Prudence Adams is my 5th great-grandmother. According to my great-grandmother's records, Prudence was born on July 29, 1741. My great-grandmother also recorded that Prudence married Lancelot Larkham in 1763. Lancelot and Prudence's first six children were born in Richmond, Rhode Island between 1767 and 1774. These births are recorded in Richmond town records and in The Vital Record of Rhode Island. Since Lancelot served an apprenticeship in Richmond from 1749 until he left to fight in the Old French and Indian War in 1760, my best guess is that Prudence was probably from Richmond, and most likely a member of the Adams family of Rhode Island who descends from the Scotsman, James Adams, who emigrated to Lynn, Massachusetts*. Since much of the information on the Adams family of Rhode Island is incomplete, I haven't been able to prove Prudence's parentage, and can only speculate on her probable ancestry (see below).
Prudence and Lancelot Larkham had the following children:
- John Larkham, born on March 18, 1767 in Richmond, Rhode Island; married Desire Morgan [daughter of Ebenezer and Desire (Branch) Morgan] on February 6, 1785 in Voluntown, Connecticut; died after 1850 in Carlisle, Schoharie County, New York. John died prior to 1819, because in his will, Lancelot referred to John as deceased.
- Thomas Larkham, born March 15, 1768 in Richmond, Rhode Island; married Sarah Crandall [daughter of John and Kezia (Shaw) Crandall] on November 25 1790 in Voluntown, Connecticut; died on December 18, 1821 in Hartford, Washington County, New York.
- Sarah Larkham, born on May 15 1769 in Richmond, Rhode Island, married Benjamin Colegrove [son of Benjamin and Sarah (Colegrove) Colegrove] on March 1, 1789 in Voluntown, Connecticut; died probably in Brookfield, Madison County, New York.
- Joseph Larkham, born on September 19, 1770 in Richmond, Rhode Island. I have found no other record of Joseph Larkham, and he wasn't named in Lancelot's will, so I assume he died very young.
- Prudence Larkham, born on August 24 1772 in Richmond, Rhode Island; married William Himes; died probably in Berlin, Rensselaer County, Rhode Island.
- Lot Larkham, Jr., born March 14, 1774 in Richmond, Rhode Island; married Elizabeth Kennedy [daughter of Daniel and Lucretia (Whipple) Kennedy] on April 28, 1796 in Voluntown, Connecticut; married Olive Gorton on November 28, 1816 in Voluntown, Connecticut; married Sarah Ann Phillips on April 6, 1835 in Voluntown, Connecticut; died May 22, 1847 in Voluntown, Connecticut.
- Patience Larkham, born November 17, 1779 in Voluntown, Connecticut; married John Witter [son of John and Tacy (Porter) Witter] about 1799. They moved to Brookfield, Madison County, New York, but she probably died in a place further West.
In 1779, just before the birth of their seventh child, Patience, Lancelot and Prudence moved to Voluntown, Connecticut. It was here that they established a farm and lived out the remainder of their lives.
Prudence and Lancelot were Baptists, and are recorded on the membership lists of the First General Baptist of Richmond in 1770 and the North Kingston Six Principle Baptist Church in 1784 and 1786.
On October 21 1799, Prudence Adams Larkham died in Voluntown. She was 59 years old. All of her children had married and left home by this date.
Postscript: Prudence's middle name may have been Maria. I have a cross-stitched bookmark that reads, "Maria Adamf" (with an old-fashioned s). I have no idea who else this could have belonged to.
* I suspect that Prudence (Adams) Larkham may be a daughter of John & Patience (Hall) Adams of Richmond Rhode Island. Information on the family of this couple is very incomplete, however my speculation is based on several facts:
1) A daughter of John & Patience (Hall) Adams was Patience Adams, who married Thomas Webster on November 17, 1765 in Richmond, Washington County, R.I. (Vital Record of Rhode Island, Vol. 5, p. 1). Patience and Prudence have the same maiden name (Adams) and Patience and Thomas' marriage date (1765) was close to Prudence & Lancelot's (1763);
2) Prudence's husband, Lancelot Larkham, was apprenticed to Margaret (Webster) Enos. Margaret's father, John Webster, witnessed Lancelot's apprenticeship contract. Thomas Webster was the nephew of Margaret Webster and the grandson of John Webster. Thomas Webster married Patience Adams (see #1 above).
3) Lancelot & Prudence were listed as members of the First General Baptist Church of Richmond (Vital Record of Rhode Island, Vol. 11, p. 406). Thomas and Patience (Adams) Webster were also members of this church and have the exact same dates of membership as Lancelot and Prudence.
4) Lancelot & Prudence named their eldest son John and their youngest daughter Patience. Lancelot & Prudence's daughter, Sarah named all of her children according to traditional naming patterns. Her youngest daughter, who should have been named for a grandmother, was named Patience.
Go back to
My New England AncestryContact me, Sally,
at [email protected]To stop music, click on the square black button, below.
You are listening to the folk song " Lady Mary Hay's Scotch Measure" sequenced by Barry Taylor.
The berry garland on this page is the stencil, Berry Border, which I am using with the kind permission of the Dressler Stencil Company.
© Dressler Stencil Company
The background paper on this page is from Ender Design's Realm Graphics collection.