The Adams Family Connection Part 3: We find Rebecca - and Her Brother's Family.

Just after deciding that I'd exhausted all possible leads to confirm any more details about REBECCA ADAMS's  family details - other than her daughter GRACE who joined the HARRIS family by marrying JAMES (see previous two  posts) -  I had a lightbulb moment 💡and thought, why not try researching the ADAMS family details of my My Heritage  correspondent, James A,  and see if I can find any connection there.   

James A  suggests that the 1% DNA that connects us comes through the ADAMS surname which appears in both our family trees at a similar distance in time.  I wondered if this could be a little coincidental in that it's not a particularly uncommon name; however, it was an obvious avenue to explore. And we had to be related somehow - if not  through the ADAMS family, then who? 

So, with these details of James A's (from USA) ancestors, I set forth: 

CATHERINE ADAMS (born 1801) married John LAMERTON (1795 - 1876) from CORNWALL. 

On the My Heritage site, I searched their names, and the first entry that came up was CATHERINE LAMERTON (born ADAMS) baptised November 5, 1801, in CORNWALL! So far so good. 

And not only just Cornwall, but the parish of St Winnows which is an approximate distance of 24 miles from REBECCA's last confirmed sighting in the parish of TREWEN. (Although Google maps estimates it's an approximate 8 hour walking distance - depending on the starting and end points within each parish - it puts both families in a credible distance of each other.) 

 And, I have already found  a REBECCA ADAMS born in St Winnow who was a contender for being the mother of GRACE (see previous post for details). So all I had to do was join the dots . . . and eliminate the spare Rebeccas I'd found along the way. 

OK, so here's the pathway: 

James A from USA's ancestors CATHERINE ADAMS and JOHN LAMERTON married on 27 February 1819 in the Quethiock parish. Both were residents of that parish at the time of their marriage. 

There is a JOHN LAMERTON  baptised 15th February 1795, according to the  Cornwall Parish Register, and this seems most the most likely contender for the above-mentioned John.  His parents were WILLIAM and JANE LAMERTON (born Garland) and they married in Quethiock in 1784. 

From the My Heritage site details, CATHERINE was born in St Winnow parish, to the parents of JOSEPH (Jo. according to Ancestry.Com records) and ANN ADAMS,  and was baptised on 5 November 1801. 

The most likely parish records for CATHERINE's parents were JOSEPH ADAMS of Lanlivery  marrying ANN CREGOE on 5th June, 1799, in the parish of Gerrans,  which is bewilderingly far from Lanlivery  - a nine hour walk minimum. It seems ANN was a sojourner in the Gerrans Parish - which is odd as there was an ANN CREGO baptised there 25th November, 1770.  Plus an ANN  CREGO died there in 1772, and another in 1796, and another ANN CREGOE married PETER HILL (both of the Gerrans parish) in 1799 also.  Confusing, for sure, but in the absence of any other evidence, I'm going to assume these are CATHERINE's parents. 

Note both JOSEPH and ANN were literate enough to be able to sign their names in the marriage register - which is interesting as REBECCA probably wasn't literate because her daughter GRACE only put a mark on hers. 

CATHERINE's birth date and details did not fit easily with being a sister or daughter of our REBECCA, but I wondered if Catherine's father, JOSEPH ADAMS, could be REBECCA's brother, and our connection was at least another generation back?  (This had been surmised by my USA correspondent, JAMES A, but I needed to find the evidence.) 

Which I have done!

(See previous post for the complete ADAMS family line up.) Joseph Adams, baptised 28 November, 1775, At St Winnow,  was the eighth (recorded) child of THOMAS ADAMS and MARY CHELEY, married at St Winnows in 1763.  REBECCA Adams was THOMAS and MARY's fifth (recorded) child and, therefore, JOSEPH's sister and CATHERINE ADAMS's aunt.  

The connection has been found at St Winnow.

St Winnow

The indisputable confirming evidence (which helps sift out all the non-related Josephs, Rebeccas, Catherines and Thomases) is the DNA connection identified between JAMES A in USA  and me in New Zealand.  Yay for science.  
*Waves to Cousin JAMES A👋👋* across the oceans and generations. Thanks so much for contacting me to consider our connection. I would never have found our REBECCA without your details. 

How  cool that these families  of JOSEPH ADAMS and ANN CREGO can be reconnected after over 250 years. 

I guess this is what you call a family reunion!