Name/Title
01. Overview: Charles R. and Celestine M. Adams CollectionEntry/Object ID
1996.001.0001Scope and Content
1 box 16" x 13" x 10", 1 box 8" x 6" x 3 1/4", 1 box 21" x 24" x 1 1/2"
Mr. Charles Reginald (Rex) Adams (1895-1997) was raised on St. George's Island, St. Mary's County, Maryland. His family ran a hotel on the Island. Celestine (Fess) Margaret Albright (1901-1991) visited her family's farm on the east side of the St. George Creek probably every summer and perhaps other holidays, too. Mr. Albright owned a big farm that he called Andover and he tried to develop an area known as Andover Estates. Somehow the two young people met and were married in 1923. They lived in St. Mary's County. They had a son in 1927, but he did not live even a day, and there were no more children after that. In 1934 the couple moved to Washington, D.C. to work: Rex for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission and Fess for the Dept. of the Interior. She left the DOI in 1946, went to work for the U. S. Naval Research Laboratory in 1947 and remained there as an office manager until her retirement in 1963. Rex retired the same year and the couple moved permanently to a large home on St. George's Island that had been Mr. Adams' ancestral home. The couple undertook substantial improvements and made the house a handsome one. They were active in St. George's Episcopal Church in Valley Lee and seemed to enjoy a large circle of friends. The material suggests that sometime in the middle 1980s, Mrs. Adams began to lose her reason and Mr. Adams may have had those problems also. Mrs. Adams died in 1991 and Mr. Adams died in 1997 in the county nursing home. In 1994 the St. George's Island home, property, and furnishings were auctioned, presumably to pay for Mr. Adams' support.
A considerable portion of the collection is about the Albright family, both in St. Mary's County and in Pennsylvania. There are many pictures of the farm at Andover. Another focus is St. George's Island, Mr. Adams' home. Mrs. Adams was planning to write a book on St. George's Island, but while there is research material, there is no evidence the book was actually completed. There is a collection of deeds for land on the Island and several surveys of the Adams' and adjacent properties; Mr. Adams had several boundary disputes with other property owners. There are daybooks kept by Mrs. Adams from 1979-1984 in which it is possible to trace her downward mental spiral. There are very complete records of Mrs. Adams' employment history and several years worth of tax returns for their retirement years--it is interesting to see how the value of pensions increased over time. There are two paintings and one drawing in the collection, but none of the items are signed. As usual, the material raises many more questions than it answers.Collection
Charles R. and Celestine M. Adams CollectionArchive Items Details
Date(s) of Creation
1855 - 1991Location
Shelf
Rack 02, Shelf 3Rack
Rack 02Wall
South wallRoom
Archives 1Building
Tudor HallShelf
Rack 02, Shelf 3Rack
Rack 02Wall
South wallRoom
Archives 1Building
Tudor HallShelf
Rack 02, Shelf 2Rack
Rack 02Wall
South wallRoom
Archives 1Building
Tudor HallRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
Adams, Charles Reginald (Rex), 1895-1997Person or Organization
Adams, Celestine Margaret Albright (Fess), 1901-1991Person or Organization
Albright, Daniel K. (1874-1950)Person or Organization
Albright, Margaret Weaver (1874-1958)Person or Organization
Adams, Edward Ross (1899-1981)