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Maria (Mary) Barbara Bolanz Adams
William Adams
William Adams
Born: 8 January 1822 at Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland, UKMaria (Mary) Barbara Bolanz
Born: 25 February 1833 at Oberweiler, Muellheim, Baden, GermanyLIFE SKETCH MARIA (MARY) BARBARA BOLANZ ADAMS
Mary Barbara was the third of six children born to Anna Maria and Johan George Bolonz in Boden Weiler, county of Melheim, Germany. Tragedy came to the Bolonz family in the death of the mother when Mary was ten years old. Being the only girl in the family a great deal of the responsibility in caring for the home depended upon her. About this time there was an uprising against the government and Mary learned early the horrors of war. John and Fred Bolonz left for America, but were instrumental in having their sister sent to Switzerland, where she learned practical domestic science in one of the finest hotels in that country. While there she met and fell in love with a young man by the name of Radtz who owned a jewelry business. They had been married but a few months when he died and within that year their daughter, Louise, was born. (Note the name Radtz is spelled many different ways in different sources. Which is the correct spelling I do not know so I have not change[d] any of the names from the way it was spelled?)
Mary became a convert of the Mormon faith through the teachings of traveling Elders against the wishes of her father and brothers. With her husband dead, her immediate family estranged, Mary was left alone to support her child. She carried on her husband's jewelry business until such time as she could acquire enough means to gather, with the Saints in Zion. She sent her little daughter to America in the care of her sister-in-law, Eliza Cowan, while she stayed to earn enough money for her own passage. It was two long years before she had put aside enough money to make the voyage aboard the ship Windermere which left Le Havre, France May 15, 1862, The Saints were under the direction of Serge L. Ballif. She crossed the plains in the William H. Dame Company and it was a happy reunion when she again met her little daughter in Payson, Utah. Mary soon found employment in the home of Bishop Fairbanks.
Mary became acquainted with William Adams who was immediately attracted to the German girl, but it was not until two years later, January 9, 1864, that she became his plural wife. William moved Mary to Paragonah, a little village near Parowan where his first family was living. Five sons and one daughter were born to them. Living in the United Order she made hats and coats for the boys who proudly wore their coats, those with the brass buttons for everyday, and those with the pearl buttons on Sunday. Mary watched carefully over the boys making certain that they carried out their father's instructions. He spent most of his time in Parowan with the other family.
Two years after the San Juan Mission was started at Bluff, William was called by the Church to help colonize there. Mary and her family accompanied him, living in the Bluff Fort for two years. As the result of another Church call five years later, Mary moved with her family to Monticello at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Both the Indians and the cowboys were resentful at the intrusion of the Mormons in a. territory they considered their own. The rigorous winter climate of Monticello made it necessary for Mr. Adams to return to Bluff because of failing health. Here he and Mary lived until his death in 1901. Later her youngest son built a little brick home in Blanding for Mary where she passed away December 24, 1919 [death certificate states December 25]. Eighty-five years old when she died, she still refused to sit in a rocking chair because doing so would make her round shouldered. She wrote and prayed in German, and was very devout in her religion. Her children and her adopted Zion were the dearest things in her life.
Written by Cornelia Adams Perkins, a granddaughter
Sources:
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Memories: Maria Bolanz on FamilySearch
Right-click [Mac Control-click] to open full-size image:
Maria (Mary) Barbara Bolanz Adams
William Adams