Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Memoir of the Rev. William Adams, of Dedham, Mass: And of the Rev. Eliphalet Adams, of New London, Conn
A general subscription of inhabitants at Ipswich, in December, 1618, contains the names of William Adams and William Adams, Jun. William Adams died in 1661. William Adams, Jun. died in January, 1659. It may be assumed with probability that these persons were father and son. A comparison of other facts makes it also tolerably clear that William Adams, Sen. had three sons who lived to manhood, and probably left posterity, viz: - 1. William, who died 1659. 2. Nathaniel, ascertained by Farmer to be son of William, Sen. 3. Samuel, of Ipswich, 1665. (Vide Farmer.)
The Rev. William Adams, an esteemed minister of Dedham (ordained 1673), was undoubtedly the son of William Adams, Jun. In a Journal, kept by him, and subsequently to be copied in this Memoir, he refers to uncles N. A. and S. A., who appear to have been the guardians of his minority. This corresponds with our statement of the family. He mentions also a brother by the name of John; and this allows us to proceed a step farther in our list. William Adams, Jun., who died 1659, left two sons, viz.: - 1. William. 2. John. The following Memoir will attempt to trace the line of the first named of these sons.
William Adams was born 27 May, 1650. We have his own authority for this date. He does not say where this event took place; but in all probability it was at Ipswich. From an allusion in his Journal to his "grandmother Starr," it may be supposed that his mother bore that name; but nothing more respecting her family has been ascertained. If the foregoing statement of his paternity be correct, he was left an orphan at the age of nine years. His means were slender; but being exceedingly desirous of a liberal education, he was assisted by his relatives to enter Harvard College, and was graduated at that institution in 1671. He came from thence with the esteem and respect of his teachers, and with a character for integrity, learning, and piety, that gave a pleasing promise of future usefulness.
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