Lasa Adams, 1811-1894, Brooks County

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Lasa Adams was born on 13 May 1811 in Georgia, the son of Dennis Adams and Elizabeth Cason. During his childhood, his family relocated first to Alabama and later to Gadsden County, Florida, where he was raised. Returning to Georgia two years before his parents, who followed in 1836, he married Sarah Wooten on 1 Dec 1834 in Thomas County. Sarah was the daughter of Redden Wooten of the Tallokas district, an area now part of Brooks County.

Following the passing of his first wife, Adams married Orpha Holloway on 17 Apr 1842. Born 19 May 1825, Orpha was the youngest daughter of William and Orpha Theany (White) Holloway, also of the Tallokas district.

Children by Sarah Wooten:

  1. Rachel Susan Adams, born 17 Jul 1836, died 17 May 1847.
  2. Dennis Redden Wooten Adams, born 7 Sep 1838, died 4 Jan 1870, unmarried.
  3. Sally Adams, born 22 Dec 1840, died 1 Jun 1841.

Children by Orpha Holloway

  1. Rhoda Ann Adams, born 1843, married William H. Hulett of Brooks County, died 21 Jul 1882.
  2. Jane Irene Adams, born 6 Mar 1845, married James Madison Yates of Brooks County, died 25 Jan 1924 in Thomasville, Georgia.
  3. William Lasa Adams, born 8 Nov 1846, died 19 Dec 1846.
  4. James Caswell Adams, born 1850, married Mary Holman of Jefferson County, Florida, died 3 Feb 1937 at Boston, Thomas County, Georgia.
  5. Cason Fabian Adams, born 1852, married Texas Smith, daughter of J. R. M. Smith.

After his first marriage, Mr. Adams established a home in the Tallokas district, where he farmed until 1852. That year, he sold his property and relocated to Florida, homesteading land six miles northwest of Madison. In 1854, he officially purchased the land with an $80 money order. In 1870, he sold this property and acquired a farm in Jefferson County, Florida. Four years later, he sold that farm as well and moved once more, settling on a farm he purchased four miles outside of Boston in Thomas County, Georgia.

Shortly before his death on 17 Jun 1894, Mr. Adams returned to Brooks County after an absence of forty years. There, he bought a farm and remained until his passing. He was laid to rest at Bethel Primitive Baptist Church Cemetery. His second wife, who passed away on 28 September 1887, is also buried at Bethel.

Lasa Adams, 1811-1894
Lasa Adams, 1811-1894
Orpha (Holloway) Adams, 1825-1887
Orpha (Holloway) Adams, 1825-1887

Mr. Adams served in the Indian War of 1836 and participated in the Battle of Bushy Creek that same year. During the final year of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Florida Reserves and served until the war’s end. In 1842, he was elected sheriff of Thomas County but resigned a few months after taking office. On 3 Sep 1892, he filed for a pension for his service in the Creek War under Application No. 1473 in Georgia.

The Lasa Adams Family Bible, which has been microfilmed by FamilySearch (DGS 9166552), starts with his birth date of 13 May 1817 and includes the births of enslaved individuals from 1841 to 1861.

Lasa Adams was a slave owner, as documented in the 1850 and 1860 slave censuses.

Lowndes County, 1850 Slave Census:

  1. Female, age 25.
  2. Male, age 8.
  3. Female, age 8.
  4. Male, age 7.
  5. Male, age 6.
  6. Male, age 4.
  7. Male, age 3.
  8. Female, age 2.

While it is not certain whom the father would be to the children born to the 25yr old female slave, his father-in-law Redden Wootten lived near by and had male slaves who could have fathered the children. Perhaps the family Bible record sheds light on the father and the slaves names?

Lasa’s first wife Sarah still had slaves recorded as her property in 1850, even though she was deceased by then:

  1. Female, age 36.
  2. Female, age 34.
  3. Female, age 20.
  4. Male, age 14.
  5. Female, age 11.

Madison County, 1860 Slave Census, living in 8 slave houses:

  1. Male, 35.
  2. Female, 36.
  3. Male, 30.
  4. Female, 23.
  5. Male, 19.
  6. Female, 19.
  7. Male, 17.
  8. Male, 14.
  9. Male, 13.
  10. Female, 11.
  11. Male, 9.
  12. Female, 7.
  13. Female, 5.
  14. Female, 4.
  15. Female, 1.
  16. Female, 8.
  17. Female, 5.
  18. Female, 1.
  19. Female, 17.
  20. Female, 15.
  21. Female, 60.

Both Dennis and Cason Adams owned their own slaves in 1860 in Madison County.

Sources:

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