William H. Adams

William H. Adams was my gg grandfather. He was born in 1837 to Elijah Adams and Sarah Mann in the Bogue Sound area of Carteret County North Carolina.

 

In 1868 he married Hope Jane Foreman and my great grandmother Sallie Adams was born two years later.

 

He is listed on the 1870 census in Newport, North Carolina but by time of the 1880 census Hope was listed as a widow. The 1870 census below shows they had a son Alexander who apparently died young.

 

1870 ADAMS WILLIAM Carteret County NC 231 Newport Township Federal Population Schedule NC 1870 Federal Census Index NC5231135
ADAMS, WILLIAM 32
Jane 25 wife
Alexander 10/12 son
State: NC Year: 1870
County: Carteret County
Township: Newport Township
Page: 231

I don't know what happened to William Adams. There are a lot of Adams and Mann family members in the area. Many are buried in the Harlowe Methodist Church Cemetery where Hope's family members are buried. I can't find any record of him after the 1870 census.

 

I think this Civil War muster roll is him but I am not sure. It shows him enlisting in the 2nd Light Artillery Regiment on November 7, 1861. This was also known as the 36th Regiment Volunteers. If this is him it is the only paper record, other than the marriage and census records.

 

The Family Search web page put some old North Carolina Probate records online but there is no index and I haven't gotten motivated to search page by page through the 1,145,307 pages. I might check at the Carteret County Court if I have some free time next on the next visit.

 

I've also looked all the cemetery listings in the area including the WPA survey from 1937 and couldn't find him or his parents. Maybe one day they will turn up.