Relay – A Family History Blog

Quite early in my genealogical research journey I developed a hypothesis that Ann Adams, who married Moses Gould and who was the mother of my great grandfather Joseph Gould, was the child of Thomas Adams and Sarah Tarr of Harpswell, Cumberland County, Maine. Naming patterns for her children, patterns of association (what I would now call her F.A.N. club), location and examination of the Adams families in that part of Maine and historical period all contributed to my hypothesis.  But it was truly only a hypothesis.  There wasn’t a single documentary source that connected Ann Adams Gould to an Adams Family and there were several Adams families in early colonial Maine.  I dug through records, followed changes in county boundaries, discovered Ann’s second marriage to Hugh Owens, tracked down siblings of Joseph and nothing.  Then in the early 00s, while on a visit to D.C., I had a chance to read the Revolutionary War widow’s pension and attached later children’s bounty land application filed under the service of Thomas Adams of Harpswell, Maine, deceased.¹ And my hypothesis appeared to be false.  The 1836 documents that speak of Sarah’s death and the distribution of the last pension payment to her children state that Nathan Adams, Adam Adams, Sarah Adams and Lydia Adams Galusha, were the only surviving children of Thomas and Sarah Adams. And the several letters written by Nathan Adams on behalf of himself and his surviving siblings while applying for bounty land also state that these are the only surviving children of Thomas and Sarah. Ann Adams Gould Owens died in Webster, Androscoggin County, Maine on 20 November 1839.²  She was alive when Sarah applied for her pension in late 1831 and alive when the final payment was made in 1836. My hypothesis seemed very firmly rejected.

In the years since that depressing discovery no other hypothesis has presented itself.  I’ve tried several but there just doesn’t seem to be a family that has room for Ann.

And then in 2019 my sister and I did at-DNA tests at Ancestry.com.  And among our 3rd cousin matches were 2 other great great grandchildren of Ann Adams Gould Owens with well documented genealogies and good pedigree completeness (and who were very responsive when contacted.)  Enmeshed in the same genetic network with the 5 of us were Twenty Adams descendants.  Twenty 5th cousins or 5th cousins once removed who traced their ancestry back to the known children of Thomas Adams and Sarah Tarr.

Suddenly there is a lot of research to be done.  Ancestry Thrulines or Ancestors in Common are just starting points.  I have no idea how accurate or complete those pedigrees are. I don’t have anything even remotely resembling enough information to write a proof argument – yet.  But I am stunned that my original hypothesis has jumped back into the picture.