Last week, I shared land deed evidence that supported the family lore that Adams Island, off the coast of Calais, Maine and New Brunswick, Canada was named for my ancestor, Loyalist John Adams, and his family.

The Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB), one of my favorite “go to” sites for Canadian history, has been adding digitized vital records to its website.

I have known for many years that Daniel Adams’s son, Calvin Segee Adams, my 2X great grandfather, lived in Calais, Maine from about 1854 until he died in 1921. However, he didn’t die in Maine, he died across the bridge at Chipman Hospital in St. Stephen, New Brunswick.

PANB now has a digital image online of his death certificate:

Calvin Adams’ Death Certificate, 1921

I am actually very happy that he died in Canada, because U.S. records for my family always note that he/she was born in “New Brunswick, Canada,” but the town or even county is never mentioned.

Look at the two highlighted areas of the certificate. Calvin’s age is given in years, months and days, but he was born in 1843. The first highlighted box notes his birthplace as ADAMS ISLAND, N.B.

Now look at the area where the names of his parents – Daniel Adams and Sarah Parker – are written. Daniel Adams was born in November 1810 – on ADAMS ISLAND, N.B.

The informant was Calvin’s son, Charles Adams, my great grandfather.

Assuming that the information is correct, Loyalist John Adams was living in the West Isles on at least two of the islands – Deer Island and Adams Island – by 1810. There are no extant records for him in Sunbury County, where he first settled in 1783, in the 1800s.

The family was most certainly living on Adams Island by the time Calvin was born in 1843 because Daniel sold his land there in 1854 and made mention of his house on the island.

I am absolutely sure from these documents and the lack of any other Adams family living there in the early 1800s that Adams Island got its name from my family.