Maria Arter and John Adams

The will of John Arter, proved July 4, 1809 in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, identifies a daughter named Maria, and the deed of partition for the sale of the property of John Arter, deceased, identifies Maria wife of John Adams as one of the heirs. We do not know anything about John Adams's background, such as where he was from or who his parents were. He might have been a younger brother of, or otherwise related to, Casper Adams, who lived in Northumberland County around the same time.  Some key documentation for Maria Arter and John Adams is in the table at the bottom.

Maria Arter is one of six known children of John Arter and Anna Maria Diehl.  The earliest records relating to the family are found in Longswamp Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania.  The baptisms of four of the Arter children are found among the records for Longswamp Church.  The family moved to Augusta Township in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania about 1786, and by 1797 the family was in Shamokin Township in Northumberland County.

Because Maria and her brother William are not mentioned in the Longswamp Church records and are the last daughter and last son mentioned in John Arter's will, it has usually been assumed that they were the youngest children and were both born after the family moved to Northumberland County.  It was very common for children to be listed in their parents’ wills according to their birth order, or birth order by gender.  However, the Longswamp Church records clearly show that sons Abraham, John, and Philip are not listed by their birth order in their father‘s will.  Therefore, we cannot assume that the daughters are listed in the order of their birth, either.

While it does appear that William was indeed the youngest child, records of the Reformed Church Cemetery in Locust Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, as reported by Meiser, give a birth date of May 7, 1770 for Anna Maria, the wife of John Adams.  This John Adams is same one who was Maria Arter’s husband, so the record of Anna Maria almost certainly refers to Maria Arter.  The record also suggests that Maria was named after her mother.

There is additional evidence which suggests that Maria Arter was the eldest child, and which corroborates the 1770 birth date.  The records for the estate of Maria's father, confirm that Maria and John Adams were already married in 1810.  The 1810 federal census for Catawissa Township, Northumberland County contains a listing for a John Adams of the age of 26 years or older, but less than 45 years of age.  The only other person in the household is a woman in the same age bracket.

The exact same listing for John Adams appears in the 1800 federal census for Shamokin Township, Northumberland County:  one man and one woman both 26 years or older but less than forty-five.  Taken together, these two censuses imply that both John and his wife were born between 1766 and 1774.  The listings for the John Adams household in the 1820 and 1830 censuses for Catawissa Township, Columbia County narrow the range of possible birth years even further to between 1766 and 1770.  The 1850 Census for Roaring Creek Township, Montour County includes John Adams, 86, and Mary Adams, 80.  The Reformed Church Cemetery records give John's birth date as April 5, 1765.

There is also a John Adams in the 1820 and 1830 censuses for Shamokin Township, Northumberland County.  This John Adams is the son of Casper, also of Shamokin, was born in 1790, and married Anna Maria Boyer.  The John Adams of the 1800 and 1810 censuses cannot be the son of Casper, who would have been only ten years old in 1800.

There are no known children of John and Maria Adams, and it is possible that none were born to them.  John Adams did not mention any children in his will, and the census records certainly suggest that they had no children that lived to adulthood.  There are no children living with John and Maria Adams in the 1800 or 1810 census.  By 1810, Maria would have been about 40 years old.  There are children living with them in the 1820 census (1 female between 10 and 16 years of age) and in the 1830 census (1 female between 5 and 10, and 1 female between 15 and 20), but we believe that they are not their children.  Certainly the girl 5 to 10 years old in 1830 is unlikely to be Maria's child, since Maria would have been 50 - 55 at the time of her birth.

The girls recorded in the 1820 and 1830 censuses could be nieces.  The oldest girl in the 1830 census might be Elizabeth, the daughter of Maria's brother William and his wife Hannah.  William died during the winter of 1823 - 1824, and it appears that, out of seven children, only the two youngest daughters were living with Hannah in 1830.  However, John Adams probably provides a clue to who these children were.  In the event of his wife's death or remarriage, John Adams' estate was willed to Elizabeth Leiby, daughter of William Leiby of Shamokin Township, and Solomon Yeager, son John Yeager of Roaring-Creek Township.  The 1850 census for Roaring Creek (John's will was written in 1847, so this family might have moved.) shows Elizabeth Leiby, 26, living with Frederick, 66, and wife Catherine, 59.  Elizabeth would have been about 6 in 1830.  We cannot be certain Elizabeth lived with John and Maria Adams, but it is likely that those children are connected to the Leiby and Yeager family mentioned in John's will.

On August 16, 1825, John Adams, administrator for the estate of John Martz, filed a petition in the Northumberland County Orphans Court.  John Martz was the husband of Elizabeth Arter, Maria Arter's sister.  Another petition was filed the same day by four children of John Martz requesting a guardian.  John Adams was appointed guardian.  In response to other petitions filed on April 16, 1827, John Adams was appointed guardian for the other two children of John Martz.

John Adams died on June 20, 1852, and is buried in the Reformed Church Cemetery in Numidia (Locust Township), Columbia County, Pennsylvania.  Meiser reports that John Adams' wife Anna Maria died December 6, 1854.  This must be Maria Arter.

Some Key Documantation for Maria Arter and John Adams

 

1. Arter, Blanche W., The Arter Story, unpublished, ca. 1965
2. Meiser, Joeph A., Jr. and Sarah Roadarmel Meiser, Pennsylvania Burials - Columbia and Montour Counties, published by the author, 1987
3. Northumberland County, PA Estate Records for John Arter, will proved July 4, 1807
4. Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, Recorder of Deeds

   

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