On 21 Jun 1855 when Rebecca was 21, she married Aaron K. ADAM, son of John “Jack” ADAM (1788-1868) & Elizabeth FRIEDERICK (1799-1875), in Bern Church, Bern Twp, Berks Co., PA. Born on 15 Apr 1828 in Berks Co., PA. Aaron K. died in West Reading, Berks Co., PA, on 22 May 1914; he was 86. Buried on 27 May 1914 in Charles Evans Cemetery, Reading, Berks Co., PA.
The 1870 census for Bern Twp., Berks Co., PA page 82 d310 f326 shows Aaron 42 with wife Rebecca 36, and children Arbin 15, Rosa A. 12, Henrietta 10, Annie R. 8, Aaron 5, Deborah 3, and Elam 1 along with two laborers.
1880 Spring Twp., Berks Co. PA page 302 d162 f190
Adam, Aaron 52 Farmer
Rebecca 45
Aaron 15 son works on farm
Rose 21
Annie 18
Deborah 12
Mattie 8
Charles 21 nephew, single, farm laborer. (This is apparently the son of Aaron’s brother John F. Adams).
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1900 Census, Spring Twp., Berks Co., ED 110 S25A, F498?, line 12
Adam, Aaron 72 dealer in farm equip
Rebecca 66 (has had 9 children, 6 are still living)
Debbie 32 single
Leinbach, Nelson 21 grandson (illegitimate son of Rose Agnes Adam and Thomas Leinbach)
on line 25 is Aaron’s son Aaron:
Aaron, head Dec 1864 35 M 13
Ida, wife Mar 1867 33 M 13 5-5
Edgar E. July 1887 12
Henry J. Mar 1890 10
Aaron C. Aug 1892 7
John E. July 1895 4
Harvey July 1899 11/12
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I had originally had a 10th child named Ruth as part of Aaron & Rebecca’s family based on a hand-written family tree prepared by Emily Elsie Adams Tait in the 1930s, but there is no other evidence of Ruth Adam and I have deleted her from my data.
Reading City Directory 1909, p. 86
Adam, Aaron h-617 Penn, West Reading
Reading City Directory 1913
Adam, Aaron (Rebecca), home 617 Penn, W. Reading
Reading Eagle, Friday May 22, 1914. obit. Death of Man Who Was Hurt in Auto Wreck. Victim of the Bernville Stage Accident at Mt. Pleasant. Aaron Adams, aged 86 years passes away in West Reading after lingering a week. West Reading, May 22 (Special). After lingering for a week, Aaron Adams, aged 86 years, 1 month and 7 days passed away at 9:45 a.m. today, as the result of injuries received Friday, May 15, when the Bernville auto stage turned turtle following a runaway down the steep grade at Gruber’s Wagon Works, Mt. Pleasant. Mr. Adams was the most seriously injured of 12 people, having been pinned under the truck when it turned over, and sustaining internal injuries, besides a broken shoulder and other injuries. His remarkable vitality, for which he was noted all his life, alone kept him alive during the period of a week.
Mr. Adams had never been seriously ill, and did not have occasion to consult a physician during the past 50 years. He was six feet five inches tall, remarkably hale and robust, and at his advanced age scarcely needed the cane which he habitually carried. By occupation he was a farmer and he conducted a farm implement business in connection with his farming. He served in setting up a number of estates in his time and was consulted in many matters of importance by his neighbors.
Mr. Adams was born within a short distance of where he died. His father, John Adams, conducted the well-known Seltzinger farm, just south of this borough, and it was here that Mr. Adams spent his younger days. He conducted farms in Bern and Exeter townships. For several years past he lived retired, making his home with a son, Aaron Adams, Jr., residing at 617 Penn Ave., this borough. Mr. Adams was noted for his kindly and generous disposition, and made friends wherever he went.
Mr. Adams was superintendent of the old ore mine at Wyomissing while he tenanted and tilled the Seltzinger farm, on which the old mine is located. Mr. Adams was the last man to operate the mine. One morning a huge spring, flowing a stream the size of a man’s body, burst out of the bottom of the ore pit, 35 feet in depth, and flooded the mine so rapidly that men and animals at work had to leave the mine quickly to save their lives.
Efforts were made by Mr. Adams and others, with large pumps, to drain the water, but the outlet of the spring was almost as low as the river level, less than half a mile away, and even had a trench for a drainage pipe been dug, it would not have emptied the mine. Pumping was suspended, and so mining operations ceased.
Mr. Adams and members of the Kalbach and other families were engaged in mining ore at various places between West Reading and Bernville at various times. The ore was all low grade, and had to be hauled in wagons, and eventually the use of Cornwall higher percentage ores, hauled by railroad, put the Berks mines in which Mr. Adams was interested out of commission.
Deceased is survived by his aged widow, Rebecca (nee Klopp), who passed her 80th birthday anniversary on Tuesday, May 19; also the following children: Rose, wife of George Hagy, Reading; Henrietta, widow of Aaron Eyrich, Sellinsgrove; Mrs. Martin Ruth, Aaron Adams, Jr., and Martha, wife of W. W. Bitting, all of West Reading. Deceased was a member of St. James Reformed Church. Undertaker F. F. Seidel has charge of the funeral arrangements.