CONNECTIONS WITH PRESIDENTS AND OTHER NOTABLE AMERICANS

The marriage of Henry ADAMS and Edith SQUIRE took place inside Charlton Mackrell Church on 19th October 1609.  Henry Adams was born in Barton St David in 1583, but the Adams family is also thought to have had earlier connections with Charlton Adam.  Henry Adams became a farmer in Charlton Mackrell, renting rectory land in 1613.

Edith Squire was one of the daughters of Henry Squire, the son of a Rector of Charlton Mackrell.  Her grandfather, the Rev William Squire, was appointed to Charlton Mackrell in 1541 but was "deprived" of his living by the Diocese in 1554 (when Mary came to the throne of England) as he already had a wife Alice and son Henry.  He was re-instated in 1561, after taking a public oath of chastity, until his death in 1567.
Edith was born (baptised 29th May 1587) in Charlton Mackrell (though she later lived in the adjacent parish of Kingweston) and she and her husband Henry Adams lived here with their children before emigrating to America in, probably, 1638. 

Edith is stated to be the ancestress of Presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams and Calvin Coolidge, as well as of Samuel Adams who also signed the Declaration of Independence;  while Presidents Millard Filmore and William Howard Taft were descandants of her two sisters (Ann, who married Aquila Purchase, and Margaret, who married John Shepard).

Further details and relevant extracts from the parish registers will appear here later.
The place where the Adams family settled in America is now a National Historical Park.