Biography
John Adams jwas born about 1672 in County Antrim. It appears that John and Elizabeth Adams brought their family to New Jersey from County Antrim prior to 1736, as that is about the time that their daughter, Margaret, married Ephraim McDowell. Researcher Betsy Groh of Chattanooga, Tennessee says that the Adams emigration was prior to that of the McDowells. The Adams family were members of the Lamington Presbyterian Church which was located near Bedminster. Rev. James McCrea was minister of the church from 1740 to 1766. His daughter Jane would later be a martyr of the American Revolution when she was murdered by Indians allied with the British. John Adams passed away in 1753 and is buried in the Lamington Presbyterian Church Cemetery. There is a reference to MacDale (McDowell) Adams as the first born child of John and Elizabeth. Their remaining children were: Margaret, born 1706; Matthew, born 1710; William, born 1712; James, born 1714; John, born 1715; and Samuel D, born 1716.
It is wild speculation that the father of John Adams of Bedminster, New Jersey may have been Robert Adam (or a near relative) of Scotland. He was held in the Old Edinburgh Tollbooth for refusing the oath of allegiance and was banished to East New Jersey on the ship Henry and Francis in 1685, as an indentured servant to Lord Neil Campbell. The latter was the Deputy Governor of East New Jersey and the brother of Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, who was executed for instigating a rebellion against the Crown. Robert Adam (Adams in American records) settled along the Raritan River on Lord Neil Campbell's lands (several miles south of Bedminster) and died intestate in 1688. It is also speculation that this Robert Adam, or a close relative, had an unknown son, born circa 1675 that may be the father of Robert Adams (1697-1749) who married Agnes Hubbard (1701-aft. 1765) and died in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. They are believed to be the parents of William I. Adams (who emigrated from County Antrim to Virginia) of Mercer County, Kentucky.
Alexander Adam (Adams) was another settler in East New Jersey who came from a Quaker community in Scotland. He was a landholder in Piscataway, having 150 acres that was surveyed by 1690. Colonial records show that he arrived as a servant of James Johnson in October 1685. The Scots and Scot-Irish who came (1685-1700) long after their English counterparts were in sympathy with their Scottish proprietors and had no reason to dispute the quit rents to which they had agreed prior to taking up their holdings. Thus in 1699 when Governor Basse (who had gone to London) was superseded by the Scotsman, Andrew Hamilton, the Scottish and Quaker element rallied to his support, while the anti-proprietary faction resisted. In the summer of 1700, Alexander Adam(s) sat on the grand jury that indicted those who assaulted the Scottish sheriff, John Stewart (who had replaced Daniel Hendrickson) and his assistant, Henry Leonard. Governor Hamilton's authority was challenged in New Jersey and England, on the grounds that he was a Scotsman, and he was eventually removed. This led the way for the Crown to end the proprietary government in New Jersey.
Among the early settlers of Somerset County [see Somerset County Historical Quarterly, 1912] were William, Paul and Samuel Adams, brothers who came from Glasgow, Scotland about 1745. A sister also accompanied them. The brothers first settled on Long Island, and later in Hunterdon County, New Jersey about 1750. The exact locations of William and Paul have not been ascertained. Samuel is known to have descendants that lived at Liberty Corner and Bernardsville in Somerset County. The three served during the Revolutionary War, in Hunterdon militia regiments, so it is evident that they must have been children when coming over from Scotland, and were probably accompanied by their parents, whose names are unknown.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Adams-1936
