 published by the Rumford Press, Concord, NH. 1901