Provenance Detail
Adams Series - MULTIPLE COLLECTIONSNotes
The Robert Adams Sr. Family Collection is no longer owned intact by one person or repository. It was divided between two Adams heirs, who were third cousins once removed: Wilma (Sayers) (Milliken) Wisecarver [1899-2005] and Helen (Denny) Howard [1896-1981]. Their divided portions were further separated by donations to separate repositories as well as private ownership. The following is an account of the three known divisions of the Adams Collection.
The Robert Adams Sr. Family Collection appears to have passed intact from Robert Adams Sr. [1769-1864] to his son-in-law Ezra Mitchell Sayers [1812-1909] to his son Henry Clay Sayers Sr. [1840-1926] to his son Henry Clay Sayers Jr. [1872-1945] to his daughter Wilma (Sayers) (Milliken) Wisecarver [1899-2005].
Portion A: Wilma (Sayers) (Milliken) Wisecarver [1899-2005] donated to the Greene County Historical Society (918 Rolling Meadows Road; Waynesburg, Pennsylvania 15370): (1) the original Robert Adams Sr. Family Bible data pages (removed from Bible, no title page), (2) a pair of photo-print reproductions captioned as "Robert Adams Sr. [1769-1864]" and his wife, "Rebecca (Blackmore) Adams [1778-1853]," and (3) three original photographs captioned as the Adams, and later the Sayers, family home taken over the years of family ownership. These items are available to view in the archives at GCHS and were researched and digitized for the Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project between 2005-2014.
Portion B: Wilma (Sayers) (Milliken) Wisecarver [1899-2005] gave to her third cousin once removed Helen (Denny) Howard [1896-1981]: a pair of 8" x 9.75" card-mount photographs of Robert & Rebecca (Blackmore) Adams taken by S. G. Rogers, Washington, Pa., from which the photo-print reproductions archived at GCHS were made. These Rogers' prints are circa 1870s reproductions of earlier ambrotype or daguerreotype images likely taken in the 1840s - 1850s. Helen’s collection was inherited by Farley Toothman who owned and shared the photographs with the Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project in 2014.
Portion C: While still in the possession of Wilma (Sayers) (Milliken) Wisecarver, Helen (Denny) Howard made photo-print reproductions of (1) the Robert Adams Sr. Family Bible data pages (including the Bible's title page) and (2) the pair of photographs captioned as Robert and Rebecca (Blackmore) Adams. These photo-print reproductions from Helen’s collection were inherited by Farley Toothman who donated them to the Cornerstone Genealogical Society (144 E. Greene St., PO Box 547; Waynesburg, Pennsylvania 15370) in 2003. These prints are archived in the Adams family vertical file at CGS and were researched and digitized for the Greene Connections: Greene County, Pennsylvania Archives Project between 2005-2014.
Source Citation: Robert Adams Sr. [1769-1864] - husband of Rebecca Blackmore, item no. GCHS-AN024-0001, Greene County Historical Society Collection, Greene Connections Archives Project (www.GreeneConnections.com).