the genealogy book

, the opening salvo of a new work-in-progress,

My birth mother’s family. My family. My sixth great grandfather, Dr. Samuel Adams, United Empire Loyalist (1730-1810). According to the hardcover A Family Record of Dr. Samuel Adams, United Empire Loyalist of Vermont and Upper Canada (1995), a substantial genealogy compiled by Robert Train Adams and Douglass Graem Adams, Samuel Adams was born January 2, 1730 in Stratford, Connecticut, great-great grandson of William Adams of Ipswich (1594-1661), who himself was the first of that line to appear, of which little is known. Samuel Adams and his wife, Martha Curtis (1735-1802), who were parents of Gideon, William Samuel, Joel, Mary Esther, Andrew, Elijah Curtis and Ezra. I was given a copy of this particular volume in March 2020 by my cousin Sheri, soon after my return was revealed to my birth mother’s siblings, and my existence revealed to the rest of the family. The original Coronavirus lockdowns knocked out social gatherings, festivals and in-person anything, including my annual birthday party, but this hand-delivered bundle still appeared on our doorstep.

The fact of my self: my birth mother’s siblings knew I existed, as did a single cousin. As the grown-ups spoke at the time of my infant self from the front seat of the car, they thought four year old Sheri too young to understand or absorb. My Aunt Elaine, who considered taking me in but for already a newborn and toddler. As Ian, the youngest of my birth mother’s siblings, told me, he was informed by their mother of my existence over the phone during his second year of university. She clearly needed to get this off her chest. The same year I turned twelve.

Dr. Samuel Adams was a physician and surgeon, and an early settler of Arlington, Vermont. His father, Samuel Adams Sr, “was a county court judge in Stratford, Connecticut, and his brother, Andrew, also a lawyer, later became chief justice of the Connecticut Superior Court.” While his brother and father stood on the side of the Revolution, Samuel Jr. kept his allegiance to the British Crown, thus losing his library, his lands and his title. How he eventually landed north into the Province of Quebec after falling into defeat at the hands of the rapscallion Ethan Allen, a name later associated with “high quality furniture and home accessories.” For a few days across the end of March 2017, as Christine, our young ladies and I wandered through Burlington, Vermont, and caught the nearby Ethan Allen Historical Site listed online. We were curious to visit, but we were there at the wrong time of year. Even the Historical Site’s own website made Ethan Allen, a compatriot of Benedict Arnold, sound terrible. I felt quite comfortable not liking the man.