Deacon Jonathan Adams - Wives ?

Updated on https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/123058502

Alta Lee Futch reports that reports that http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb .ancestry.com/~amorrow/
fg06/fg06 219.html Family Group Sheet Page 1.

3rd child: Jonathan Adams (1615-1690)married
1)Joane Close at Boltonsborough, Somerset, England bet. 07 Feb 1638 and 1639;
2)Elizabeth Holman, Medfield Norfolk, Massachussetts, USA about 1665/6.

mikedn@cox.net (findagrave contributor) reports information from: The Genealogical History of Henry Adams of Braintree,Mass., and of Cambridge Mass, 1632-1897 complied and edited by Andrew N. Adams, published by the author 1898: The Tuttle Company
Page 6

IV. Deacon Jonathan, b. in England, 1619 (??)
m. (1) Elizabeth Fussell, dau. of John Fussell
m. (2) Mary______.
He settled in Medfield. His house was burned by the Indians in 1676, and he rebuilt on what has been known as the Joseph Adams place in East Medway, (now Millis.)
He died in 1690, age 71.

The first citation from Findagrave agrees with Torrey

Married 1) Joane Close 2) Elizabeth Holman

https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000077987631886&

Also added Elizabeth Holman information from her father’s article in The Great Migration.

We need to sort children next and then disconnect the extra wifr

From the link Erica posted above
https://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&a...

Jonathan Adams (1614-1619), the only child of Henry and Edith to remain in England when his parents came to America on 1638. Jonathan came to America later, in 1651.

m1. Joane Close on Feb. 7, 1638/9. She may have died prior to Jonathan's emigration in 1651. Jonathan and Joane had at least 3 children, born in England.
[Linda's thought - This makes sense - Joane being the first wife and possibly dying before Jonathan came to America. And Geni does have her with 3 children, so that fits.]

m2. Elizabeth Holman in c1665. She was born May 19, 1644, in Cambridge MA, the daughter of William Holman and Winnifred ___? Jonathan and Elizabeth had 6 children.
[Linda's thought - that also fits, if you don't count the 3 children that died as infants.]

This is interesting (from https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fussell-187):
Elizabeth Fussell was born circa 1636. She was the daughter of John Fussell. Elizabeth Fussell married Deacon Jonathan Adams , son of Henry Adams and Edith Squire, in 1665 in Medfield, Massachusetts Bay Colony, now Norfolk County.2 Elizabeth Fussell died circa 1665. Citations Genealogy of Henry Adams, online

[This can fit also, assuming it's accurate. Born in 1636 rather than 1616, as the second wife, marrying Jonathan in 1665 and dying the same year.]

So if the above is all correct, all 9 children would have been E Holman's, since E Fussell died the year she was married.

History of Medway has Elizabeth Fussell marrying Jonathan Adams in 1665, the 1st marriage in Medway. However the date for marriage of Elizabeth Holman is given by Torrey as “by 1660.”

https://books.google.com/books?id=dUZBAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA261&ot...

The History of Peter Parker and Sarah Ruggles of Roxbury, Mass. and Their ... By John William Linzee

Is cited as a source by Anderson.

Linkee found no proof of the Fussell marriage.

They would have been step siblings and I’ve seen those Marriages before. On the other hand I think it possibly an error in interpreting the phrase son in law. It was used in that period for step sons (which indeed Jonathan Adams was to John Fussell). What we call son in law was often enough called son, or hopefully my daughters husband.

I’ll go back into the Great Migration and see what Anderson has to say about John Fussell. Trying not to get distracted another Winifred Holman accused of witchcraft. :)

I moved over the Fussell children to their real mother. The dates given for the Fussell children in Geni do not match

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52375644

This also make me think we have generational mixup also.

Not a lot on the family of John Fussell. Dropping off this link which is good on the Adams & has citations to chase.

http://www.branches-n-twigs.com/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I3...

This tree with citations suggests Elizabeth Holman 1st married John Fussell JR

https://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&a...

Nicholas Fussell Cannot have been related to John Fussell, 2nd husband of Edith Squires, who married in 1651; they are from different parts of England. It is postulated (sensibly) that John Fussell, of Weymouth & Medfield & the Squires & Adamses were related / known to each other back in Somerset.

All the children attributed to John Fussell are dubious so far.

Based on my latest findings, I would put Jonathan's timeline as follows:
Jonathan Adams 1614-1690
Married
1) Joane Close, b.c. 1614; m. Feb. 7, 1638/1639; died before 1665, possibly before Jonathan emigrated in 1651
• 1641 Henry
• 1643 Jonathan
• 1647 Thomas
2) Elizabeth Fussell, b. 1636; m. 1665 (1664?); d. 1665-1682, perhaps during childbirth?
If they were married when daughter Elizabeth was conceived, it had to be before 1665, though sources report the marriage as 1665. Since Jonathan remarried in 1665 or 1666, Elizabeth Fussell must have died or been divorced in 1665 or 1666, even though sources show her date of death as 1682.
• 2/18/1665 Elizabeth
3) Elizabeth Holman, b. 5/19/1644; m. 1665; d. 1712
• 1667 Sarah
• 1669 infant daughter
• 1670 Jonathan (died as infant)
• 1671 Jonathan (died as infant)
• 1672 Jonathan
• 1673 Jasper
• 1680 Lydia
• 1689 Mary

Has anyone found anything different?

I do not agree about the 2nd wife. There is not evidence she existed at all. And if she did, she’s the wrong age, as John Fussell was a contemporary of his wife Edith, which puts his children as born before 1620 as hers were.

There is a line

HE WENT TO MEDFIELD ABT 1651 TO A FARM BELONGING TO THE HEIRS OF GERSHAM ADAMS, AFTER HIS MARRIAGE TO MRS. EDITH SQUIRE ADAMS.

IN 1663, ONE DAUGHTER WAS IN THE HOME, ELIZABETH.

How do we know that’s not an Adams daughter?

A reference to Elizabeth Fussell is here

https://mathcs.clarku.edu/~djoyce/gen/report/rr04/rr04_193.html

John Partridge second married Elizabeth Adams, daughter of Jonathan Adams & Elizabeth Fussell. Born on 18 Mar 1666.254 Elizabeth died on 14 Aug 1719; she was 53.254

254. George Homer Partridge, Partridge Genealogy: descendants of John Partridge of Medfield, Mass., D. Clapp & son, 1904.

On the other hand, we do have a couple of references to Elizabeth Fussell.

The birth record of Elizabeth (Adams) Partridge is Referenced here

https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Person:Elizabeth_Adams_%2870%29

Which doesn’t disprove a scenario of Elizabeth Fussell marrying Jonathan Adams (as described in History of Medway) and dying in childbirth or shortly after.

The birth date of Fussell would need to be adjusted. Which suggests John Fussell had a 2nd wife or a much later 1st marriage.

Divorce is very unlikely, there would be a court record in Boston.

Dan Cornett You are curating John Fussell, of Weymouth & Medfield

Take a look and see if we have a workable solution for Elizabeth Fussell and also the (looking fictional) Marie Fussell should be addressed.

There are so many references (some reliable and some maybe not) out there for Elizabeth Fussell as having married Jonathan Adams, that I think she must have been. Maybe she gets overlooked because she was married for such a short time and Jonathan remarried so quickly (to another Elizabeth, no less). And several sources have daughter Elizabeth has E Fussell's child. It just seems like it would be easy to confuse 2 marriages and a birth taking place within a year or so. Wish the sources had more consistent info!

Well, considering Medfield was much destroyed in King Philip’s war, we’re lucky we have as much as we do. I don’t see any other answer, actually, than how the profile is looking. The rest of John Fussell’s family needs a little mor work.

Oh, can you do a little write up in her profile ?

Erica, I did a write up for Elizabeth Fussell on her profile. In the process I was intrigued by the link you left above which shows Elizabeth Holman marrying a Fussell before Jonathan Adams.
https://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&a...

So I was searching around for something on that, and I found this:
https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?uidh=000&rank=1&amp...
Scroll down a ways and you will see links for Elizabeth Fussell Holman (could her middle name have been Fussell?) I don't have a subscription to ancestry, so I can't get into the sites. Can you?

Here's another link -
http://johnlisle.us/genealogy/getperson.php?personID=I34197&tre...
Says she may have married a Fussell before Jonathan Adams.

And another -
https://www.werelate.org/wiki/Family:Jonathan_Adams_and_Elizabeth_H...
↑ Some sources mistakenly identify Jonathan's wife as Elizabeth Fussell, because Source:Tilden, William S. History of the Town of Medfield, Massachusetts, 1650-1886, p. 288, says "His [Jonathan Adams] wife, Elizabeth, was, in all probability, daughter of John Fussell". Source:Linzee, John William. History of Peter Parker and Sarah Ruggles of Roxbury, Mass. and Their Ancestors and Descendants, p. 259, cites a receipt where "Mrs. Elizabeth Adams of Medfield, Co. Suff., Widow, & Relict of Mr. Jonathan Adams Late of Medfield Dec'd" acknowledges receipt of a share of the estate as one of "the nearest of my relations that have had nothing of my estate" of Abraham Holman, correctly identifying her as Abraham's sister Elizabeth Holman.

http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/h/u/g/Chris-D-Hughes/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-...
http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/h/u/g/Chris-D-Hughes/WEBSITE-0001/UHP-...

Things would make more sense if both Elizabeths were the same person! And especially since you have your doubts about John Fussell having a daughter Elizabeth.

The receipt proving the widow Adams identity as Elizabeth Holman was in the Great Migration Project, we have no further info after that about her (1712).

I had seen https://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&a... and they are good compilers. The citations need to be chased up. So far though I have seen no sign of a John Fussell Jr. I am thinking it more likely about the confusion between Holman & Fussell.

There are no middle names in English, for anyone in America, until births in the Rev War era. The 1st recorded case was in vital records of Rhode Island for a Quaker boy in the 1680s.

So it’s a mixup / ambiguity because of a couple of things.

- Edith Squire, widow Adams, married John Fussell in 1651.

- Jonathan Adams, her son, probably a widower, probably with a child, came to America in 1651. So where did he live?

- In 1663, in the Fussell House, supposedly a daughter Elizabeth was living. This is the crux !

- “by” 1666 Elizabeth Holman married Jonathan Adams.

- Edith Fussell died in 1672. Where did John Fussell go to live ?

- with his step son Jonathan Adams, of course, where he died in 1676 in the raid on Medfield.

If there was an Elizabeth in 1663 in Medfield, she wasn’t Edith’s daughter or Elizabeth Holman.

Here’s an example of Jonathan Adams marrying Elizabeth Fussell

https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000078007608158&

You’ll notice it’s an older town history without citations to primary sources, so probably lifted from History of Medway. It has the 2nd wife as Mary unknown, which is impossible: we know Elizabeth Holman was the surviving Adams widow.

Another thing to consider.

Elizabeth Holman was “not” from Medfield, so it’s not so likely hers was one of the two weddings said to have taken place there in 1665.

I think I want for old burned up John Fussell to have a descent !

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/108523938/person/2... is one of the links. Pretty pictures, no sources, and 6 wives for Deacon Jonathan. Oye.

And here’s a researcher’s decision in 2016

https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000078009184294&

“I am choosing Holman as the correct surname and following that unless documentation turns up to the contrary.”

I have been updating Eliz Fussell's profile with some of your comments.

Do you think it could have been Elizabeth Holman living with the Fussells in 1663? So by 1665 or 1666, having lived with the Fussells for several years at least, she would have been thought by some to be a Fussell? If the dates are correct, her father died when she was 8 or 9, and her mother had been accused of witchcraft by the time Elizabeth was 15. The Holmans apparently lived in Cambridge, so I don't know how they would know the Fussells. If Elizabeth was (legally or not) "adopted", that would explain he being called Elizabeth Fussell Holman in some sources.

You mentioned that Jonathan may have immigrated with one of his sons. If so, maybe it was Jonathan b. 1643, so about age 8 if Jonathan emigrated in 1651. First son Henry died in England and third son Thomas died very young, before Jonathan emigrated.

Though son Jonathan supposedly died in Boston in 1661, could that be wrong? It might work out nicely if the son was the wife of Eliz Holman (from Cambridge). Then maybe they moved to Medfield and had all those kids. The dates would line up better that way (except for son Jonathan's death).

I'm just grasping for some explanation, even though I should probably give up and concede that we'll never know!

Re: that last thought, that son Jonathan b. 1643 in England likely did die around 1661 (age 18), since Jonathan the father kept naming sons Jonathan after that, and they kept dying young until the last one. So he finally got a son Jonathan who would outlive him.

I'm going back to the "adoption" theory for wife Elizabeth! (Who knows?!!!)

I’m relieved I’m not the only one who finds a not particularly important question so oddly compelling !

I don’t know that I buy adoption, but now we really have to ask how did Cambridge girl meet Medfield boy, when & where, and the death of Jonathan in Boston 1661 might be a clue.

With Puritan girls estimating a marriage age of 21 is safe, range 16 to 24. Exactly like the 1950s.