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A Descendant of the Bellingham family
was married to a distant cousin of
 USA President John Adams and his son
 President John Quincy Adams.

I came across an interesting article written by the daughter of Ellen Dolan Quincy Adams. It stated that her mother was the grand-daughter of Lady Mary Bellingham who was born in Castlebellingham, County Louth, Ireland. The latter emigrated with her husband and family to Canada.

It stated:-

              'Dolan Family

Ellen (Walsh) Dolan Adams, the

wife of .... John Quincy .... Adams …. was the

granddaughter of Lady Mary Belling-

ham of Castle Bellingham  ….

who eloped with Cap-

tain George Walsh of the English

army. Captain Walsh is said to have

been a fine looking man; he came to

Ireland, met Lady Mary Bellingham

and the elopement took place, Capt.

Walsh was wounded, shot in the el-

bow, and was retired on half pay;

He came with his wife and family to

Canada, Saint Columbia, where he

built a fine home. His wife said, that

she never regretted the elopement.

They were the parents of fourteen

children, born at Castle Belllingham,

Ireland; among these children were

Thomas Walsh, Robert Walsh, George

Walsh, Mary Walsh (the mother of

Ellen (Walsh) Dolan Adams who

was born at Castle Bellingham,

and was a splendidly educated woman,

being a graduate of the Castle Bel-

lingham high school, and of Dublin

college. It was said of her, that she

read Latin like English, and she was a

great mathematician; when she came

to Canada with her father and moth-

er and there married Patrick Dolan,

she became widely-known for her

splendid education and her mathemati-

cal ability; and often specialists in

mathematics from colleges in Canada

came to consult her on mathematical

problems. So well-loved was she, that

at her death, in mid-winter, people

came over twenty miles over the frozen

snow to attend her funeral. She died

at St. Jerome, Canada, and was buried

at Columbia, Canada. The Records of

her death, the birth of her children,

and other facts may be found in the

records of the Church of St. Jerome,

Canada. She was married to James

Patrick Dolan, who was born in

Queen’s county [now County Laois], Ireland, and who

came with his parents to the United

States when he was seven years old,

He became a naturalized citizen of the

United States, and was the son of ---

Dolan and his wife Margaret Deagan

Dolan, who kept a hotel  inn, in

Queen’s Co., Ireland, which was large-

ly patronized by the nobility, (near

Dublin), and their children were:

      a  Ellen (Walsh) Dolan, wife of

John Quincey …. Adams.

      b  Agnes Dolan Baird of Rochester,

N.Y, (mother of Lydia Baird Jones.)

      c  Mary Dolan Edgecomb of Carson

City, Nev.

      d  Margaret Dolan Reed (or Read),

wife of Clayton Reed of Burlington,

Vt, and brother of Cassius Reed and

sisters (proprietor of large hotel in

New York City.).

      e  Katie Dolan Scheffer [?] of St. Scho-

lastique, Pr., Quebec, Canada.

      f  John Dolan, deceased.

      g  Lizzie Dolan Sauve, wife of Jos-

eph Sauve, of Glenbrook, Nevada. …..’

 

The Bellingham Family.

The seat of the Bellingham family was in Bellingham Castle, Castlebellingham, County Louth, Ireland, and their main Church of Ireland burial ground, including vault, is in Castlebellingham. Sir Henry Bellingham (4th Baronet), and his wife Lady Constance (died 8 April 1891), were buried in Kilsaran Roman Catholc graveyard, Kilsaran, Castlebellingham.

     It is difficult to know who the Lady Mary Anne Bellingham was without dates. Ellen Dolan Adams died in 1921 age 84 years and so born about 1837. So her grandmother would likely have been born in the 1780s-1790s.

     One suggestion was that she was the sister of Sir Wiliam Bellingham (c1755-1826, 1st. Baronet, 2nd creation). Sir William had a sister Mary that died in infancy in 1744. Another sister baptised as Anna Maria in 1751 is likely the Mary Anne that married Rev. William Woolsey of Priorland, Dundalk, in 1777. Their son John Woolsey, born about 1782, founded the brewery firm of John Woolsey and Co.. It is said that the Rev. Woolsey for health reasons, mainly lived in Dublin.

     There were Bellingham family connections with Canada:-

A nephew of Sir William Bellingham was Alan Bellingham (1773-1822, son of Henry). He emigrated to Quebec, married Monique Baby in 1795 and had at least 9 children, some born in Canada, Ireland and possibly Scotland. Their two sons who died young, unmarried, are said to be buried in Castlebellingham.

Sir Alan Bellingham (1776-1827, 2nd Baronet), another nephew of Sir William, had a son Sydney Bellingham (1808-1900) who emigrated to Canada and became a member of Parliament there. He later returned to Ireland and lived at Southgate, Castlebelingham.

 

  

Adams Family

It appears from the article that there were two brothers

(1) Robert Adams.

His son Robert Adams (1602-1682) was born in Devonshire, England and settled in Newbury Massachusetts. He was a tailor and the ancestor of John Quincy Adams that married Mary Walsh Dolan.

His line

Jacob Adams (1651-1717)

John Adams

Joel Adams (Lieut Joel Adams in the Revolutionary War, b.1729 - died about 1820)

Job Adams

Elias Adams (1782 or 1792-1886)

John Quincy Adams (1832-1910) ) of Genoa, Nevada, that married  Ellen Walsh Dolan (and the father of the compiler of the genealogical article). The article stated that he ‘was one of the most influential, most highly esteemed and most loved citizens of Nevada, and was noted for his goodness, kindness and charitable deeds’. 

and

(2) William Adams.

His son Henry Adams of Braintee, Massachusetts was ancestor to two USA presidents:-.

John Adams (1735-1826), Braintree, Massachusetts, second USA President and signatory of the Declaration of Independence in 1775 and his son

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), sixth USA President.
 

 

(Main Source: Adams-Williams, Mrs Lydia, Genealogical Data of Adams Family, The Deseret News, 4 August 1917, https://news.google.com;  Various other sources, including ancestry trees on www.ancestry.com, were consulted. Found various conflicting data so further research needed).

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(Original uploaded 09 April 2024) Last update 12 April 2024.