The Caudill-Adams Sisters: An Example of Pedigree Collapse
The references for this lineage are available in My Lineage from the Roots Up, vol. 2
I descend from both Nancy Ann (Caudill) Adams and her sister Henrietta (Caudill) Adams, who married brothers. This resulted in pedigree collapse (by the time my Holbrook-Spradlin line comes in above) - instead of continuing to branch out at the 3-4x-great grandparents line, the lineage folds back in. Here are their families:
Nancy was born about 1753 in Virginia. She married John Hobbs Adams, Jr. (~1747-1815) about 1769 in Virginia. She died after 1785 and is likely buried in Roaring River Baptist Church Cemetery, Wilkes Co., North Carolina.
John Hobbs Adams, Jr. was also known as “Old John of Kentucky” or “Old John of All” and was born about 1747 in Fairfax Co. of Virginia Colony (later to become Loudon Co.) to John Hobbs Adams and Ann Caudill. He died in 1815 and was buried at his farm on Pine Creek, Floyd Co., Kentucky. In the 20th century, a memorial was erected in nearby Webb Cemetery to the “First Adams in this area”. He and Nancy had three children:
1. Elizabeth “Betsy” born about 1770 in Loudon Co., Virginia. She married Archelus Craft (1749-1853) December 1, 1785, in Wilkes Co., North Carolina. Betsy died in 1810 and is buried in an unmarked grave alongside her husband at Craft’s Colly in Letcher Co., Kentucky.
2. Stephen born in 1778 in Roaring River, Wilkes Co., North Carolina. He married (1st) Mary Mollie Webb (1775-1851) about 1798. In the early 19th century, Stephen and Mollie moved their children from their home in Roaring River in North Carolina to Floyd Co., Kentucky, as part of Spencer Adams’ wagon train. Stephen married (2nd) Katherine T. Reid (1794-1859) March 12, 1853, in Morgan Co., Kentucky. He is traditionally said to have died in September 1858 and is said to be buried in Webb Cemetery, Letcher Co., Kentucky.
3. Nancy born in 1785 in Roaring River, Wilkes Co., North Carolina. She was raised by her older sister and brother-in-law, sometimes mistakenly given the surname Craft in vital records and histories. She married William C. “Billy” Caudill (1779-1880) about 1803 as the family was moving to Kentucky. She died July 27, 1877, and is buried in Rick Whitaker Cemetery, Letcher, Kentucky, as Nancy Caudill.
John Hobbes Adams, Jr. married (2nd) Lydia “Letty” Simpson (1771-1845) by 1789 in Wilkes Co., North Carolina. They had 11 more children, eight of them before traveling to Floyd Co., Kentucky, with Spencer Adams’ wagon train.
Henrietta was born about 1753 in Virginia. She married Benjamin Adams (~1749-1824) about 1774 in Loudon Co., Virginia. She is thought to have died about 1836 in Perry Co., Kentucky.
Benjamin Adams was a Private in the 7th regiment of the Virginia Continental Line. Though he was wounded at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, he fought in the Revolution until 1779. He and his wife relocated to Kentucky between 1810 and 1817. He died in 1824 in Perry Co., Kentucky, and is thought to be buried with his wife near Mayking, Kentucky. He and Henrietta had at least five children:
1. Elizabeth born about 1775. She married Randolph Holbrook.
2. Sarah born about 1777, presumably in Loudon Co., Virginia, but possibly in North Carolina. She married Stephen Caudill (1763-1839) about 1791 in North Carolina. They relocated to Kentucky by 1814. She died in October 1842 and is buried in Watty Caudill Cemetery, Letcher Co., Kentucky.
3. Esther (or Easter) born May 31, 1784, in Wilkes Co., North Carolina. She married William W “Billy” Williams (1774-1846) about 1804 in North Carolina. They relocated to Kentucky by 1810, and then to Missouri after 1826. She died November 28, 1850, and is buried in Williams Cemetery, Buchanan Co., Missouri, as “Ester, Wife of Wm Williams”.
4. John Washington born about 1785 in Wilkes Co., North Carolina. He married (1st) Sarah Woolfolk (d. ~1824) about 1803. They relocated to Kentucky by 1810. He relocated to Missouri with some of his grown children about 1831. He married (2nd) Jane Martin (Donnell) Harper (1814-1900) July 29, 1845, in Greene Co., Missouri. He is thought to have died in 1853 in Greene Co., Missouri.
5. Nancy born about 1788 in Wilkes Co., North Carolina. She married Charles Lewis (b. ~1780, son of George Lewis) about 1804 in North Carolina. They relocated to Kentucky by 1810 where he worked as a surveyor near Rockhouse, Floyd/Perry Co.
Nancy and Henrietta were both daughters of Benjamin Caudill. He was born about 1725 in Virginia to Stephen Caudill and Mary Elizabeth (Fields) Caudill. He presumably married about 1751 in Virginia and his wife is thought to have been Elizabeth Buckner (1724-1799), though many give her name as Mary Elizabeth Adams. He was living in North Carolina by 1755.