I
believe our surname Adams was adopted from one of the slaveholding families
that migrated to America in the early history of this country. – Ed Adams
It is generally believed
that this branch of the Adams family trace their line to Duncan Adams, son of
Alexander Adams who lived in the reign of King Robert Bruce, and had four sons:
Robert, John, Reginald and Duncan, from whom all the Adams, Adamsons and Adies
in Scotland are descended. The youngest
son, Duncan Adams, accompanied James, Lord Douglass, in his expedition to the
Holy Land with King Robert's heart, and from him is stated to have descended
John Adams, who accompanied King James IV. to the field of Flodden, and there
lost his life anno 1513. He had a son,
Charles Adam, seated at Fanno,co. Forfar.
In the middle of the 17th century there were three brothers, descendants
of this family, the eldest of whom remained in Scotland, while the other two,
adding an s to their patronymic, left their country; James went to Ireland, and
is the ancestor of the Adams's of Northlands, co. Cavan and Monagan; and
William went into North Wales, and from him sprang the Adams of Carmathanshire
(now known by the name of Ap Adam) of the Adams of Pembrokeshire.
Source:
Whittemore, Henry,
History of the Adams Family,
New York: Willis
McDonald and Co., (1893), pp. 67-68.
(Personal information on living individuals has been withheld)
The earliest ancestor I have found on the Adams side
of the family is Mingo Adams. Mingo was
born about 1833 in Alabama, Arkansas, or Mississippi as listed in several
records.
Anthony Neal, a cousin and fellow researcher,
informed me that Maria Adams was thought to be the mother of Mingo after she
was found listed on the Census with a son Levi Adams whose birth year was the
same as Mingo’s brother Levi Adams.
Maria Adams is listed here a possibility of being the first
generation. This has not been proved.
There is also a possibility that Levi and
Mingo might be George and Ephraim who were slaves of William Adams of
Mississippi who died in 1842. William
Adams never married. His slaves were
distributed among his brothers and sisters.
It was not determined who received George and Ephraim.
Generation No. 1
1. MARIA1 ADAMS was born 1793 in
Maryland.
1850 U. S. Federal
Census, Howard, Anne Arundel, Maryland;
Roll: M432_278;
Page: 501; Image: 468.
Maria Adams 57 F
M Maryland (Estimated year of birth - 1793)
Levi 21 M M Maryland
(Estimated year of birth - 1829)
Mary Boon 2
F M Maryland
(Estimated year of birth - 1848)
Children of MARIA ADAMS are:
2. i. LEVI2 ADAMS, b. 1832, Maryland;
3. ii. MINGO ADAMS, b. May 1833, Mississippi;
4. iii. SARAH ADAMS, b. 1832, Mississippi.
Generation No. 2
2. LEVI2 ADAMS (MARIA1) was born 1832 in Maryland. He married AMANDA. She was born 1835 in Kentucky.
Notes for LEVI ADAMS:
MINGO, LEVIE and
SARAH were deeded as gifts to Henry Cato from Burrell Cato November 4th, 1842.
The next day on November 5th, 1842, Henry Cato deeded as gifts slaves LEVI and
SARAH to Frances Cato. On January 27, 1849, SARAH about 16 or 17 years and her
5 or 6 months child MARTIN were deeded as gifts to Mahala Gray from Frances
Cato. The negro boy LEVI about 16 years was deeded as a gift to Sterling Cato
from Frances Cato
on January 27,
1849.
Jefferson County
Deed Book E - Pages 451 & 452 - (Deeds of 1842) - Microfilm Number: 12012
Jefferson County
Deed Book G - Pages 89 & 125 (Deeds of 1849) - Microfilm Number: 12013
Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
1870 >
MISSISSIPPI > JEFFERSON
> UNION CHURCH P O
Series: M593
Roll: 733 Page: 23
Surname
Given Name Age Sex
Race Birthplace State
County
Location Year
ADAMS
LEVI 38 M
B MS MS JEFFERSON UNION CHURCH
P O 1870
1870 U. S. Federal
Census, Township 8, Jefferson, Mississippi;
Roll: M593_733;
Page: 23; Image: 46.
Adams, Levi 35 M B Fame Laborer Mississippi
Amanda 32 F B
" " Ky
Kentuck 11 M M
" " Mississippi
Web 9 M
B at home "
Mary Jane 2
F M at home
"
1880; Census
Place: Beat 5, Lincoln, Mississippi;
Roll: T9_655;
Family History Film: 1254655; Page: 121.1000;
Enumeration
District: 35; Image: 0241.
Adams, Levi B
M 48 Farmer Mississippi
Mississippi Mississippi
Amanda B F 36
Wife House Keeping Kentucky Kentucky
Kentucky
Mary B F
14 Daughter At Home Mississippi
Mississippi Mississippi
Webb B M 20
Son Farmer Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi
Jane B F 21
Wife House Keeping Mississippi Mississippi
Mississippi
Levi is living in
Caseyville, Lincoln County, Mississippi during the 1880 Census. The ancestry.com index lists him with Amanda
and Mary only. The actual census document
has Webb and Jane listed in the household.
1880 >
MISSISSIPPI > LINCOLN
> CASEYVILLE
Series: T9 Roll: 655
Page: 121
Surname Given Name
Age Sex Race
Birthplace State County Location
Year
ADAMS LEVI 48 B
MS MS MS
LINCOLN CASEYVILLE 1880
Levi Adams gave a
deposition for Sterling Cato before the Southern Claims Commission. Linda Durr Rudd was told that Levi may have
been a Free Person of Color. She
doesn’t have the evidence to support this theory other than that Levi never
says in his deposition that he was a slave of Sterling Cato, only that he lived
on his place.
Levi Adams being
duly sworn doth depose and say my name is Levi Adams. I am 39 years of age reside upon the plantation of Mr. Sterling
Cato…..and am by occupation a farmer. I resided upon the plantation of Mr. Cato
all through the war, and one morning in the spring of the year during one of
the years of the war I do not now recollect the year—Genl Grierson came thro
here—I had been down to the horse lot and had just fed the stock and was on the
point of returning when my attention was called to a body of cavalrymen who
were coming up the road. They rode up
to where I was and on by. Some of them
in the mean time stopped and went into the horse pasture they opened the big
gate as they went in, they caught the two mules that were in the lot and a
blaze-faced sorrel horse changed their saddle and bridles from some worn out
mules that they were riding to Mr. Cato’s and immediately rode out and joined
the main body. Three of the mules that
they left we fed and took care of that year and we managed to plow them a
little—I also saw the Grey horse that Mr. Cato used to ride—one of the soldiers
rode him in the yard. I think he came
in for the purpose of getting water. He
stopped but a short time when he rode off with others who had come in the yard
with him, later in the year another raid came through here. There was about 40 or 50 men two of them
stopped at our horse lot and took out two mules, and put saddles and bridles
upon them that they had upon some broken down horses that they were riding—and
rode them off. They had got but a short
distance when they met Mr. Marshall Clark who was riding a bay horse. He was returning home from Mill and had a
sack of meal upon his horse. They
stopped him pushed the sack of meal off—took the saddle and bridle off from one
of Mr. Cato’s mules and put them on the horse and rode along—Mr. Clark knew the
mule and rode him here and gave him up to Mr. Cato—who gave him one of the old
horses that the soldiers had left—the other horse that was left was old and
broken down, we kept him—he was worth about $25. I would not have given that for him he was an old baldfaced
brown—we kept him I do not know what ever became of him—…..the two mules taken
were a dark and light bay I broke them both and they were worth anybody $200 a
piece…..The last raid stopped here about an hour and fed their horses from the
corn crib. Came in the house and took
the plates off from the table and toted off what there was upon the plates and
took all down to where their horses were eating and they they got through they
left the plates lying upon the side of the road. I do not know how much that they fed but they could not have fed
less than 10 barrels or bushels. Both
of the times that the stock was taken it was early in the morning. Mr. Grierson took off the grey horse and the
sorrel horse and the two mules and the last raid took off one bay mule making
five altogether—from the looks of the stock that they left behind them I think
they needed the horses and mules that they got from Mr. Cato—….I cannot tell
what year it was both of the raids came through in one year—Mr. Cato and all of
us were bothered a great deal for plow stock them a week or two and then sent
them on home. These were the only two
raids that came out here during the war—they were Yankee soldiers—We never got
any of the horses or mules back that they took from us, and we did not look for
them. We heard that the sorrel horse was left at Brookhaven but we never found
him—I have no interest in this claim of any kind—I recollect everything that
happened very well—it was not often such sights were to be seen—
Levi Adams
Sworn
and subscribed 28 day of Oct 1873 before CN Wilson Special Commsr
Sources:
From the Research
Notes of Cynthia Benua, Cato Descendant
NARA. Record Group
123. United States Court of Claims--Congressional Jurisdiction.
Southern Claim
File of Sterling Cato. Case # 865.
The Cato Family's
Slaves
Linda Durr Rudd
“Remembering Their
Names”
(What I found was
-)
The Union troops
mentioned in the deposition of Levi Adams are most likely troops from General
Grierson’s units.
General Benjamin
Henry Grierson was a U. S. Army cavalry general during the Civil War. In December of 1862, he participated in the
pursuit of Confederate Earl Van Dorn after his Holly Springs raid against the
supply lines of General Ulysses S. Grant.
Grierson led
Grierson’s Raid in 1863, a major diversionary thrust deep unto the Confederacy,
ordered by Grant as part of his Vicksburg Campaign. He departed from LaGrange, Tennessee, on April 17, in command of
1,700 men of the 6th and 7th Illinois and the 2nd
Iowa Cavalry regiments. Over 17 days,
his command marched 800 miles, re-peatedly engaged the Confederates, disabled
two railroads, captured many prisoners and horse, and destroyed vast amounts of
property, finally ending in Baton Rouge on May 2. More importantly, he diverted attention of the Confederate
defenders of Vicksburg away General Grant’s main thrust. He was promoted to brigadier general of
volunteers in June. In 1864 he was
assigned to the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Mississippi and in 1865 he
took part in a campaign against Mobile.
On March 2, 1867, Grierson received a brevet promotion to the rank of
major general in the regular army for his famous raid.
Grierson decided
to remain in the regular army after the war and received the rank of
colonel. He organized the 10th
U. S. Cavalry, one of two mounted regiments composed of black enlisted men and
white officers, called the Buffalo Soldiers.
The part of
Colonel Marlowe, played by John Wayne in the movie The Horse Soldiers, is
loosely based on Grierson.
Sources:
Dee Brown Grierson’s Raid: A Cavalry Adventure of
the Civil War
Warner, Ezra J., General’s
in Blue: Lives of the Union Commanders, Louisiana State University Press, 1964.
Burel Cato to
Henry Cato
Deed of Gift
Received for
Record the 7th day of november 1842
This indentured
made the 4th day of November A.D. between Burrel Cato of the County and State
aforesaid of the one part and Henry Cato son of the said Burrel Cato of the
same place. Witnesseth that the said
Burel Cato for, and in consideration of the natural love and affection which he
have and bear unto the said Henry Cato his son have given granted and aliened
(?) and confirmed by these present do give, grant, aliened, (?) and confirmed
unto the said Henry Cato his son, his heirs and assigns all the rights, title
and interest in and to (?) of the said Burel Cato negros viz. MINGO, LEVIE,
& SARAH, slaves for life to have and to hold the above named negroes together
with all and singular the advantages and hand and seal this 4th day of November
A.D. 1842.
Burrel Cato (Seal)
Test Neill Buie
Sen'r
Source:
State of
Mississippi
Jefferson County
Deed Book E, Page 451
Microfilm Number:
12012
Mississippi Department
of Archives and History
Sent to me by
Linda Durr Rudd
Cynthia, Sent this
one so you can have the source where this particular deed is found.
More About AMANDA:
Census: 1910,
Copiah Co., Mississippi
Source: 1910 U. S.
Federal Census, Gallman, Copiah, Mississippi;
Roll: T624_737;
Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 42; Image: 573.
Children of LEVI ADAMS and AMANDA are:
i. WEBSTER3 ADAMS, b. 1861, Union Church, Jefferson County, Mississippi; m. MARY JANE; b. 1860.
5. ii. MARY JANE ADAMS, b. 1868, Union Church, Jefferson County, Mississippi.
Until recently, the earliest record I had of Mingo Adams and Rachel was a Freedmen’s
Bureau Records labor contract sent to me by Linda Durr Rudd, a Mississippi
family history researcher and cousin.
Mingo Adams and Rachel Adams are listed on a labor contract dated
January 1866 to work a plantation for Henry Cato and David McRee in Copiah
County, Mississippi.
3. MINGO2 ADAMS (MARIA1) (Source: Name information from my aunt
Christine Adams Tucker) was born May 1833 in Mississippi (Source: 1900 U. S,
Federal Census, Beat 5, Lincoln, Mississippi; Roll: T623 817; Page: 7A;
Enumeration District: 102). He married
(1) RACHEL NEWEL. She was born Apr 1843 in Mississippi. He married (2) MELVINA RILEY in 1881, daughter of THOMAS RILEY and CELIA. She was born Apr 1857 in Hinds County,
Mississippi, and died 08 Nov 1930 in Arcola, Washington County, Mississippi
(Source: Mississippi Death Certificate .).
Notes for MINGO ADAMS:
1870 Census index
lists Mingo Adams as born in Alaska.
The actual copy of the 1870 Census lists Mingo Adams' place of birth as
ArK (possibly Arkansas). Subsequent
census records show his place of birth as Mississippi.
Year of Birth
listed as 1833 and 1837.
For 1833 he would
be approx. 17 in the 1850 Slave Schedules and approx. 27 in the 1860 Slave
Schedules.
For 1837 he would
be approx. 13 in the 1850 Slave Schedules and approx. 23 in the 1860 Slave
Schedules.
Earlier in my
research there was the possibility that Mingo may have been slave Andrew
Ephraim, age 9, son of Elizabeth, age 30, sold with her daughter, Pesliss, age
2, and James, age 35, to Mary Polly Adams Redd and Levi Laird Redd by Nancy Ann
Adams Brown and William Brown. Date of
the sale, January 2, 1843. Mary and Nancy
were sisters and the daughters of Robert Adams from South Carolina. Nancy received the slaves from her brother
William Adams in his will when he died in 1842. William inherited the slaves from his father Robert. Elizabeth was William's personal slave and
rumor has it that Elizabeth's son, Andrew Ephraim, was fathered by
William. However, James, Elizabeth,
Andrew, and Pesliss may have been a family group. This information was received from Debra Keeton, a family history
researcher and descendant of William Adams.
Also in my earlier
research was the possibility that Mingo may have been a slave of Charles M.
Adams, Doctor, born 1835, Georgia, who lived in Hinds, County, Mississippi, but
also lived in other Mississippi counties.
1860 U. S. Federal
Census - Slave Schedules, Brookhaven, Lawrence County, Mississippi
C. M. Adams - 1
Slave
Age Gender Race
28 M Mulatto
(Estimated year of birth 1832)
Records of the
Freedman's Bureau Office of Refugees, Freedman and Abandoned Lands
- Contracts were
made shortly after emancipation and in some cases they represent the first
listing of the names
of former slaves as
free persons.
Louisiana M1027
Mississippi M826
Reel 42
Occupation 1866
Copiah Co., MS (Freedmen's Records)
Freedmen's Bureau
Records
January 1, 1866
Microfiche Number 49-007, Roll Number 2022
Mississippi Archives
Freedmen Labor
Contract - List of Freedmen
Planter: Henry Cato
and David McRee
Plantation: D. McRee
County: Copiah
Date: January 01,
1866
Microfiche Number:
49-007
Extracted by Linda
Durr Rudd
NAME
Mingo Adams
Rachel Adams
Tony Coleman
Anderson Franklin
John Erain
Ann Redrick
Luke Redrick
Samuel Redrick
Willis Ferrell
Mariah Ferrell
Lydia Holmes
Harriett Thomas
Levie Newel
Jack Newel
father of Levi
Freedmen Labor
Contracts - List of Freedmen
Planter: Henry Cato
and David McRee
Plantation: McRee's
Farm
County: Copiah
Microfiche Number:
49-204
NAME
Ely Barnes
Enoch Barnes
Stephen Allen
Dorcus Allen
Oma Thompson
Penne Thompson
Extracted by: Linda
Durr Rudd
“Remembering Their
Names”
Information from the
labor contract can be viewed at:
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/gljmr/McRee.html
I searched online
and found the following:
FREEDMEN'S BUREAU
HELP PAGE
After the Civil War, former slaves were given the opportunity to enter
into work contracts with planters to ensure equitable payment for their
labor. The Freedmen's Bureau
(officially the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands) was
established by Congress to supervise all affairs relating to refugees and
freedmen, including the writing of labor contracts of planters/farmers with
freedmen. The Mississippi labor
contracts that
are indexed cover
the period 1865-67 and are taken from the National Archives microfilm M826
rolls (43-50). One additional roll for Tennessee, M999 (roll 25), includes a
small number of Mississippi contracts; only the Mississippi contracts were
indexed.
In 1860 Mississippi had 436,631 slaves; these contracts contain the
names of some 36,000+ of those former slaves.
There are no contracts for six (6) counties: Amite, Claiborne, Greene,
Jefferson, Lafayette, and Perry. For searches of a county created after the
Civil War (Alcorn, Benton, Forrest, George, Humphreys, Jefferson Davis, Lamar,
Leflore, Montgomery, Pearl River, Prentiss, Quitman, Sharkey, Stone, Tate,
Union, and Webster), the parent county must be queried.
The contracts must include the former slaves' names (many times only
given a name), where they were working (usually a county but sometimes also a
plantation), age (not always given), family relationships (given infrequently),
their employers (planter), terms of their pay (whether in money or crops or
both), and in some instances, comments on their health. The terms of the pay
are not included in the database.
Searches can be made four ways. The search may also be qualified by
specifying a county.
Some definitions:
Freedman - This is
the individual who is agreeing to work for a set wage. Where a full name was
recorded, it is entered, last name first. When given named included adjectives
such as "Big," "Yellow," or "Old," the adjectives
are entered as part of the given name: "Big Sara," "Old George,"
etc. Illegible names are noted as such. Variants in spelled are retained as
found.
Planter - The
employer (or his agent) of the freedman, last name entered first
Plantation - If a
plantation had a name other than that of the planter family, this field was
used.
(Example:
Chesterfield; example: Hawkins Place, the planter's name was not Hawkins). When
the name of the plantation and the planter surname were the same, the
plantation field was not used. If the freedman worked for the railroad or a
company, that information would appear here also.
County - The
location of the plantation or the home county of the planter.
Search Results:
Age - The age of the
freedman if given on the contract. If no age was recorded, a zero is entered. A
child's age is given in months or months and years is converted to the next
highest year. For example 3 months = 1 year.
Remarks - The
contract may have recorded remarks and/or symbols to indicate freedmen
relationships. These remarks are entered using "see" references.
Example: The names John and Mary are bracketed on the contract, indicating a
couple. On the index, when John is in the freedman field, the remarks read,
"See Mary."
Microfilm is self
serve in the Media Reading Room.
Name Age County Planter Plantation Date Contract No. Roll
No.
Adams, David 0
Neshoba Adams, John
Q.
08/21/1865 141 2574
Adams, Minga 0
Copiah Cato, Henry & David
McRee McRee, D. 01/01/1866 007 2022
Adams, Rachel 0
Copiah Cato, Henry & David
McRee McRee, D. 01/01/1866 007 2022
Adams, Louisa 0
Neshoba Adams, John
Q. 08/21/1865 141 2574
Adams, Martha 0
Neshoba Adams, John
Q.
08/21/1865 141 2574
Adams, David 0
Neshoba Adams, John
Q. 08/21/1865 141 2574
Adams, Peter 0
Neshoba Adams, John
Q.
08/21/1865 141 2574
Adams, Mary 0
Neshoba Adams, John
Q. 08/21/1865 141 2574
Newel, Jack 0
Copiah Cato, Henry & David
McRee McRee, D. 01/01/1866 007 2022
Newel, Levie 0
Copiah Cato, Henry & David
McRee McRee, D. 01/01/1866 007 2022
Name Age
County Planter Plantation Date Contract Number
Roll Number
Adams, 0
Copiah Cato, Henry & McRee, D 01/01/1866
007 2022
Minga David McRee
Adams, 0
Copiah Cato, Henry & McRee, D 01/01/1866
007 2022
Rachel David McRee
Source:
National Archives
and Records Administration,
African American
Records: The Freedmen’s Bureau, 1865-1872
http://archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau/#state
Linda Durr Rudd sent
me information that Burrell Cato gave a gift of three slaves, Levi, Mingo, and
Sarah, to his son Henry Cato.
MINGO, LEVIE and SARAH were deeded as gifts to Henry Cato from Burrell
Cato November 4th, 1842. The next day on November 5th, 1842, Henry Cato deeded
as gifts slaves LEVI and SARAH to Frances Cato. On January 27, 1849, SARAH
about 16 or 17 years and her 5 or 6 months child MARTIN were deeded as gifts to
Mahala Gray from Frances Cato. The negro boy LEVI about 16 years was deeded as
a gift to Sterling Cato from Frances Cato
on January 27, 1849.
Jefferson County Deed Book E - Pages 451 & 452 - (Deeds of 1842) -
Microfilm Number: 12012
Jefferson County Deed Book G - Pages 89 & 125 (Deeds of 1849) -
Microfilm Number: 12013
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Further information on this can be viewed by going to the web page:
The Cato Family Slaves
Remembering the Cato Slaves
Copiah and Jefferson Counties, Mississippi
by Linda Durr Rudd
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/gljmr/Cato.html
The following information received through Linda Durr Rudd from Cynthia
Benua of Ireland, a descendant of the Cato family.
Burel Cato to Henry Cato
Deed of Gift
Received for Record the 7th day of november 1842
This indentured made the 4th day of November A.D. between Burrel Cato of
the County and State aforesaid of the one part and Henry Cato son of the said
Burrel Cato of the same place.
Witnesseth that the said Burel Cato for, and in consideration of the
natural love and affection which he have and bear unto the said Henry Cato his
son have given granted and aliened (?) and confirmed by these present do give,
grant, aliened, (?) and confirmed unto the said Henry Cato his son, his heirs and
assigns all the rights, title and interest in and to (?) of the said Burel Cato
negros viz. MINGO, LEVIE, & SARAH, slaves for life to have and to hold the
above named negroes together with all and singular the advantages and hand and
seal this 4th day of November A.D. 1842.
Burrel Cato (Seal)
Test Neill Buie Sen'r
Source:
State of Mississippi
Jefferson County Deed Book E, Page 451
Microfilm Number: 12012
Mississippi Department of Archives and History
1870 U. S. Federal
Census, Townships 9 and 10 east of RR, Copiah, Mississippi;
Roll: M593_727;
Page: 248; Image: 499
Adams, Mingo 33
M B Farmer
Ark
" Rachel 29 F
M Keeping House Miss
" Harriet 5 F
M Miss
" Calvin E 3 M
M
Miss
" Allen M 1 M Miss
" Mashae 2/12 M
M Miss
1880 U. S. Federal
Census, Beat 3, Copiah, Mississippi;
Roll: T9_645;
Family History Film: 1254645; Page: 166C;
Enumeration
District: 22; Image: 0713
Adam, Mingo B M 47 Farmer Mississippi Mississippi
Mississippi
" Rachel
Mu F 37 Wife Keeping House " " "
" Hariette
B F 16 Daughter " " "