This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Adams, Van Pelt Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/CI.2ADEB/9432.1.1 Message Board Post: Thanks for the message. This Hiram Adams is an enigma. He is not listed with his family in the 1870 census and cannot be located in the 1860 census. His wife, Mary Van Pelt, was born c1838, in Brooklyn or Staten Island, more likely Brooklyn. Hiram last known child, William, was born in 1865-1866, so Hiram Sr. must have died between 1865-1870. There is no information on his birthdate or age, although there is an unconfirmed story that he originally came from Massachusetts, possibly Barnstable. When his son Hiram Minard Adams was married in 1879 it is noted that Hiram Sr. is no longer living, and the father's name is shown as Hiram W. Adams. When Hiram M. remarried in 1889, his father's name is recorded as H. W. Adams. To the best of our knowledge the Adams family lived only in the WIlliamsburgh section of Brooklyn; they are there in 1858, 1870 and in later years. Hiram W. married Mary Ven Pelt presumably prior to the birth of their oldest child Jane in 1855-1856. That's as mu! ch as is known about Hiram W.