Adams Family - Ourfolk
William French Adams 16 JUN 1776 - 16 JUN 1844
William was born on 16 JUN 1776 in Fauquier, VA and died on 16 JUN 1844 (age: 68).
He was the son of Feathergail Adams (4 FEB 1755 - 7 NOV 1807) and Nancy Elizabeth Smith (Adams) (ABT 1755 - 9 NOV 1807).
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Parents | Grand Parents | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
⌈ Absalom Adams, Sr. (1727 - 1790) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
⌈ Feathergail Adams (4 FEB 1755 - 7 NOV 1807) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
⌊ Elizabeth Fothergill (Adams) (1730 - 1790) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
William French Adams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
⌈ William Smith (21 AUG 1729 - 2 FEB 1821) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
⌊ Nancy Elizabeth Smith (Adams) (ABT 1755 - 9 NOV 1807) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
⌊ Peggy (Smith) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sources:
S1 Bill Davis's Data on Carroll & Gallatin County, KY families
Married Peggy/Polly LONG (#1) and Rebecca LAWRENCE (#2)
William (devil Bill) had 9 children:
Betsie (m1: Crawford, m2: Burkett, m3: Dr Joplin), Burkett,
Dr. Allen Worth Adams (m Sartin)
John (m Lucy Hiatt),
Dr. Smith, Thomas (m1: Patsy Terrell, m2: Mattie Haley)
Willis (b:10/3/1818, m1: Helen Hiatt, m2: Marg. Maret),
Olmstead (m: Susie Bragg), William.
William gained the name 'Devil Bill,' after the family moved to Kentucky in 1787, and Bill, a teenager and unhappy with Kentucky, stole his father's best horse and returned to Culpepper County.
(from Bill Davis Data)
William: email
William (devil Bill) had 9 children:
Betsie (m1: Crawford, m2: Burkett, m3: Dr Joplin), Burkett,
Dr. Allen Worth Adams (m Sartin)
John (m Lucy Hiatt),
Dr. Smith, Thomas (m1: Patsy Terrell, m2: Mattie Haley)
Willis (b:10/3/1818, m1: Helen Hiatt, m2: Marg. Maret),
Olmstead (m: Susie Bragg), William.
William gained the name 'Devil Bill,' after the family moved to Kentucky in 1787, and Bill, a teenager and unhappy with Kentucky, stole his father's best horse and returned to Culpepper County.
(from Bill Davis Data)
The name of William French 'Devil Bill' Adams' son is Allensworth, not Allen Worth. His first wife was Elizabeth Sartain, who was 13 when they married. They had two children, John and Rebecca. He abandoned her when he went to Texas. She divorced him in Garrard Co., KY. His brother, Jones Adams, made a deposition for her. She married 2nd to a Brown. In Texas, Allensworth married Minerva Webb in Limestone Co. I don't know what happened to her. After his first wife's death Allensworth, came back to Kentucky for his children and married Elizabeth French. They went back to Texas and they had several children. Eventually he married Eleanor Jane Mink, but I haven't found the marriage record. One of their daughters was my grandmother, Lucy Owsley Adams, who married John Houston Ramsey.
Polly Long Adams, his first wife, had not died when William 'Devil Bill' Adams married Rebecca Lawrence. I believe she can be found in the Mercer Co. census in 1810 and Fayette County Census for 1820 and 1830. I understand Polly tried to take him to court for bigamy, but Rebecca testified that she wasn't married to him. She told family members that she thought he was free to marry when she married him, but she had to testify that she wasn't married, even though it damaged her own reputation. Otherwise, he would be sent to prison and her children would have no one to support them.
Linda Ramsey Ashley - August 2007
Polly Long Adams, his first wife, had not died when William 'Devil Bill' Adams married Rebecca Lawrence. I believe she can be found in the Mercer Co. census in 1810 and Fayette County Census for 1820 and 1830. I understand Polly tried to take him to court for bigamy, but Rebecca testified that she wasn't married to him. She told family members that she thought he was free to marry when she married him, but she had to testify that she wasn't married, even though it damaged her own reputation. Otherwise, he would be sent to prison and her children would have no one to support them.
Linda Ramsey Ashley - August 2007
Last change (on this page): 15 OCT 2018