The David and Delilie Shannon Adams
History and Family Tree 1840-1990 Compiled by Lucian Adams March 1990
The Adams Family
Please permit me to introduce myself. I am Lucian Adams, the second of eleven (11)
children born to David and Delilie Adams. They were born, raised and lived their entire
lives in Lawrence County, which is located in the hills of southeastern Kentucky. A large
part of Lawrence County borders the Big Sandy River and its Levisa Fork.
For several years, I have been giving some thought to making an attempt at writing a
history of my family. To my knowledge nothing has ever been put in writing concerning
the “family”. I definitely think it is time that something needs to be done. Perhaps I have
been hoping that someone else would do it.
Being convinced that no one else is going to step forward and accept the challenge, I have
decided to make the attempt. I ask you indulgence. I have concluded that I may be
accomplished in a number of things, but one is not writing.
I have been encouraged in this endeavor by several friends, mostly relatives. The one
person who has had the greatest influence on my decision, is one of my cousins, that I
have long admired, Nora Mae Adams Dent. Certainly, I do appreciate the encouragement
and the confidence they have in me. I hope I do not disappoint them.
I am writing this in the first person. For some reason, I feel it will be easier to keep my
thoughts organized if I do this in first person, and because a high percentage of the
experiences recorded here were witnessed by me. Since I am the oldest of the children
living, I suppose it would be normal for me to have had more experiences than the
others.
I have included as a part of this, a list of the family members, birth dates, marriage dates
and dates of deaths of those who have passed on. In order to collect all of this
information, it was necessary for me to contact the ones who would have knowledge of
those dates. I certainly owe my thanks to all of those who have helped in gathering this
information.
Maternal Grandparents
On May 14, 1841, Harrison J. Shannon was born in Lawrence County, Kentucky. His
parents were Thomas and Rebecca (Ally) Shannon. Harry was a young farmer when the
Civil War began. On September 6, 1861, he entered the Union Army. He was twenty (20)
years old at that time. During the war he took part in such engagements as: Second Bull
Run, Winchester, Gettysburg, Stone River, Cedar Run, Bunker’s Hill and several others.
On one occasion, he was captured by the enemy, but escaped sometime later when his
captors came under attack by a unit of the Union forces. He was honorably discharged in
November, 1864.
Shortly after the war ended he met and married Louisa Ballard. This was in 1867. She had
come to Kentucky from Wayne County, Illinois. According to the information provided by
the records for former soldiers, they had six (6) children. However, according to my
mother, Delilie Shannon Adams, who is a daughter of Harry Shannon by his second
marriage, there were eight (8) children. The two not listed had died when very young.
They children’s names were: Rebecca, James, Harvey, John B., William M., and Sheridan.
The other two, according to my mother, were Sherman and Hosie. Louisa Ballard
Shannon died in Lawrence in 1884.
On November 9, 1888, Harry Shannon married Sarah Cox Compton (Sallie).
On September 14, 1852 Sarah Cox was born in Lawrence County, Kentucky. Her parents
were Bennett Cox and Frances Baisden Cox. Sarah married George Compton on May 30,
1875. They had four (4) children. They were: Frances Ellen (Minnie) Mirrah, Susan
(Sissie), Nancy Jane (Nannie), and Georgia. George Compton died shortly after the fourth
child was born.
On November 8, 1888, Harry Shannon and Sarah Cox Compton were married in
Lawrence County. They would become my maternal grandparents. They had three
children: Emma, Thomas Jefferson, and Mary Delilie. The last one, Delilie, would become
my mother.
Delilie was born September 27, 1896. She attended the local elementary school, which
was later known as Trace Branch Elementary School. One of her teachers was David
Adams.
Paternal Grandparents
On August 9, 1865, Isaac Adams was born to James and Carlotta Berry Adams. His father
was the first postmaster of Adams, Kentucky. On September 23, 1884, Isaac Adams
married Nancy prince. The ceremony was performed by a Justice of the Peace by the name
of Burton. The groom was nineteen (19) years of age and the bride was sixteen (16). The
wedding was at Adams, Kentucky, which is a section of Lawrence County. Isaac and
Nancy had both been born and raised in the Blaine section of Lawrence County. They
would become my paternal grandparents.
From this marriage there were eight (8) children. Although this may not be the order of
their birth, their names were: Lottie, David, James, Stanley, Effie, Morton, Claude and
Lonnie. The second child, David, born September 17, 1887, would become my
father.
The Isaac Adams family was typical of most farm families in the area. The children grew
up in very meager circumstances. This was more the rule than the exception at that time.
They all learned what it was like to grow up on a farm in southeastern Kentucky.
Everyone had to work to support the family. Most all of their food was grown on the
farm. When the crops were harvested, they were preserved for winter use.
Preserving included several methods, such as drying, canning, pickling, salting, and in
some instances, as with apples, sulfuring. They also used a process called “holing-up”. By
this method they buried certain foods in the ground suck as apples, potatoes, and cabbage.
They would dig them out as needed.
The children all went to the local school and learned the things it had to offer. This was
mostly the three “R’s”. The schools were only in session about six or seven months each
year. They usually started about the middle of July and often took time out later in the fall
to allow the youngsters to help with the harvest at home. Most of the school houses
consisted of one large room, with one teacher, who taught all eight elementary grades.
This was the core program in its simplest form. The only way for a student to go beyond
the eighth grade was to go to Louisa, the county seat, where some additional schooling
was available. This meant that the students had to secure room and board in town if he
lived in the country, since there was no public transportation available. There were no
laws that compelled the youngsters to go to school. As a result, many of the mountain
youths either did not go to school at all, or they went very little. Thus the illiteracy rate
was very high.
The David Adams Family
It was most unusual for a youngster to finish grade eight. It was much more rare for one
to go beyond the elementary school. However my father, David Adams, went to Louisa,
got a job to pay his room and board, and attended a “Normal” school there. (It should be
said that a Normal school was similar to a high school, but was not supported by public
funds.) Therefore, a student had to pay tuition there. At this time it was next to impossible
to find enough college trained teachers to fill all the schools. To combat this, the school
officials had developed a test for potential teachers to take. Those scoring a satisfactory
grade were issued a teaching certificate and encouraged to teach school. My father took
this test, made a satisfactory score, and taught school for the next eleven (11)
years.
One school, in which he taught, was Trace Branch Elementary School. This was where he
met Delilie Shannon, who was a student in that school and was later to become his wife,
my mother.
They were married at the home of the bride, January 25, 1913. He was twenty-five (25)
years of age and she was sixteen (16). After the wedding the young couple moved to a
section of the county known as Dry Ridge, where he continued to teach school. They lived
in a rented log cabin which consisted of two rooms. It was 12 x 15 feet wide, with a roof
over it. It had only two sides by no floor. In reality you were outside when going from the
sleeping area to the living area, except for the roof overhead.
Their first child, Harry Johns, was born while they were living in this cabin. He was born
November 24, 1913. Soon after this my maternal grandparents decided it was time to
divide their land among their children. I believe this only pertained to my grandfather’s
children. My grandparents were getting up in years. At this time he was about seventy-two
(72) years of age and she was about sixty-three (63), and his health had been failing. In
any event they offered my parents the home place if they would live there and provide a
home for them for the remainder of their lives. My parents accepted and moved to where
my mother had been born and raised. Neither of them ever moved again. My grandfather
Shannon died November 25, 1914, a little less than a year after my parents moved back.
My grandmother lived with us for the rest of her life. She died March 21, 1936.
The home place that my parents now owned amounted to a large frame house, a barn,
several out-buildings and about a hundred acres of ground. Approximately 90% was
hillside, and about 65% of that was covered by trees. My parents farmed this land to
supply their basic needs. In addition, my father worked at whatever jobs that came his
way. He never had a true profession, other than the teaching, which he gave up a few
years after moving back to the home place. Therefore, he never had a permanent job as
such.
The rest of this manuscript will be posted as time allows me to work on it. As far as I know, there is no existing copyright on this work, and it is not my intention to violate any existing copyright. The has been posted for the benefit of all the genealogists out there who are working to find their families, and not for profit.