The Adams Family

I have discovered who the Dixon cousins were from my previous post.  My great-grandmother's sister, Martha Adams, married Samuel Dixon in December 1839 in Rockbridge County. They had at five children born in Virginia: Sarah, James, Mary, Martha (Mattie), and John.  Martha Adams Dixon was my third-great aunt as follows:

Martha Adams (1813 - 1893) 3rd great-aunt

James Adams (1788 - 1857) Father of Martha Adams

Nancy Lyle Adams (1826 - 1893) Daughter of James Adams

Sarah Isabella Gibson (1854 - 1920) Daughter of Nancy Lyle Adams

John Addison Alexander (1884 - 1923) Son of Sarah Isabella Gibson

John Addison Alexander Jr (1919 - 2002) Son of John Addison Alexander

Nancy Lynn Alexander Daughter of John Addison Alexander Jr

Martha Adams Dixon died October 14, 1893, in Tipton, Iowa.  According to an obituary posted on her FindAGrave Memorial (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48823890), she was preceded in death by her husband and all but one of her children. (Tipton Advertiser 19 Oct 1893 page 3) The obituary also says she was the oldest of a family of eight, suggesting that Aunt Mag and Aunt Mary referenced in her daughter’s letter were probably her sisters; and Uncle Tom Lindsey could have been her mother’s brother.  I’m still working on that. The obituary goes on to say that Martha’s “early life was spent in her native state, but in 1854 moved with her husband and family to Tipton where she had since resided. She has been an invalid since 1882 and has known what sorrow and trouble mean, yet in the midst of it all she bore herself patiently and maintained a cheerful and hopeful spirit. This she was enabled to do by her faith in God and the trust which she exercised in her Savior and his promise to her. She united early in life with the Presbyterian Church and remained a faithful and consistent member to the close of life. She leaves a daughter and one brother in this place besides other relatives and friends who will miss her presence and sorrow in her absence.”

By the time Mattie wrote her letter in 1866, her father had died. Her sisters Sarah and Mary each married but had no children; her brother James married and had at least two children; but I found no evidence that Mattie or her brother John married.  With so many family members dying before 1900, it is understandable that family connections were lost.

For the record, I also am related to Samuel Dixon; he was my 3rd cousin 4 times removed as follows:

Samuel Dixon (1812 - 1864) 3rd cousin 4x removed

Sarah Paxton (1792 - 1834) Mother of Samuel Dixon

Samuel Paxton (1748 - 1807) Father of Sarah Paxton

Elizabeth McClung (1724 - 1773) Mother of Samuel Paxton

William McClung (1698 - 1784) Father of Elizabeth McClung

John McClung (1731 - 1817) Son of William McClung

Margaret Alexander McClung (1755 - 1839) Daughter of John McClung

Phebe Tate (1789 - 1846) Daughter of Margaret Alexander McClung

Robert Tate Willson (1812 - 1885) Son of Phebe Tate

Ida Virginia Willson (1855 - 1949) Daughter of Robert Tate Willson

Janet Ingles Fultz (1888 - 1954) Daughter of Ida Virginia Willson

John Addison Alexander Jr (1919 - 2002) Son of Janet Ingles Fultz

Nancy Lynn Alexander Daughter of John Addison Alexander Jr