HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



77 



court outside the county, and was univer- 

 sally considered a learned and able judge. 

 He was one of six Democratic nom- 

 inees for the superior court at the Will- 

 iamsport convention in 1895, and received 

 on the first ballot 349 out of a total of 

 454 votes in the convention. 



In the election that followed, '.vhile he 

 ran far ahead of most of the ticket, re- 

 ceiving a handsome plurality in his home 

 county, he was defeated by his colleague. 

 Justice Smith, of Wilkesbarre. In 1901 he 

 was the Democratic nominee for justice 

 of the supreme court, and ran far ahead 

 of his ticket. On the expiration of his sec- 

 ond term as president judge he was unani- 

 mously re-nominated for the position, but 

 was defeated at the polls by Hon. Mahlon 

 H. Stout. On retiring from office he at once 

 'resumed the practice of law, associating 

 himself with the grandsons of his old pre- 

 ceptor, Thomas and George Ross, and en- 

 joys a large practice. 



Judge Yerkes and his family are members^ 

 of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church 

 of Doylestown, of which he is a member 

 of the vestry. He is a member of Doyles- 

 town Lodge No. 245, F. and A. M. ; of the 

 Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the 

 Bucks County Historical Society; the Col- 

 onial Society ; the Society of the Sons of 

 the Revolution, and the Pennsylvania Ger- 

 mans' Society. He was extremely active 

 in bringing about the erection of the Bucks 

 County Historical Society building, and 

 was largely instrumental in securing funds 

 for the purpose, and as chairman of the 

 building committee had principal charge of 

 the erection of the building. He was mar- 

 ried June 24, 1869, to Emeline, daughter of 

 Monroe Buckman, of Doylestown, but has 

 no children. 



THE ADAMS FAMILY. Among the 

 earliest members of the Adams family who 

 emigrated to America were Henry Adams, 

 of Braintree, Massachusetts, and Robert 

 Adams, of Oxford township, Philadelphia 

 county, and Walter Adams, his brother, 

 all of whom it is said were descended from 

 Lord John Ap Adams, son of Ap Adams, 

 who "came out of the Marches" of Wales. 

 Thomas Adams, brother of Henry Adams, 

 of Braintree, Massachusetts, was one of the 

 grantees named in the charter of Charles 

 I. in 1629. He was high sheriff and lord 

 mayor of London. 



Henry Adams with his eight sons set- 

 tled at Mount Wollaston, in Braintree, and 

 Walter and Robert Adams were his broth- 

 ers. It is thought, however, that they 

 came to this country at a later date. They 

 settled in Pennsylvania and, like the ma- 

 jority of the early colonists of that state, 

 Walter was a Quaker. 



The earliest record of the English branch 

 of the Adams family is that of John Ap 

 Adams, of Charlton Adams, in Somerset- 

 shire, who married Elizabeth, daughter 



and heiress to Lord Gowrney, of Bevistorj 

 and Tidenham county, Gloucester, who was 

 summoned to parliament as baron of the 

 realm, 1226 to 1307. In the upper part of 

 a Gothic window on the southeast side of 

 Tidenham church, near Chopston, the name 

 of John Ap Adams is still to be found, to- 

 gether with "arms argent in a cross gules, 

 five mullets or," of Lord Ap Adams. The 

 design is probably executed on stained glass 

 of great thickness and is in perfect preser- 

 v'ation. This church originally stood with- 

 in the boundary of Wales, but at a later 

 period the boundary line was changed so 

 that it is now upon English soil. The arms 

 and crest borne by the family are described 

 as argent in a cross gules ; five mullets or, 

 out of a ducal coronet a demi-lion. The 

 legend is "Loyal au mort ;" a motto com- 

 monly used by this branch of the family is 

 "Aspire, persevere and indulgence," all 

 other "sub cruce Veritas." 

 ,The following is the line of direct des- 

 cent to the Adams family of the Lehigh 

 Valley, (i). Ap Adams came out of the 

 Marches of Wales. Lords of the Marches 

 were noblemen who in the early ages se- 

 cured and inhabited the Marches of Wales 

 and Scotland, living there as if they were 

 petty kings, having their own private laws. 

 These laws, however, were subsequently 

 abolished. (2) Sir Ap Adams, knight, 

 lord of Ap Adams, married Elizabeth, 

 daughter of Lord Gowrney. (3) Sir 

 Thomas Ap Adam; (4) William Ap Adam ; 

 (5) Sir John Ap Adam; (6) Thomas Ap 

 Adams; (7) Sir John Ap Adam, Knight; 

 (8) Sir John Ap Adam, who was the 

 first to attach the letter "s" to his 

 name; (9) Roger Adams; (10) Thomas 

 Adams; (11) John Adams; (12) John 

 Adams; (13) Nicholas Adams; (14) 

 Richard Adams; (15) William Adams; 

 and (16) Henry Adams, who is said to 

 have emigrated about 1634. In February, 

 1641, he was granted forty acres of land 

 near Boston, of which Braintree is a part. 

 His brothers were Robert, Thomas and 

 Walter. The last named came to America 

 by way of the Barbadoes, West Indies, and 

 after living there for a time took up his 

 abode in Pennsylvania. 



(i) Walter Adams married Elizabeth 



. Their children were: Richard, 



Anne, William, and Robert. Walter Adams 

 was the brother of Robert Adams, of Ox- 

 ford township, Philadelphia, who died in 

 1719, leaving no children; he devised the 

 estate of his nephews and nieces, the chil- 

 dren of his brother Walter and Elizabeth, 

 his wife. 



(2) Richard Adams, of New Provi- 

 dence township, now Montgomery county, ^ 

 Pennsylvania, died in 1748. His first wife^V<?S' y^<v<i 

 namef is not known^ His second wife was 4<iU'Oi>-' 

 Alice or Aishe Withers, and they were /^ -n^ <^^ 

 married in 1726. His children were as fol- / 

 lows: Abraham, married Alse ; Will- 

 iam, of Braken township, Lancaster coun- 

 ty ; Isaac, of Coventry township, Chester 

 county; Susanna, married Conrad Custard, 



