John K. Adam & Mary Magdalena Melcher

My Great, Great Grandfather, John K. Adam, owned a farm in Churchville, Pennsylvania in the 19th Century.  The property that he farmed, about 70 acres, was at least in part purchased from the Catholic Church.  John Adam's life was interconnected with many other's in the small town as he and his wife struggled to raise their large family and to maintain their farm.

John Kase Adam and Mary Magdalena Melcher were married in Churchville (Bally), Pennsylvania in 1849 at the Most Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church.  They were both from large families that had deep roots into colonial America. John was 27 years old and Mary, who was also called "Helena", was 20 when they were wed.  At that time the Catholic Church had been selling off some of it's property in the area in order to fund it's educational enterprises, and so John Adam, and many others had purchased land for their farms and had settled near the town.  

The couple began their life together, and by 1860 had five children.  At this time, they had a 17 year old servant, presumably to help Mary around the house and to look after the small children. Catherine ( nee Kase) Adam, John's widowed mother, had also come to live with the family and she would spend the last twenty years of her life on the farm with her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren.

John and Mary Magadalena had a large family, very typical of that time.  Between 1860 and 1874, Mary had 6 more children, totaling 11 in all,  the last one Mary Magdalena, however, died in infancy. 

Through the years, the Adam's did business with many of their neighbors, purchasing livestock - cows and pigs, clover seed, wheels for farm equipment, and even a new tin roof, probably for the house.  

As the boys grew to young adulthood, they would take their place helping their father on the farm and the older girls would help their mother and grandmother with the chores around the house.  By 1880, William and Ambrose were working on the farm, Ellen, Addison, and Lewis were in school, and Clora was helping with the housework.  Grandmother Catherine Adam would pass away later that year at the age of 82.

Making a living on the farm was often a mixed success, and so on occasion John Adam would have to pay for farm supplies, livestock, and even food for the family on credit.  On some occasions, he also paid his sons wages with promissory notes; thus was the life of a farmer in the 19th Century.

In 1895, at the age of 73, John K. Adam passed away and his widow was left to settle the affairs of his estate and of the farm, however, before this could be accomplished, within six month's time, Mary Magdalena also passed away and so responsibility passed to the children to represent their families interests at the Orphan's court in Reading.  As a result of this proceeding, ads were taken out in the English "Weekly Eagle" and the German "Bauer & Friend" newspapers and parts of the Adam farm were posted for sale in order to settle John's debts.  After the death of their parents, some of the children migrated to other communities with their own families; Ellen, my Great Grandmother moved to Reading with her husband William around this time.