William Adams (Dedham)

He was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts on May 27, 1650 and graduated from Harvard College in 1671.[1][2] His parents, William Adams, Jr., and his wife, whose maiden name was likely Star, both died by the time Adams was nine years old.[2] After that, he was raised by two uncles.[2]

After three calls, he finally accepted to be ordained as minister in Dedham on December 3, 1673.[3][4][1] As there was no official parsonage, he rented the house of his predecessor, the late John Allen.[1] He died August 17, 1685.[1][5][3] Prayers at funerals were not customary in that day but one was offered at his, one of the first ever recorded in New England.[1] He is buried in the Old Village Cemetery in the tomb of Timothy Dwight.[6]

Two of his sermons survive, including one given before the Great and General Court and another given in Dedham on November 21, 1678.[1]

On October 21, 1674, Adams married Mary Manning of Cambridge.[7] They had three children, Mary, Eliphalet, and William.[7] Mary died on June 24, 1679.[7] On March 29, 1680, he married Alice Bradford of Plymouth.[7] They had four more children: Elizabeth, Alice, William, and Abiel, who was born after Adams' death.[7] The first son named William died before his first birthday, as did daughter Mary.[7] Eliphalet Adams served as a minister in New London, Connecticut.[3]

• Smith, Frank (1936). A History of Dedham, Massachusetts. Transcript Press, Incorporated. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
• Worthington, Erastus (1827). The history of Dedham: from the beginning of its settlement, in September 1635, to May 1827. Dutton and Wentworth. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
• Caulkins, Frances Manwaring (1849). Memoir of the Rev. William Adams, of Dedham, Mass: and of the Rev. Eliphalet Adams, of New London, Conn. Metcalf and Company. Retrieved 28 October 2019.