Asher Adams

Asher Adams was born in Canterbury, Connecticut in 1777 to Mary Webb (1739-1826) and Eliashib Adams (1727-1801). Asher had several siblings. He was married three times, with the first two marriages ended by the deaths of his wives Nancy “Anna” Bissell and her sister Catharine Bissell (1779-1811). He wed Anna in 1800 February; she died in 1801 September and was buried in Bloomfield, Connecticut. By Catherine, he had three children: Mary Adams, Catharine Bissell Adams, and Hezekiah Woodbridge Adams. He later married Amelia “Emily” Wyllys Adams (1786-1854) with whom he had children Frances Caroline “Fannie” Adams Chamberlain, Samuel Adams, George Wyllys Adams, and Charlotte Adams. At the age of four, Fannie was sent to Brunswick, Maine to be raised by Asher’s nephew George E. Adams. It is believed that Fannie, who would become an artist, was sent to live with her cousin because Asher and Amelia were older at the time of her birth. Asher, a merchant, died in West Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1860, in the area where he lived for many years. (Sources: Joshua L. Chamberlain: A Life in Letters, edited by Thomas Desjardin; Hale Collection)