Carrie Belle Tillotson (1867-1942?) was born on August 18, 1867 in Crete, Will County, Illinois. Carrie was the youngest child of my great-great-grandparents Franklin James Tillotson and Jane Ann Sexton.
Carrie married Byron Edwin Adams on March 2, 1886 in Crete, Will County, Illinois. Byron was born on May 16, 1858 in Crete. He was the son of William Charles Adams and Mary Relief Wilder. Mary Relief Wilder was the daughter of Almon Wilder and Anna Corey.
The following biography of Almon Wilder appeared in 1878.
Almon Wilder, farmer; P. O. Crete; the subject of this sketch is one of the old settlers in this vicinity; was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., May 21, 1806, and is the son of Rubin Wilder, a farmer, who was an officer in the war of 1812; when Mr. Wilder was about 4 years of age, he went to live with his grandfather; when he was 6 years old, with his grandfather, moved to Ohio; here he remained until 1837; while there, he learned the shoemaker's trade, and followed this business six or seven years. He was married in Ohio to Miss Annie Corey. In 1837, he came to Illinois and settled in Cook Co.; here his wife died, about one year after they arrived; he was married the second time to Mrs. Louisa Taymond, of England. In 1841, he came to Will Co. and settled on his present homestead; here he has remained ever since. While here, he has held several public offices of trust; was Supervisor of Crete Twp. in 1851, 1852, 1853 and part of the term in 1855; held office as Assessor for seven-teen years, and Collector; these offices he held in a very creditable and efficient manner. Republican in politics. Two sons in the late war - Edwin A., enlisted in the 100th I. V. I., served full time and participated in some of the prominent battles during the war; George H., enlisted in the 8th I. V. C.; these gentlemen did good service, and were honorably discharged at the close of the war.
William Charles Adams was the son of Phineas Hazen Adams and Mary Clarke. Phineas Adams was the youngest son of Reuben Adams and Azubah Jones. Phineas was born December 17, 1803 in Rutland, Worcester County, Massachusetts. He married Mary Clarke of Eden, Lamoille County, Vermont in 1823. She died in 1846 but not until she and Phineas produced nine children including William Charles Adams.
Phineas Adams was a wheelwright by trade. He moved from Vermont to Illinois in 1845 via the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to Chicago and then then to Crete, Will County, Illinois. He settled on a tract of government land and began farming. Phineas died on September 15, 1889.
Phineas Hazen Adams.
The following biography of Phineas Adams appeared appeared in 1878.
P. H. Adams, farmer; P. O. Crete; is one of the old settlers of Will Co.; was born in Rutland, Mass., Dec. 17, 1804, and is the son of Rubin Adams, of Massachusetts, a blacksmith by trade; when he was very young, with his parents, moved to Massachusetts, thence to New Hampshire, from there to Vermont. Mr. Adams, when he was about 23 years of age, learned the carriage-making trade. While he was in Vermont, he married Mary Clark, of Massachusetts; in 1845, with family, came to Illinois and settled on the present homestead; here he has lived ever since; he first settled on forty acres of Government land; his wife died soon after he settled here; he was married to Mary Canfield, of Massachusetts; sixteen children, ten by first wife and six by his second; son Harrison was in the late war; enlisted in the 8th IL Cav.; participated in some of the prominent battles; was honorably discharged at the close of the war.
Phineas Adams was a descendant of Henry Adams of Braintree, Massachusetts. The line from Henry Adams down to Byron Edwin Adams is as follows:
1 Henry Adams + Thomazin Sheffield or Edith Squire
. 2 Edward Adams + Lydia Rockwood or Lydia Penniman
.. 3 John Adams + Deborah Partridge
... 4 Obediah Adams + Christian Sanford
.... 5 Nathan Adams + Keziah Thompson
..... 6 Reuben Adams + Azubah Jones
...... 7 Phineas Hazen Adams + Mary Clarke
........8 William Charles Adams + Mary Relief Wilder
.........9 Byron Edwin Adams + Carrie Belle Tillotson
Several hundred residents of Will County, Illinois left for California during the period of the Gold Rush in 1850. Among them was William Charles Adams, father of Byron Edwin Adams. William's companions included Austin Ellis Hewes, Benjamin Hewes, R. A. Mott, Asa Kyle, H. Haslett, David Orr, and A. P. K. Safford. Austin Hewes was the luckiest of the lot in finding gold. He returned to Crete in 1852 with about $3,000 which he used to buy a farm near that of his father. Unfortunately he died at the age of 35 of tuberculosis which he had contracted while travelling to California. A. P. K. Safford stayed out west and later became territorial governor of Arizona. Benjamin Hewes returned home and bought land. He joined his brother Daniel in the mercantile business. They owned a brick manufacturing business and the Hewes House Hotel.
William Charles Adams returned to Crete, but rather than travelling overland he took a ship down to Panama, crossed the isthmus (no canal in those days!) and took a ship to the east coast of the United States, and then travelled overland back to Crete. While wallking the isthmus, William found a discarded liquor bottle which he kept as a souvenir. One of his descendants still has that bottle. Adams purchased 141 acres of land in the northern part of Crete Township.
William's son Byron Edwin Adams was a farmer by trade, but better educated than most as he had attended a business college in Chicago. Politically he was a Republican.
Carrie and Byron had the following children, all born in Crete, Will County, Illinois:
Belle Mabel Adams was born Mar 23, 1887. She married Frank L. DeJarnatt on September 1, 1905 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. They had five children:
Belle died August 17, 1934.
Leslie Byron Adams was born on February 27, 1889. He married Ida Linda Klemme on October 12, 1911 in Crete, Will County, Illinois. Ida was born to John Charles Klemme and Ella Sarah Corwin in Crete, Will County, Illinois on April 26, 1891.
Leslie and Ida lived in Crete all their lives. Carrie, Byron, and most of their other children eventually moved west to California.
Leslie and Ida had six children:
The Klemme family originated in Germany. Today there is still a road named Klemme in Crete which runs for a mile and half or so parallel to the Illinois/Indiana state border. John Klemme, Ida's father, was an auctioneer, the only one licensed to operate from Joliet, Illinois to Crown Point, Indiana. Ida was a member of a large family: she had eleven brothers and one sister.
Leslie Adams was named Citizen of the Year in 1972 by the Crete Amvets. He died May 25, 1976 and is buried in Crete, Will County, Illinois. Ida was marshall of Crete's Memorial Day Parade in 1980. She died August 11, 1982 and is also buried in Crete.
- Standing left: Byron Edwin Adams.
- Seated: William Charles Adams holds Ralph Adams, son of Leslie Adams.
- Leslie Adams.
Raymond Franklin Adams was born August 28, 1894. He married Elizabeth Muirhead on May 21, 1917 in Picatello, Idaho. Raymond and Elizabeth had six children:
Hattie Melissa Adams was born August 22, 1896. She moved to California during World War I. Her oldest sister Belle was already living there. Hattie worked in the accounting department of a large home furnishings store in San Francisco. Hiking was one of her favorite activities, especially on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County.
Hattie married James Linn on July 5, 1925 in Redwood City, San Mateo County, California. She moved into his family home in San Francisco. Hattie and James had four children:
James Linn ran his own dental lab in San Francisco. After he retired, Hattie and James operated two dry cleaning establishments in San Francisco. In the early 1960s Hattie and James travelled around the county in their Rambler. It was on one of these trips in southern California that James died on November 3, 1966.
After her husband's death, Hattie moved to Santa Cruz, California where she remained active until her death on December 28, 1994 at the age of ninety-eight.
Ruby Bernice Adams was born July 3, 1898. She married twice. She first married Eugene Beauzy on August 3, 1918 in San Francisco, San Francisco County, California. Ruby and Eugene had three children:
Ruby later married Charles Osborn on February 20, 1935 in Santa Ana, Orange County, California. The boys took the last name of Osborn after that time.
Ruby died in December, 1979. Her obituary reads as follows.
Medford Mail Tribune
Medford, Oregon
Friday, December 28, 1979
Obituaries
Ruby B. Osborn
The funeral for Ruby B. Osborn; 81 of 825 Crater Lake Ave, Medford, who died Wednesday, will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Litwiller's Funeral Chapel, Ashland, with Seventh-day Adventist pastors; Roger Cain, Ashland, and Berwyn Shakespeare, Central Point, officiating. Committal services will follow at Scenic Hills Memorial Park.
Mrs. Osborn was born July 3, 1898, in Crete, Ill. She moved to Ashland from Los Angeles in 1970, then to Canyonville in 1974. She came to Medford in 1977.
She was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Central Point. She retired from White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles where she was a records keeper.
Survivors include three sons, Leo Osborn, Gresham, Jack Osborn, Los Angeles, and Bob Osborn, Silver Springs, Md.; four sisters, Hattie Linn, Santa Cruz, Calif., Cora Pothel (sic), San Gabriel, Calif., Mary Schmitz, Sunnyvale, Calif., and Ellen Adams, San Diego, Calif., nine grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles, one sister and three brothers.
Cora Mildred Adams was born January 29, 1901. She married Charles Keck on September 28, 1922 in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. They had three children:
Cora later married Walter Patheal, who was born in Tonti Township, Marion County, Illinois on October 20, 1885. Walter died in 1984 in Los Angeles, California.
Cora died May 26, 1994 in Los Angeles, California.
Ellen L. "Nellie" Adams was born January 22, 1903. She married George Crossett. Ellen worked as a secretary to the principal of a high school and in a notion shop.
Ellen died June 22, 1990 in California.
Mary Louise Adams was born December 9, 1906. She married Fred A. Schmitz on April 7, 1929 in Redwood City, San Mateo County, California. They had three children:
Mary died in 1996.
Left to right:
- Cora Adams.
- Hattie Adams. She holds her nephew Ralph E. Adams, son of Leslie Byron Adams and Ida Klemme.
- Ida Klemme, wife of Leslie Byron Adams. Ida holds her daughter Ferne Adams.
- Leslie Byron Adams, husband of Ida Klemme.
- Ellen L. "Nellie" Adams.
- Raymond Franklin Adams.
- Ruby Adams.
- Carrie Belle Tillotson, wife of Byron Edwin Adams. She holds her youngest daughter Mary Louise Adams.
- Byron Edwin Adams, husband of Carrie Belle Tillotson.
- Blanche Hayes, wife of Ellis Adams.
- Ellis Adams, husband of Blanche Hayes.
The only child of Carrie and Byron missing is Belle Adams. She had already moved to California when this picture was taken.
Left to right:
- Mary Adams
- Hattie Adams
- Ruby Adams
- Belle Adams
- Carrie Belle Adams
- Nellie Adams (behind the wheel)
- Cora Adams
- Byron Edwin Adams
Left to right:
- Cora Adams
- Nellie Adams
- Ruby Adams
- Mary Adams
- Hattie Adams
Byron died on December 15, 1934 in Redwood City, San Mateo County, California. Carrie suffered a stroke in 1939. After that she resided with her daughter Ellen. Carrie died in the early 1940s.
My thanks to Susan Linn for most of the photos. Vicki Estes provided the photo of Phineas Hazen Adams. Susan Linn, James R. Adams, and Leo Osborn provided some of the biographical information. Karyn Webb provided the obituary for Ruby Adams Osborn, which was transcribed by Jolene Buttolph. The brief biographical extracts for Almon Wilder and Phineas Adams come from "History of Will County, Illinois" published by Wm. LeBaron, Jr., & Co. in 1878.
Back to Tillotson Genealogy.
Back to Franklin James Tillotson.
Back to Jane Ann Sexton Tillotson.
Back to index of my personal genealogy pages.
Last modified by pib on January 7, 2008.