1820-1907
Adoniram Judson Adams
(3 entries) NH/ME/MA
[Compiler’s Note: I accumulated many people named Adoniram Judson Adams but all their stories were incomplete. I winnowed them down to three and lumped them together under the first name that had a date of birth and a date of death.]
First. The first version of Adoniram Judson Adams was born 3 October 1820, in Washington, NH to John Adams and Hannah Leavitt Adams. He had seven siblings.[1] A. J. Adams first married Harriet (or Hannah) Lincoln Norton and later married Lucy Hale Shephardson as his second wife on 22 December 1870 when he was 50 years old. (I cannot find if death or divorce took Harriet out of the picture though she is listed in the 1865 census.) These 2 women bore him 10 children. He might be the Adoniram Judson Adams listed in 1906 as a director of the Faneuil Hall National Bank in Boston and a director of the China Mutual Insurance Co., in Boston. His death was reported in the Boston Globe.
Adams—at his home, 14 Greenville St., Roxbury. Feb. 11. Adoniram Judson Adams. 86 years. Funeral services from his late residence. Thursday, Feb. 21, at 1:00 p.m. Kindly omit flowers.[2]
Second. Another version of Adoniram Judson Adams was born 29 April 1821 in Starks, Maine, and he later married Hanna B. Hollis. They eventually had seven children naming their second in a manner that guaranteed he would always be first on the teacher’s alphabetized grade book–Adoniram Adonnous Adams. The 1850 census lists “Adaneram” Adams as a farmer in Franklin County, Maine, while the 1880 census lists him, “Adoniram”, as a farmer in Somerset County, Maine. Adoniram Judson Adams died at age 73 on 4 May 1894 and is buried in Sunset Cemetery, North Anson, Somerset County, Embden, Maine.[3]
Third. A final Adoniram Judson Adams who attracted our attention was a spokesman for Doan’s Kidney Pills and appeared in over a dozen newspapers we discovered touting the advantages of this pharmacutical wonder.
“Honesty is the best policy,” That old adage has always been a characteristic of the article endorsed by Mr. A. J. Admas of No. 45 Merrill street. He has been a resident of this city for over twenty years and is known to a wide circle of acquaintances…. “Now that I know their value I regard it as a personal duty I owe to others to tell them what Doan’s Kidney Pills have done for me…. I recommend them constantly.”[4]However, there was another comedic/tragic incident involving Mr. A. J. Adams which might be of interest to The Judson Legacy public:
Mr. A. J. Adams, living at 49 Merrill street had an unpleasant surprise Monday night when he went to get a drink of sweet cider. There were two jugs, one containing the cider and the other washing fluid. By mistake Mr. Adams drank quite a quantity of the washing fluid before he discovered his error. The washing fluid burnt his mouth and throat and would have been dangerous if he had not thrown it off his stomach in less than two minutes. As it was he will feel no bad results after his throat gets well.[5]
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[1] “Adoniram Judson Adams,” https://www.geni.com/people/Adoniram-Adams/6000000033142317156
[2] “Died,” Boston Herald (Boston, MA), February 21, 1907, p. 14.
[3] “Adoniram Judson Adams,” https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Adams-22531
[4] “Strong Testimony,” Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), Volume 34, January 2, 1897, p. 4.
[5] “Drank Washing Fluid,” Portland Daily Press (Portland, ME), Volume 38, Dec. 13, 1899, p. 9.