Daniel E Adams – Gunsmith, Soldier, Photographer, Attorney, Skunk Farmer

The Unbelievable Life of Daniel Adams

A gunsmith, soldier, photographer, attorney, and a skunk farmer – it sounds like the start of a joke where the next line should be they walked into the bar. Interestingly enough those are all job titles held at various times by Daniel E. Adams.

On the scale of interesting characters of genealogical research my third great grandfather, Daniel E. Adams, is a jackpot. For the last several weeks I have been slowly pecking away at research on him for this blog…but it seemed the more I dug the more I wanted to dig. His life took many turns that make him an intriguing research subject with countless sources.

Early Life

Daniel E. Adams was born in Canada on 23 February 1832. His parents, Erwin Adams and Charlotte Murray, were of American birth. Shortly after Daniel’s birth, the family moved back south to the United States. Over the next two decades, the family would reside in Illinois and Michigan where most of the family would settle for generations.

Daniel married his first wife, Rachel Hamilton, in Oakland County, Michigan on 23 Sept 1852. There are four known children born to the marriage Flora, Edward Dexter, Arthur Hamilton, and Elmer Eugene. Rachel passed away 5 July 1862 leaving Daniel a widower with four children under the age of 10.

After the death of Rachel, Daniel hired 17-year-old Sarah Ferguson to help care for his children. The two married on 20 September 1863 in Genesee County, Michigan.

American Civil War

On 7 September 1864, Daniel enlisted as a gunsmith in Company G 4^th Michigan Infantry reorganized. According to information he provided at the time he was a veteran of the Mexican American War. During his term of enlistment, he would see combat action in skirmishes across northern Alabama.

On 14 May 1865 the train carrying Daniel’s unit derailed while traveling through Tennessee. The train car he was riding in became detached and jumped from the track. Daniel received injuries in the accident. The Army discharged him a month later in Nashville, Tennessee on 7 June 1865.

After the War

Daniel returned home to his family after his discharge from the Army. The 1870 census shows him at home with his young wife, Sarah, and their rapidly growing family. His profession at the time is listed as a photographer and records show he operated the first photograph gallery in Lapeer, Michigan. He would study law while operating the Mammoth Skylight Gallery. By 1872, he was a practicing attorney.

Daniel and Sarah continued to reside in southern Michigan and their family continued to grow. The two would have eight children together.

Eventually Daniel branched out from practicing law and started farming skunks.

Daniel passed away on 5 April 1906 in Genesee County, Michigan. He is buried in the Smith Hill Cemetery in Otisville, Genesee County, Michigan.

What Do 2 Hangings, a Burned Body, and an Axe Murder Have In Common?

Odd Coincidences

Today I read the tale of Alice Lake.  I came upon the tragic story of Alice while researching my own family tragedy in the death of Rebecca Cornell and the subsequent hanging of her son Thomas Cornell II for her murder.  Rebecca and Alice both suffered horrible deaths.  Rebecca was possibly murdered and her body burned past recognition while her family ate dinner in the next room.  Alice was hanged for witchcraft after being plagued by haunting visions of her lost child.  Rebecca and Alice also shared one other detail in common; their daughter in law was Sarah Earle.

Shocking Secrets: Black-Market Babies of the Hicks Clinic

Genetic Genealogy is an exciting new frontier.

Most adoptees have questions. Few have questions like those who began life in the Hicks Community Clinic. The case of the Hicks Clinic babies is a powerful example of the information that can be discovered with the use of genetic genealogy technology.

Taken at birth – words to strike fear into the heart of any mother. That is the title of a 3-part series on TLC that aired on Oct 9 -11, 2019. The series is about a small community that straddles the Georgia-Tennessee state line and the dark history that gave the community infamy.

Jane Blasio, Hicks Baby on Taken at Birth on TLC

The town of McCaysville, Georgia was the scene of a secret black-market baby ring that operated for decades out of the clinic of a doctor named, Thomas Hicks, Sr. The town seems like any other quaint small town however, nothing about the small town is quite what it seems on the surface.

Dr. Thomas Hicks, Sr. was a respected family man and community doctor, he was a fine upstanding citizen in his community. Under the polished surface many layers of deceit festered.

Secrets

It was a poorly kept secret in the region that the doctor ran an illegal abortion clinic, drawing desperate women from all over the local region for his services. It was a poorly kept secret in town that the “good” doc was having affairs and fathering illegitimate children. A better kept secret was the fact that the doctor was running a black-market baby adoption ring, trading babies for cash in shady back door deals.

More than 200 individuals have been identified that passed through the back door of the Hicks Clinic.

No records have ever been found in the quest to learn the truth behind the Hicks Clinic adoptions. If any were kept, they have been either destroyed or have yet to be found. Extraordinary measures have been gone to in the search to locate any of Dr. Hicks records only to turn up nothing. It seems as if from beyond the grave, decades later, some of the townspeople of McCaysville, Georgia are more interested in the cover up than the truth. Even today Dr. Thomas Hicks Sr. is locally regarded as a man who did bad things with good intentions.

Complicated Legacy

The Hicks babies are all grown now and most of the biological parents who have been identified have died taking their secrets with them. Of some of the adoptees who have been reunited with their biological families, the reactions have been mixed. At least one adoptee was intended to be aborted and Dr. Hicks convinced the young woman to carry her child and put it up for adoption. Even with those truths revealed it still feels like there is more left unsaid to that story than has been revealed. Dr. Hicks plays the complicated part of both villain and hero in many of the babies of the Hicks clinic.

Nothing about the case is cut and dry even decades after the Hicks clinic closed.

Questions far outreach the answers and the web seems to grow ever larger. Powerful men in the town, the doctor, the mayor, and the chief of police all had knowledge of what was going on and indeed were involved in using the clinic to cover up their own private misdeeds in some cases.

How did the doctor eventually get shut down after decades running his abortion clinic? What led to him getting caught after so long in business? How did he manage to escape jail time for his illegal abortion ring? Have any of the Hicks babies DNA matched each other?

I have so many questions about this case. I cannot fathom the depths of frustration that is felt by the individuals who are trying to navigate this in their own lives.

There is no documentation about what happened behind the doors of the clinic.

Few living individuals who know what was going on at the time and of those…fewer are willing to speak. Even from the grave the “good” doc manages to keep a town quiet about some of its darker secrets

To really understand the case in perspective requires a broader view. Abortion was illegal. Women died in unsafe back alley abortions. Dr. Hicks at least as far as anyone can tell took good care of the women in his charge if not making the best medical decisions regarding the children they birthed. There were not safety net programs to support unwed mothers. Society held a negative view of unwed females. These were often desperate young women.

Was Dr. Hicks a villain or a hero? On some level perhaps he was both.

The doctor lost his medical license after his illegal abortion clinic was closed by the authorities in the 1960’s. At that time the black-market baby ring in McCaysville, Georgia ceased to operate. It would be decades more before anyone even realized what was going on at the back door of the clinic.

A Strange Tale in Ripley County, Missouri

Revisiting a family history research treasure buried in the branches of my Father’s paternal line. The strange murder of two brothers and how a dying woman helped send her son to the gallows.

Here is the a very strange tale from Ripley County, Missouri

Dusty Roots & Forgotten Treasures

Recently I stumbled upon an article about an odd double murder that happened nearly a 100 years ago which left me fascinated and delving deeper for more information.  The murders took place in Ripley County, Missouri during prohibition.

Ripley County was an area with a reputation for lawlessness.  Homemade corn liquor poured from stills long before the law forbidding alcohol in the country.  A lack of roads inhibited the law enforcement authorities from cracking down on unsavory types in a region where many of the locals traveled by the many waterways that snaked through the area.

The region was mostly poor; a majority of the population was illiterate.  Many of the people in the area had immigrated to the area during the lumber boom after 1880, most of them from Tennessee.  Small family farms and timber operations were the main industries of the area.

Lillie Mae Weatherspoon

In 1920 the…

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Why Did Abraham Lincoln Grow his Famous Beard?

I enjoy sharing the stories I discover in my family history research with my family. Often, I bore them to tears but from time to time I manage to turn up a tidbit of information that sticks. For my youngest son learning that we are distant cousins to Abraham Lincoln is that detail that stuck. He loves telling anyone willing to listen that he is related to Abraham Lincoln.

It was a couple years ago when he was about 9 that the topic of Abraham Lincoln being a distant leaf on the family tree came up. He was learning about Abraham Lincoln at school and he came home bragging that he knew why Abraham Lincoln grew his famous beard.

A History Lesson

I had to admit as he grinned like the Cheshire cat that he did in fact know something that I did not. He proceeded to educate me on the story of why Abraham Lincoln decided to grow his beard.

August 13, 1860 Last photo of Lincoln without his beard

On October 15, 1860 a young lady by the name of Grace Bedell, at the ripe wise age of 11 years old, wrote a letter to the republican presidential nominee insisting that growing a beard would help him get elected.

Grace wrote

“Hon A B [sic] Lincoln…

Dear Sir

My father has just home from the fair and brought home your picture and Mr. Hamlin’s. I am a little girl only 11 years old, but want you should be President of the United States very much so I hope you wont think me very bold to write to such a great man as you are. Have you any little girls about as large as I am if so give them my love and tell her to write to me if you cannot answer this letter. I have yet got four brothers and part of them will vote for you any way and if you let your whiskers grow I will try and get the rest of them to vote for you you would look a great deal better for your face is so thin. All the ladies like whiskers and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President. My father is going to vote for you and if I was a man I would vote for you to [sic] but I will try to get every one to vote for you that I can I think that rail fence around your picture makes it look very pretty I have got a little baby sister she is nine weeks old and is just as cunning as can be. When you direct your letter direct to Grace Bedell Westfield Chautauqua County New York.

I must not write any more answer this letter right off Good bye

Grace Bedell

Grace Bedell in 1870s

The future president returned a letter to Grace Bedell.

Springfield, Ill Oct 19, 1860

Springfield, Ill Oct 19, 1860

Miss Grace Bedell

My dear little Miss

Your very agreeable letter of the 15th is received. I regret the necessity of saying I have no daughters. I have three sons – one seventeen, one nine, and one seven, years of age. They, with their mother, constitute my whole family. As to the whiskers, having never worn any, do you not think people would call it a silly affectation if I were to begin it now?

Your very sincere well wisher

A. Lincoln

Shortly after the exchange with young Miss Grace the future president began to grow his whiskers.

In 1861, Lincoln and Miss Grace met in person. When the two met the president, elect was sporting a full face of whiskers.

Did the advice of the young Miss Grace Bedell help to get Abraham Lincoln elected to the highest office in the United States? We may never know how much impact the decision made in his election but her advice definitely impacted the image most people think of when they picture Abraham Lincoln.

That’s the story of how Lincoln grew his famous beard…and how I got a history lesson from my son.

February 9, 1861

Today is the United States Navy’s birthday. The place of creation is a source of heated debate.

By act of the Continental Congress the United States Navy was created on October 13, 1775 in Philadelphia.

It would be safe to assume that the place of creation for the United States Navy was Philadelphia in conjunction with the resolution which ordered the building of a naval fleet. That assumption could be correct. That assumption could also be incorrect.

The answer is it depends…

Even the U.S. Navy itself is unwilling to take a firm position on the topic.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia has a strong claim to the military fame. The resolution ordering the creation of the United States Navy was issued in Philadelphia.

Machias, Maine

For early naval exploits Machias, Maine takes the prize when the British Navy schooner Maragretta

In Massachusetts, both Beverly and Marblehead claim fame

George Washington authorized the ship Hannah to harass the British fleet from Beverly and it was owned and manned by residents of Marblehead leading both towns to claim the title.

Providence, Rhode Island

Providence stakes a claim to the birth place of the Navy by virtue of the fact that the state’s delegates were the first to call for the establishment of a Navy.

Whitehall, New York

Whitehall also claims a part in the birth of the United States Navy. Benedict Arnold used ships built in Whitehall, New York to harass British interests on Lake Champlain.

The Navy had many birthplaces

The birthplace of the Navy is one of the questions of history that may never have a settled answer. The United States Navy probably takes the safest answer with the explanation that the Navy has many birthplaces.

Where is the birth place of the Navy? That question has been asked many times since the creation of the force in 1775 and it does not seem to be one of settled debate in the future.

Five different states and six different cities. The birthplace of the United States Navy is a source of heated debate as old as the Navy itself.

Happy Birthday United States Navy

Sources:

Naval History and Heritage -Birthplace of the U.S. Navy

National Archives Pieces of History – Where was the Navy Born?

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Adams Family Update

Who can resist a skunk farming lawyer?

That was the thought on my mind when I originally set out to research my great great great grandfather Daniel E Adams. All the information I found on his life indicated he was a larger than life type of man and his story screamed to be shared.

As I was researching Daniel E Adams for my blog about him, a distant cousin contacted me. This cousin, Frank Poss III, had in his possession several old family photos of shared relations.

This brings me to my Adams family update. I received copies of photos that previously I had never seen.

Photography was a popular profession not just among the Adams family but also among the Hamilton family. Siblings, Daniel and Emma Adams, married siblings, Daniel and Rachel Hamilton. Daniel and Emma Adams Hamilton would spend a lifetime operating Hamilton photo studios and many of their photographs are still in existence. Several of these photos bear the mark of Hamilton studios.

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The 5 Adams brothers: Calvin, Daniel, Dexter, Eli, and Plumer. Photo taken sometime prior to 1889.

This photograph is of the five Adams brothers. I suspect it was taken sometime after the end of the Civil War, perhaps as late as when their father, Erwin Adams, died in Lapeer County, Michigan. The fifth brother, Plumer Adams, is not labeled in the photo.

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The Family Matriarch

This photo is of Charlotte Murray Adams, the mother of the Adams brothers. She died in 1890 and was buried in Mt Hope Cemetery in Lapeer County, Michigan next to her husband.

I will be adding further updates to this line as I continue researching the Adams family and trying to track them as they moved from Connecticut, to Vermont, onto Canada, out west to Iowa, split into separate fractions with some going west to establish Utah while others eventually settled for generations in Michigan. Stay tuned.

A Strange Tale in Ripley County, Missouri

Recently I stumbled upon an article about an odd double murder that happened nearly a 100 years ago which left me fascinated and delving deeper for more information.  The murders took place in Ripley County, Missouri during prohibition.

Ripley County was an area with a reputation for lawlessness.  Homemade corn liquor poured from stills long before the law forbidding alcohol in the country.  A lack of roads inhibited the law enforcement authorities from cracking down on unsavory types in a region where many of the locals traveled by the many waterways that snaked through the area.

The region was mostly poor; a majority of the population was illiterate.  Many of the people in the area had immigrated to the area during the lumber boom after 1880, most of them from Tennessee.  Small family farms and timber operations were the main industries of the area.

Lillie Mae Weatherspoon

In 1920 the Bennett family lived on the South Branch of the Buffalo Creek in Pine Township in Ripley County.  The family is headed by 62 year old widow Celia Louisa “Lucy” Bennett.  Also living with her at the time was her 34 year old son, J.W. Bennett, and 17 year old Gertie Bennett, a granddaughter whose mother was deceased.  Lucy claimed to be a farmer and reported that she owned her land.  Living next door to Lucy in 1920 were her daughter Fanny, with her husband Willie Weatherspoon, and their children.  The family had resided on the same land for over 10 years.   My Great Grandmother, Lillie Mae Weatherspoon, was one of Willie and Fanny’s children.

A gruesome discovery rocked the region in June 1926 when the bodies of Ernest and Frank Van Patton were discovered.  The old men had been dead, exposed to the elements and animals, about a week prior to discovery.  The men were misers and local rumors indicated they had a hidden wealth of money which was never recovered.  Local authorities were unable to solve the strange demise of the Van Patton brothers for a year.

The Springfield Leader Springfield, MO June 20, 1926 pg 1

A break came in the case when 17 year old Cecil Atchinson walked into the local police station and told Joe Cochran a strange tale which implicated his uncle J.W. Bennett and another man, George Williamson, in the murder of the Van Patton brothers by poison in an attempt to rob the men.  Cecil also confessed that he confessed the tale to his grandmother, Lucy Bennett, and the tale shocked her so bad she died.  He claimed that on her death bed she ordered him to turn his uncle in.  J.W. was also implicated in a murder attempt on George Williamson by placing dynamite in his stove causing an explosion which injured the intended victim.

Simpson’s Leader-Times Kittanning, Pennsylvania May 16, 1927 pg 12

J.W Bennett was convicted of the double murder of the Van Patton brothers and the attempted murder of George Williamson.  He was sentenced to life in Missouri State Prison in November 1927.  J.W. was the only one to receive a murder conviction and he quickly appealed his case.

In May 1928 the Missouri Supreme Court amended the conviction against J.W. Bennett and ordered that he had to be given a new trial.  The Supreme Court found issue with both the confessions signed by illiterate men and by the lack of physical evidence in the case.  The condition of the bodies when discovered had made a cause of death impossible to determine.  J.W. was released and never retried for the crime as far as I have been able to determine.

The Sedalia Democrat Sedalia, MO May 25, 1928 pg 8

Joe Cochran the man who cracked the Van Patton case went on to have a very successful career.  He made headlines in several big cases involving recovery of stolen Army equipment, the recovery of a stolen mill, stopping a crazed man armed with a gun, and breaking up a counterfeit coin ring.  He also survived at least one assassin attempt.  In 1933 he was elected Vice President of the newly formed Midwest Peace Officers Association which was created as a multi-state agency to fight the rampant crime in the region.  After the mid 1930’s he appears to have left law enforcement.

By 1952 Joe Cochran owned a tavern operating in Doniphan.  He was gunned down during broad daylight on Main Street by a man named Ace Robinson.  Another man was also injured in the shooting.  Ace Robinson was instantly arrested and claimed he killed Cochran in self defense after years of extortion attempts by Cochran.  Ace Robinson claimed Joe Cochran had recently began to make threats against his life and that he shot him when he thought he was going to shoot him.  Joe Cochran was buried in the Doniphan Oak Ridge Cemetery.

St Louis Post-Dispatch St Louis, MO June 20, 1952

Ace Robinson was found innocent of murder in 1953.  It was decided that he shot Joe Cochran in self-defense.  Ace died in 1956 of natural causes.  He is buried in the same cemetery as Joe Cochran.

Macon Chronicle-Herald Macon, MO Apr 29, 1953 pg 1

 

What a strange series of events.  More to come on this one…

Cover Photo:

Sterling Daily Gazette

Sterling, Illinois

Mon, Jun 21, 1926 – Page 1

Odd Death of Rebecca Cornell. What Really Happened?

My Mom’s Uncle helped get my Dad’s Grandpa hanged… well that escalated quickly!

I finally got the chance to do some real research today after weeks of real life responsibilities killing my groove.  I decided to grab up one of my loose ends and start digging in.

The line I chose was one that I suspected I connected to twice.  Work smarter, not harder right?  I’ve been doing genealogical research long enough to not be surprised by cousin marriages anymore.  They are almost like a bonus because it narrows down the number of lines I need to research in the end.

My line in question was the Cornell line which was in New York around the early 1800’s.  I had a Cornelia Cornell and a Harriet Cornell, both of who were my 3^rd Great Grandmothers.  Their Grandchildren, Myron Ashley and Sarah Eckler, were my father’s maternal grandparents.   I was off and tracking the line, making progress at a pretty good pace, killing two birds with one stone.

Myron and Sarah Eckler Ashley with some of their children and a son in law

The data was interesting but not noteworthy for countless generations as I followed the trail.  The family is connected to the university that bears their surname, founded by some Cornell relative I haven’t bothered to connect yet.  They trace back generation after generation, an American colonial family helping to forge a new world out of the frontier.

Cornelia and Harriet were sisters.  They were the daughters of Wilbur Cornell land Sylvia Mosher.  Wilbur was the son of Joseph Cornell Sr and Abigail Allen, Joseph’s parents were Zebulon Cornell and Ruth Allen.  Zebulon was the son of Daniel Cornell and Elizabeth Allen.  Daniel Cornell was the son of William Cornell and Mehitable Fish.  William Cornell was the son of Stephen Cornell and Hannah Mosher.

That brings me to Stephen Cornell’s parents.  Thomas Cornell II and Elizabeth Fiscock were his parents, the time period is the 1600’s, and they were my 10 great grandparents.   At this point things got interesting in my research.

Rebecca Briggs Cornell Burned to Death

Thomas Cornell II has a very interesting footnote in history.  In 1673 he was hanged for the murder of his mother, Rebecca Briggs.  According to records from the time it was a farce of a case, most of the evidence being that his uncle had a dream in which Rebecca’s spirit visited him pointing the blame at Thomas.

This book provides a great look at the case of Thomas Cornell II and the death of his mother.

One of the other noteworthy witnesses to offer testimony that led to the hanging of Thomas Cornell II was a local town Constable at the time.  The town was Portsmouth, Rhode Island and the Constable was none other than George Soule.  I’ll have to research further to confirm but I believe this would be my 10^th great uncle, as opposed to my 10^th great grandfather of the same name due to the year.  That’s right my mother’s ancestor helped get my father’s ancestor hanged…probably a good thing they didn’t know this when they got divorced!

Weak Case

By modern accounts the testimony against Grandpa Thomas was shoddy at best.  In a court of law today there is no way Thomas Cornell II would have been hanged.  Present researchers think Rebecca Briggs probably burned to death when an ember from her pipe fell on her igniting her clothing.  In the end the result was the same, Thomas Cornell II was hanged in Rhode Island for the death of his widowed mother in May 1673.

Murderous Legacy?

His wife went on to give birth to a daughter after his execution.  She named the child Innocent.  As a further interesting side note many researchers believe that Innocent Cornell went onto marry Richard Borden and is the 4^th great grandmother of the infamous parent murdering Lizzie Borden.  So maybe Gramps wasn’t so innocent after all….

Not bad for a morning dipping back into the research pool.  I tracked two lines for the price of one and discovered an unexpected connection between my maternal and paternal relatives hundreds of years before they would cross paths later to create little ole me.

Did my 10^th Great Grandfather burn my 11^th Great Grandmother to death or was she the victim of a tragic accident for which her son would lose his life in a quest for justice?  Some mysteries will always be mysteries….