Person:Richard Adams (37)

Col. Richard Adams, Sr.
d.2 Aug 1800 Richmond, Virginia
m. Abt 1718
  1. Richard AdamsAbt 1719 - 1721
  2. Bowler Adams1722 - 1726
  3. William Adams1724 - Bef 1763
  4. Col. Richard Adams, Sr.1726 - 1800
  5. Tabitha Adams1728 -
  6. Thomas Adams, of the Calfpasture, Augusta County, VAAbt 1730 - Bef 1788
  7. Anne AdamsAbt 1731 - 1775
  8. Sarah Adams1734 - 1775
  1. Tabitha Adams1756 - 1828
  2. Elizabeth Pressin Adams1757 - 1832
  3. Thomas Bowler Adams1759 - 1794
  4. Col. Richard Adams, Jr.1760 - 1817
  5. Anne Adams1762 - 1820
  6. William Adams1764 - 1787
  7. Sarah Adams1766 - 1806
  8. Alice Adams1768 - 1802
  9. Ebenezer AdamsAbt 1770 - Abt 1775
  10. Dr. John Adams, Mayor of Richmond, VA1773 - 1825
  11. Jeremiah Adams1776 -
  12. Samuel Griffin Adams1776 - 1821
Facts and Events
Name Col. Richard Adams, Sr.
Gender Male
Birth[1] 17 May 1726 New Kent County, VirginiaSt. Peter's Parish
Marriage Bond 10 Apr 1755 Richmond (county), Virginia, United Statesto Elizabeth Griffin
Other[4] 14 Oct 1785 Essex, Virginia, United Statesnamed in Will of Thomas Adams, brother
Death? 2 Aug 1800 Richmond, Virginia

Research Notes

  • Note of Caution: son Jeremiah is placed in this family by way of the 1924 newspaper article 2 - BUT - it appears that may be incorrect as there is no corroborating evidence to support this. The son of this family that is documented as belonging and being born in 1776 is Samuel Griffin Adams.
  • For continuation of the line of Col. Richard and Elizabeth (Griffin) Adams, see Mr. R.A. Brock's "Adams Genealogy," published in the Richmond Standard for Dec., 1880, and Jan., 1881.
References
  1. Adams, Richard, son of Ebenezer Adams, in Tyler, Lyon Gardiner. Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. (New York, New York: Lewis Historical Pub. Co., c1915)
    IV : 169.

    [Page 169]
    Adams, Richard, son of Ebenezer Adams, of New Kent county, Virginia, and grandson of Richard Adams, of Abridge, county Essex, England, citizen and merchant tailor of London, was born in New Kent county, May 17,1726; member of the house of burgesses from new Kent and Henrico from 1752 to 1775; Henrico county committee, 1774-75; Virginia convention in 1775; house of delegates, 1776-1778; Virginia senate, 1779-1782. Died in Richmond, Aug. 2, 1800. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Leroy and Mary Anne Griffin.

  2.   The Adams Family, in McNairy County Independent (Selmer, Tennessee)
    11 Apr 1924.

    One of the oldest families in the history of this county is that of Adams. In fact that name is not only connected with the early history of the county, but is a familiar name in the early history of this country. It was a name before the Revolution, and one Adams and another is mentioned in the early settlements in Massachusetts and in Virginia.
    Ebenezer Adams emigrated to Virginia in 1714. The name is found much earlier than this, in the old records of that section, leading to the belief that he family from whom came Ebenezer Adams, came from New England as early as 1612. Ebenezer Adams had several sons, among them being Col. Richard Adams Sr., born in 1723. He married a Miss Elizabeth Griffin in 1775.
    [this is an apparent error/typo, other sources have their marriage in 1755]
    She was the sister of Judge Cyrus Griffin, President of the old Virginia Assembly of 1778, prior to that time having been a member of the House of Burgesses, and of the convention of 1775, and frequently thereafter of the Virginia Assembly.
    His estate was a large one, embracing the present site of St. John's Church and Church Hill at Richmond. His residence on Church Hill is said to have been occupied by British officers during the Revolutionary war. Previous to his residence in Richmond he had lived at Petersburg, Dinwiddie county, where most of his children were born.
    Col. Richard Adams, Sr., had several sons, among the number being Jeremiah, the youngest. He was born in 1776, in Dinwiddie county, Virginia. When he was quite a young man he come to Bedford county, Virginia, where he married a Miss Elizabeth Griggs. This was in 1779, the year of the death of President George Washington. To this union were born eleven children, eight sons and three daughters.
    -----
    [cos1776 Note of Caution: there does not appear to be any corroborating evidence that Jeremiah Adams is a son of Robert Adams and Elizabeth Griffin. It appears that either the author meant to say "Samuel Griffin Adams" or he is mistaken as to the parents of Jeremiah Adams. Any additional information on this would help.]

  3.   William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine. (Omohundro Institute).

    Vol V (1897), pp 159-164.
    GENEALOGY OF THE ADAMS FAMILY OF NEW KENT AND HENRICO COUNTIES, VA.
    Compiled by C.W. Coleman.

    Issue of Ebenezer and Tabitha (Cocke) Adams:
    ... (III.)4. Richard (second child of that name), b. 17 May, 1726, [Ibid.], of whom hereafter.

    [and]
    ... III. COL. RICHARD ADAMS (Eben., Richard), of Richmond, Va., b. in New Kent co., 17 May, 1726 [St. Peter's Reg.]; d. in Richmond, 2 Aug., 1800 [Nicholson's Va. Gazette]. He was a member of the House of Burgesses for New Kent and Henrico from 1752 to 1775 ; Henrico county committee, 1774-'75 ; Virginia Convention of 1775 ; House of Delegates, 1776-1778 ; Virginia Senate, 1779-1782. [Legislative Lists.] He is said to have been the largest property owner of his day in Richmond, lived on Church Hill, his residence being the building now known as the Convent of Monte Maria ; "was an ardent patriot throughout the Revolution, and one of the most enterprising, public-spirited, wealthy and influential citizens of Richmond." Adams street is named in his honor. [Va. Hist. Coll., X, p. 373 ; Wynne's Vestry Book of St. John's Church, pp. 184, 186.] He married 10 April, 1755, Elizabeth, daughter of Leroy and Mary Anne (Bertrand) Griffin, of Richmond Co., Va., and sister of Judge Cyrus Griffin, of Williamsburg. [Wm. & Mary Quar., V., p. 19.] She was born 1738 ; d. 23 Dec., 1800. Col. Richard Adams, his wife, and a number of their descendants, are buried in Richmond, where their tombs may be seen. ...
    ... (For continuation of the line of Col. Richard and Elizabeth (Griffin) Adams, see Mr. R.A. Brock's "Adams Genealogy," published in the Richmond Standard for Dec., 1880, and Jan., 1881.)

  4. Will Abstract of Thomas Adams, in Chalkley, Lyman. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish settlement in Virginia: Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County, 1745-1800. (Rosslyn, Virginia: The Commonwealth Printing Company, 1912-1913 in Three Volumes).

    p 99 -
    14th October, 1785. Thomas Adams' will, of the Calfpasture, being about to take a perilous journey to the Ohio River; to wife, Elizabeth, lands in Augusta and Amherst; to only brother, Richard Adams; to nephew William Adams Fry, all lands on Western Waters; to William Smith, son of my highly esteemed and much lamented nephew, William Smith, lately of County of Essex, deceased; to nephew, William Adams; to friend, John Blair, Chancellor, lands he purchased of testator in Albemarle County known by name of Mountain Plains; to Ralph Wanlass, lands whereon Ralph lives and to support Ralph's mother while she lives; to niece, Tabitha Epps; to slave, Joe, freedom --"As there is no man to whom I consider myself under Greater obligations than to my slave Joe." Executors, Maj. Thos. Massie, of Frederick, nephews Wm. Adams and Wm. Adams Fry. Written with own hand.
    Proved, 22d October, 1788. Executors Massie and Fry qualify; other executor is dead. Handwriting is proved by Thomas Hughart and Archibald Stuart.