Key Facts

Snapshot:	moved from Virginia to Georgia
Parents:	Her father's identity is unknown. 1316Mary ___
Born:	circa 1780 Virginia
Died:	1850's probably Montgomery County, Georgia
Buried:	uncertain

658Penelope was born circa 1780 in Virginia.1 Her maiden name was Bird, and her mother was 1316Mary ___, as explained below.

Problem: Resolved Who is 658Penelope's mother? In Bulloch County, Georgia on 11 December 1823, "Penny Williamson" (i.e., 658Penelope) co-signed to allow the sale of some land, specifically Gwinnett County, district 7, lot 354. Other co-signers were William Bird, Wiley Bird, Joel Bird, Jonis Bird, Anne Gay, Johna[?] Gay, Jacob Dougherty, and Viny Brownin.2 1823: 658Penelope and others co-sign to allow the sale of certain land. Full page.2 "Mary Bird" (i.e., 1316Mary ___) had won this lot in 1820.3 Thus, it would seem that that the co-signers of the abovementioned power of attorney record are in fact 1316Mary's heirs, and thus furthermore that the maiden name of her female heirs would have been Bird. (To help confirm this latter claim, notice that the co-signer William Bird was born in 1780 or earlier,4,5 and co-signer Jonas was born sometime between 1776 and 1794.6 Thus, William's and Jonas' births help to "buttress" 658Penelope, who was born circa 1780.1 Although we haven't yet identified 1316Mary's husband, it's thus likely she was married to him before, during, and probably after 658Penelope's birth, so it's highly doubtful that some other, unidentified man—a hypothetical other husband of 1316Mary—could've been 658Penelope's father.)

658Penelope married a man with the surname Adams, but further details are unclear, as explained below.

Problem: Unresolved Who was 658Penelope's first husband? In a Montgomery County, Georgia deed dated 23 October 1811, "Penelapha Adams" gives various items to her "beloved children Thias Wily Shartol & Asa." 7 The children retained the surname Adams in later records.1,8 Therefore, 658Penelope either (1) had a husband with the surname Adams, or (2) was a single mother, and Adams is her own maiden name. Hypothesis #2 (i.e., that 658Penelope's maiden name is Adams) seems unlikely and probably could be proven false by DNA evidence: An anonymous, self-declared, male-line descendant of 658Penelope's son Matthias ("Thias" in the abovementioned deed7) has Y-DNA results that match numerous other Adams men.9 Thus, hypothesis #1 (i.e., that 658Penelope had a husband of surname Adams) must be correct. But who is he? Montgomery County's 1806 tax digest includes only one Adams household: John Adams'.10 Perhaps he is 658Penelope's husband? Sadly, I have found no firm evidence that would help to confirm this hypothesis.

After 658Penelope gave some items to her four children (as described above7), later the same day (23 October 1811) she then married her second husband, Lemuel Williamson, in Montgomery County, Georgia.11 (Conveniently, 658Penelope persuaded her groom to witness the aforementioned deed.7)

1811: 658Penelope's and (her second husband) Lemuel Williamson's marriage certificate. Full page.11

Lemuel must have passed away, apparently by 1820, when 658Penelope (like her mother3) won land in Georgia's 1820 land lottery.12 The land she won—Irwin County, section 7, lot 321—lies about 9 miles southeast of what's now Albany. I've marked it on the master map. I haven't researched what 658Penelope did with the land, although notes from the Wiregrass Region Digital History Project suggest that it reverted to the state, since the state allegedly sold it to Jonathan A. Virgin on 22 April 1842.

The 1830 census shows her with a 20-something son,13 perhaps her son Asa (mentioned above7).

1830: 658Penelope's household in Montgomery County, Georgia. Full page.13

By 1850 she had moved in with her son Matthias. She may have abandoned her Williamson name and reverted back to Adams, or (more likely) a hasty census-taker simply assumed her name was Adams based on the rest of the household.1

1850: 658Penelope's in her son Matthias' household in Montgomery County, Georgia. Full page.1

I've been unable to find her in the 1860 census, so I presume she died sometime in the 1850's. After a somewhat brief search, I found no probate records nor mentions of her death in Montgomery County newspapers.

Her son Matthias, with whom she was living in 1850,1 is buried in a small Adams family cemetery in Wheeler County; the cemetery is at coordinates N32.13580 W82.70420. One suspects that 658Penelope may be buried there, too, but no such tombsone exists.

Sources Cited:

1: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Montgomery County, Georgia. Page 101[b] [typed], family 94, Matthias Adams household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 78. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6FF7-NT5?i=37&cc=1401638&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZYH-G9K>.

2: Hall County, Georgia. Deeds & mortgages book B (1825-1828), page 112. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKJ-Y7K8-L?i=64&cat=254906>.

3: S. Emmett Lucas, The Third and Fourth or 1820 and 1821 Land Lotteries of Georgia (Georgia Genealogical Reprints, Easley, SC, 1973), page 14. Similar information is also in: James C. Flanigan, History of Gwinnett County, Georgia: 1818-1943, Volume I (Longino & Porter, Hapeville, Georgia), page 65. The surveyor's field notes also show 1316Mary as having drawn this lot: Georgia Surveyor General. Land lottery surveys, book MMM, page 324, entry for section 7 lot 354 drawn by Mary Bird. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C34L-Z3ZB-W?i=504&cat=157006>. FamilySearch restricts access to this image, so see a copy here.

4: 1820 U.S. Federal Census. Bulloch County, Georgia. Page 19, line 5, entry for William Bird. NARA microfilm publication M33, roll 7. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBC-WFZ?i=10&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AXHLW-MDZ>, accessed 20 September 2023.

5: 1830 U.S. Federal Census. Bulloch County, Georgia. Page 98, Wm. Bird household. NARA microfilm publication M19, roll 16. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYYY-9DV?i=13&cc=1803958> and <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYYY-9D2?i=14&cc=1803958>.

6: 1820 U.S. Federal Census. Bulloch County, Georgia. Page 19, line 3, entry for Joney Bird. NARA microfilm publication M33, roll 7. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBC-WFZ?i=10&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AXHLW-MDZ>, accessed 20 September 2023.

7: Montgomery County, Georgia. Deeds book H (1809-1817), page 227. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QP-133T?cat=145183>. Be aware that Montgomery County confusingly has two different deed books both titled "H." You can see the other deed book H here; as you can see, its page #227 is different.

8: Montgomery County, Georgia. Marriage book A (1811-1850), n.p., entry dated 17 July 1817 for the marriage of Arthur Davis and Charlotty Adams. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBZJ-2PC?i=152&cc=1927197&cat=334570>, accessed 2 November 2021. Confusingly, Montgomery County has another marriage book "A" for the years 1810-1908, and in that book, 328Arthur's and 329Charlotte's marriage is recorded on page 28.

9: Adams Surname Y-DNA Project / Y-DNA classic chart / section labeled "Hap'group R1b (Matching uncertain & needing upgrades or extra members)" / kit 170832, whose paternal ancestor is "Matthias Adams, b. Oct 10, 1800, Montgomery Co, G;" accessed 20 September 2023. As you can see, the project page assigned this sample to haplogroup R-L193. In case 170832's results are removed from the database, I've saved a back-up copy.

10: Montgomery County, Georgia. Tax digest book for 1805-1806, section for 1806, militia district 52, entry for John Adams. Ancestry.com (Georgia, U.S., Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 / Montgomery / 1805-1806 / image 50 of 74). (FamilySearch also hosts this image, but access is restricted; see <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68VJ-V6BC>.)

11: Montgomery County, Georgia. Marriages book A (1811-1850), page 2. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-8BZJ-288?i=141&cc=1927197>.

12: S. Emmett Lucas, The Third and Fourth or 1820 and 1821 Land Lotteries of Georgia (Georgia Genealogical Reprints, Easley, SC, 1973), page 382.

13: 1830 U.S. Federal Census. Montgomery County, Georgia. Page 235, Angus Gillis household. NARA microfilm publication M19, roll 19. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYYL-91DR?i=9&cc=1803958&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AXHGB-X7K>, accessed 16 December 2019.

14: The tombstone of Mathias Adams (10 October 1800 - 15 March 1855), Adams family cemetery, Wheeler County, Georgia. FindAGrave.com, <https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/18691975/mathias-adams>, accessed 29 September 2023.