William Adams  P-337457

Birth:               1733

                        County Antrim, Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Parents:          William James Adams and Lydia Martin

Death:             November 27, 1799

                        York County, South Carolina, USA

Wife:               Margaret Ewart

Birth:               1746                  

Parents:          Robert Ewart and Catherine Catherwood

Married:         North Carolina 1765

Death:             1824

Children:        Francis Adams

                        Kathrine Adams Carrigan

                        Jean H. Adams Campbell

                        Robert E. Adams

                        James S. Adams

                        William Adams, Jr.                

                        Rachel Adams Barnett

                        Margaret Adams Watson

                        Joseph R. Adams

                        Elizabeth Adams

         John B. Adams

In 1740, William Adams, age 7, moved with his family from Ireland to the American Colonies.  They were part of the waves of Presbyterian Scots-Irish immigrating to America.  These Scots-Irish immigrants were seeking religious freedom from taxation by the British Government for support of the established Anglican Church of England and the liberty to allow them to practice their Presbyterianism.  This Scots-Irish migration of nearly 500,000 to the American Colonies by the time of the American Revolution would become a major part of its military core.

Unoccupied prior to 1730, the Virginia and Carolina Piedmont areas were settled by these people as they began to come down the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road from Pennsylvania and other parts of the colonies.  By 1750, they had moved into North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.

William’s family at first settled in the New Castle area of Pennsylvania but quickly moved to the west relocating to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, near the Gettysburg-Harrisburg area.  In 1752, William’s father, William James Adams, died in 1756.  William, then age 24, with other Scots-Irish settlers moved 500 miles south to the Carolinas.  He settled on land along the upper section of Crowder’s Creek near present day York County, South Carolina.  In 1765, William now age 32 married Margaret Ewart, a daughter of Robert Ewart and Catherine Catherwood, in North Carolina.  They returned to the land that William owned in South Carolina and began raising a family of 11 children (five boys and six girls).

When the Scots-Irish settlers of the Carolinas learned of the 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord, they rallied to the American cause and filled the ranks of the Colonial Army and State Militias.  Being skilled in the use of the rifle and fighting Indians, they were very adept soldiers.  William at age 43 joined the 5^th Carolina Regiment (First Rifle Regiment) that was formed February 22, 1776 and became part of the South Carolina Continental Line.  William served under Col. Isaac Huger for three years and fought at the Siege of Savannah in 1779.  On February 11, 1780, the 5^th was merged with the 1^st South Carolina Regiment and William, whose enlistment was up, returned home.

It was not long before William was once again fighting for American freedom.  In October 1780, the call went out for volunteers to rally and stop British and Loyalist Militias of General Charles Lord Cornwallis, who in order to protect his left flank, was marching into North Carolina.   These British Troops were led by one of General Cornwallis’ most able commanders, British Major Patrick Ferguson of the 71st Foot.   William Adams joined his Scots-Irish neighbors in responding to this call.  As many of these Patriots came from the western part of the Carolinas and the present state of Tennessee they were generally known as "Overmountain Men."

On October 7, 1780 at the Battle of Kings Mountain, South Carolina, the American Patriots surrounded and soundly defeated Major Ferguson’s force.  Ferguson was killed attempting to rally his men on horseback and his entire command was either killed or captured.  The loss of Ferguson's force caused General Cornwallis to abandon his offensive in North Carolina and permanently shifted the initiative to the Americans in the South.  British Commander-in-Chief Sir Henry Clinton was later quoted as saying that the Battle of Kings Mountain was "the first link in a chain of evils that followed each other in regular succession until they at last ended in the total loss of America." 

After the Battle of Kings Mountain, William Adams returned to his home and continued raising his family and farming.  On November 27, 1799 at age 66, William Adams passed away at York County, South Carolina.