Richard Addams

     Richard Addams was born in 1670 at Wales, England. He first married Gertien Op Den Graeff, daughter of Abraham Isaacs Op Den Graeff and Trijntje Jansen, in 1699. Richard Addams married a second time Alse Withers on Sunday, 22 December 1726. Richard Addams died in 1747 at Philadelphia County, Province of Pennsylvania, America, at age 77 years.¹
     Written by Addams S. McAllister.

The family name of Richard Addams' last wife, who survived him until 1769, is not known, but it is noteworthy that a certain Richard Adams married a certain Elsie (also entered as Elizabeth) WITHERS at Christ Church, Philadelphia, on Dec. 22, 126; the attempt to identify these people as OTHER than Richard and Alse ADDAMS of Providence Twp., Philadelphia (now Montgomery) County, has as yet not proved successful. The available documents indicate that Alse ADDAMS was the mother of only one of Richard ADDAMS' surviving children, and we have no records to indicate that he had more that two wives. It seems likely, therefore, that Gertien (Op Den Graeff) Addams was the mother of his nine children (who reached maturity) born before Hannah. It is safe to assume that at least the three sons (and probably all the daughters except Hannah) were children of Gertien.

Genealogical Landmarks and Milestones of the Lower Perkiomen (Reprint of 'The Perkiomen Region', vol X11 - Numbers 3 and 4, October 1934)

Birth place: Upper Heyford, Northamptonshire, England.

The Adams family were Anglicans, and early members of St. James Church, Perkiomen. Richard's signature appears on the Petition of the Inhabitants of Colebrookdale of Berks Co. in 1728 for 'relief of suffering at the hands of the Indians'. The area they lived in was called Falkner's Swamp, near Goschenhoppen. Richard Addams is described as a yeoman of Parqueming when he bought 280 (elsewhere listed as 218) acres from William Lane on Shippeck Creek.

Genealogical Landmarks and Milestones of the Lower Perkiomen' has one small snippet of a reference; William Lane's will, proved 31 Jan 1732: '...to William Adams children, via: Richard and Mary 10 pounds each' This would lead us to believe that there was a William Adams in the same area and time frame that had a son named Richard.

Richard Adams had inherited from his Uncle Nicholas in 1725 the property his grandfather, Richard Adams I, bought from William Penn in 1681. It is not clear when Richard came to America, or if his uncle Nicholas was here or in England when he died.' We can gather from this that Richard's grandfather was a Richard and he had at least two sons, Nicholas and John.

Ref. American Compendium of Genealogy: Richard changed the spelling to Addams to keep his line distinct. He was a member of the Great Valley Baptist Church. He left a will dated 1747. It then lists children of Gertien.

From an article published in the 'The Pennsylvania Traveler- Post' in Vol II, May 1975: 'Richard Adams [b. bef 1670 Wales d. 1747 Phil Co.] was the son of John Adams who MIGHT have signed the Quaker Testimony against Keith in 1693.' This would suggest that this Richard Addams knew the original 13 settlers of Germantown including the Op den Graeffs.

Found this at the LDS site, which contradicts the above contention that Richard's father was a John. This states that his father was a Walter?

Richard ADAMS (AFN:S929-RT)
Born: Abt 1676 Place: Of Hanover, Philadelphia, PA.
Died: 1748 Place: Of New Prov.Twp, Montgomery Co, PA
Married: 22 Dec 1726 Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Father: Walter ADAMS (AFN:1DVR-BPR)
Mother: Elizabeth ADAMS (AFN:1DVR-BDW)

Husband's Name
Walter ADAMS (AFN:1DVR-BPR)
Born: 1649 Place: , Pennsylvania
Died: Place: PA
Married: 1668 Place:
Father: William ADAMS (AFN:1DVR-BSD)
Mother:

Wife's Name
Elizabeth (AFN:1DVR-BDW)
Born: 1648 Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Married: 1668 Place:

Children:

1. Sex Name
F Anne ADAMS (AFN:1DVR-BF4)
Born: Abt 1672 Place:

2. Sex Name
M William ADAMS (AFN:1DVR-BGB)
Born: Abt 1674 Place:

3. Sex Name
M Robert ADAMS (AFN:1DVR-BHJ)
Born: Abt 1676 Place:

4. Sex Name
M Richard ADAMS (AFN:S929-RT)
Born: Abt 1676 Place: Of Hanover, Philadelphia, PA.
Died: 1748 Place: Of New Prov. Twp, Montgomery Co, PA.