Wordless Wednesday: McAdams Family c.1887

(Back row - Albert McAdams b. 1871, Flora McAdams b. 1867, Elmer McAdams b. 1869, Ed McAdams b. 1874.  Front row - Judson McAdams b. 1877, Samuel B. McAdams b. 1845, Rachel Mulkey McAdams b. 1839, Dakota McAdams b. 1879)

Amanuensis Monday: McAdams Family Record, page 4

Thanks to John at Transylvanian Dutch for providing a framework (and nudge) for transcribing family records, news clippings and other treasures.

This is a transcription of the fourth page of the McAdams Family Record I scanned and posted separately.  It details the family of Thomas C. McAdams (1806-1881) of Washington County, Tennessee.

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Deaths

__________

  John Bryson,     July      1778  (Great grandfather to R N McAdams)

*Margaret Carson,     February 20, 1812

  Hugh McAdams,     December 13, 1814

  Samuel Bryson,     September 19, 1816  (in war of 1812)

  Margaret McAdams,     August 12, 1822

  Isabella Hale,     June 1, 1855  (Nee Bryson, married McAdams and Hale)

  Jane Murray,    June 6, 1871

  Anna S McAdams,     July 7, 1861

  Samuel B McAdams, Sr.    January 29, 1894

*Margaret Carson was Grandmother to T. C. McAdams, Sr. on his mother's side.  Ancestors from Rockbridge County, Va. both sides

__________

William B Strain,     August 5, 1833

William Stephenson,     July 23, 1840

John Stephenson,     March 24, 1842

Elizabeth Stephenson,     March 30, 1843

David Stephenson,     January 18, 1849

Matthew Stephenson,     February 20, 1838

Emily H Mitchell,     December 22, 1805

Polly Stephenson, October 22, 1805

Eliza, daughter of John and Polly Stephenson, born October 3, 1803, 

          died August 19, 1805

William Stephenson, Sr.,      October 29, 1796

Hugh Morrison McAdams,     July 14, 1840      (Fairview Cem. Wash. Co)

William Plummer McAdams,     April 11, 1844         "          "         "

Isabella Hale,     June 1, 1855                                     "          "         "

Matthew Judson McAdams,     June 19, 1863

     (Buried National Cemetry, Nashville, Tenn. )

David Brainard McAdams,     January 21, 1871

     (Buried Stone Cemetry, Diamond,  Missouri)

Chalmer Stephenson McAdams,     December 14, 1873  (Fairview Ce.  ")

Margaret Jane McAdams,      October 31, 1872                        "

Cynthia Stephenson McAdams,      October 20, 1874               "

Flora Jane McAdams,     March 5, 1875                                    "

Sara Jane McAdams,      June     1876  (Pleasant Grove Cem. Wash. County)

Thomas Cunningham McAdams, Sr.,     January 1, 1881  (Fairview Cem.)

Ralph Emerson Houston McAdams,     June 16, 1882             "           "

Louretta Stephenson McAdams,      April 17, 1887                  "           "

John Cloyd McAdams,     October 10, 1891

     (Buried near Watson, Mo.)

Samuel Bryson McAdams, Jr.     May 13, 1900     (Johnson City, Tenn)

Rachel Mulkey McAdams,      April 22, 1906      (In Johnson City, Tenn)

James Houston McAdams,     December 30, 1917     (Mason City, Nebraska)

Thomas Cunningham McAdams, Jr.     Feb. 16, 1920     (Rheatown, Tenn) .

Robert Newton McAdams,     July 24, 1921     (Rheatown, Tenn. )

Hugh Thomas McAdams,     October 23, 1921     (Rheatown, Tenn)

Charles Alexander Hodge McAdams,     November 5, 1928     (Colfax, Wash)

Hester Viola McAdams Kilgore,     Nov 10, 1941

     (Buried New Gray Cemetry, Knoxville, Tenn)

Mary Margaret McAdams,     October 24, 1946     (Rheatown Cemtry)

     (Wife of Robert N. McAdams)    (Nee Good)

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Sentimental Sunday: The Fathers

Happy Father's Day 

Treasure Chest Thursday: What they kept

Tim O'Brien used the contents of his characters' pockets to illuminate their lives in his haunting novel, The Things They Carried.  My family has gone far beyond pockets.  There are boxes and crates filled with scribbled Bible verses, shopping lists, decades of utility bills, photos of anonymous children taught by maiden great-aunts, and notebooks piled in my basement, guest room and office/living room.  But just as I'm ready to set a match to it, I catch a glimpse, a small illumination of what they held dear.

My grandfather died many years before I was born.  I've heard stories, seen pictures.  And I have his papers - small notebooks where he recorded a family record, his soldiers book from the Hungarian Army, and other important documents.  As I looked through them a newspaper clipping fell out, then another, and another.  Five clippings in all – undated but from 1937 to 1940 - tracing a lawsuit involving parishioners at St. Michael's Greek Catholic Church in Binghamton, NY.[i]  The church split when my father was a boy.  Lawsuits were filed and dragged on for more than 4 years.  I heard about it growing up and knew it was important from his child’s perspective.  Even so, I was surprised my grandfather clipped and kept those articles.

St. Michael's was founded in 1904 by Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants.  They were Greek Catholic, Uniate Christians in communion with the Roman Catholic Church but with a different liturgy and significantly different traditions - including married clergy.  There was already pressure from the Vatican on immigrant churches in America to become more “Roman”, so when St. Michael's was incorporated in 1905 its "charter members … expressly signified they wished to be independent" of Rome.  They had their new sanctuary dedicated by a Uniate bishop, used the traditional Greek Catholic liturgy, but refused in 1907 to turn control of their property over to the Uniate bishop as required by Rome. ^[ii]

In 1936 the congregation (several thousand strong) split after the church Board of Trustees, refusing to accept a celibate priest appointed by the Uniate bishop, appointed their own married priest.  Parishioners Mary Drozda, Michael Andrejko, Jr. and William Biscko filed a lawsuit on behalf of many others to force the trustees to accept the Bishop’s appointee.  Motions were filed claiming the Trustees gained control in an illegal election, to force the protesting parishioners to pay their church tithes, over which priest would have use of the residency.  Tensions were high and New York Supreme Court Justice Riley Heath “complimented members of both factions as ‘doing well to keep the situation well in hand’”.[iii]

Ultimately, after the New York Court of Appeals refused to review a 1940 lower court decision, the Trustees won and St. Michael’s was declared independent of the Roman Catholic Church, with corporate ownership of the property and the right to appoint its own priests.  It was a huge victory in my family and to my grandfather who tucked those clippings away.  Thirty years later I would still hear an occasional reference to someone having been on one side of the case or the other. 

What was it that so moved them, made this so significant?  Faith certainly played a part.  The social role of the church?  In the villages they came from it was literally the core, the center of the community.  That was as true in Binghamton.  Did victory itself have special resonance to these newly minted Americans?  Probably all that and more.

In the end, both sides fought for tradition (can you hear Tevye singing in Fiddler on the Roof?) and inched toward the American mainstream.  The protesting group worshipped at a Lithuanian Roman Catholic church, a step toward a melting-pot America.  Those who fought for the traditional clergy could never have done so under Austro-Hungarian rule (and assuredly not within the Roman Catholic Church).  Only in America…

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[i] At least one article was likely published in the Binghamton Press.  The third article refers to a statement given to The Binghamton Press.  The article headlines (in chronological order) are: “Church Suit Writ Denied by Justice: Heath Refuses to Sign Order Preventing Trustees of St. Michael’s From Using Funds in Litigation”; “Old Church Laws Cited as Lawsuit Continues”; “Greek Church Trustees Win Court Action: St. Michael’s Can Regulate Its Own Affairs, Says Referee”; “St. Michael’s Church Stays Independent: Not Affiliated With Roman Catholic Church, Court Rules”; and “Decision Ends St. Michael’s 4-Year Strife: Independent Group Wins in Appeals Court Denial of Review”.

[ii] Quote is from fourth article, headlined “St. Michael’s Church Stays Independent”.

[iii] Quote is from first article, headlined “Church Suit Writ  Denied By Justice”.

What does Freedom Mean to Me?

I am late for the COAAG 4th Edition and nothing has made me remotely interested in Twitter or Tweets until FreedomTweet 2010.  Still not going there - why use a few words when so many wonderful ones are available?

But in honor of Juneteenth, and in support of what I hope will be thousands of FreedomTweets, let me share...

Freedom is a legacy from my grandparents who left Europe so their children and grandchildren might have better lives.  I owe it to them to work towards ensuring that others have the same opportunities to come to this country they had.

I rejoice that the descendants of those who did not come freely to this nation, who were enslaved by my ancestors and many others, are today free to join in building a more perfect union.  I celebrate their voices and contributions.

Freedom is choice.  I am free to worship as I wish; free to live where I choose; free to choose my friends and communities; free to speak my mind; free to help where I see a need.  I am free to do all or none of these things as long as I leave others the same freedom.

I rejoice in each step toward healing the bitter rifts from slavery, ethnic and religious prejudices.  I celebrate every hand that reaches out through fear and anger, and every hand that accepts it.