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Note: nnessee. Margaret was their ninth of ten children. The Selvidge family was large and well established in the Beaver Township of Taney County, MO. Her father, William, was a Baptist Minister in Indiana then moved to Marshfield, Missouri where he lived until after the Civil War. The 1870 Census (See C-7) of Taney County, MO shows Margaret at 16 living with her parents and nearby many other Selvidge Families. Margaret had been married to a Harris (probably Jefferson Harris a local mill worker). She married him about 1871 and had two children by him: William A. Harris (Born 10 Apr 1872) and J. David Harris (Born 16 Oct 1874). How Margaret's husband (Harris) died is not known, but his death was about 1875. Margaret L. (Selvidge) Harris was the 22-year old widow that Samuel married on 30 Jan 1876. The 1880 Census (See C-9) shows Samuel and Margaret living together in Beaver, Missouri. At that time, they had two young sons of their own, Benjamin (4) and Reubin (2), plus Margaret's six-year-old son, David Harris. Also living with them was a servant, 20-year old John Kinnis. They lived near the farm of Margaret's 65-year old father, William Selvidge and his wife Elizabeth, who were raising Margaret's other son William (8). Also living nearby were some of Margaret's older brothers: John (40) and Joseph (39) Selvidge; both were married and head of household with five children each. Samuel and Margaret had five more children together while living in Beaver, Missouri: Margaret Elizabeth (Born 1881), Effie (Born 1884), Julia Belle (Born 1886), Leota Crisse (Born 1889) and Albert Cornelius (Born 1892) The family moved from Missouri to Arkansas sometime between 1892 and 1895. The 1900 Census of Pleasant Hill Township of Newton County Arkansas shows them homesteading in Deer Ark near Samuel's younger brothers: John, Matew and William. It is not known when or why Samuel and Margaret moved their family to Olympia, Washington. It must have been just after 1901, after Samuel had corrected the error concerning the recording of his homestead in order to sell prior to their move to Washington. They could have moved to join some of the Selvidges that were already in Washington to engage in the logging industry. Shortly after the family moved to Olympia, Samuel C. Adams died. The 1910 Census (See C-13) shows Margaret living in Olympia, as a 54-year old widow, with a hodge-podge of six family members. They were: her divorced son Reuben Adams (30), her seven year-old granddaughter Claudia Adams (Reuben's daughter), her nephew William S. Adams (30) (both Reuben and William were lineman for the telephone company), her youngest son Albert Cornelius (Condia) Adams (18), and her widowed daughter Julia Belle Jacobson (23), and Julia's three-year old daughter, Gladys Jacobson. Margaret worked in the Star Hand Laundry in downtown Olympia. Margaret was said to be a very "backwoodsy" or "okie" type of individual. She was known to smoke a corn cob pipe and raised pigs. She was very protective of her family, was a good mother, and loved small children. My mother Vivian gave me all of the Adams Family keepsakes from Lora Beck's possessions. Among them was a daily diary that Margaret kept from Jan of 1914 to Mar of 1921. It is not very detailed and consists of one line entries for each day; such as: cleaned haus, baked, irand(ironed) , made garden, and killed pigs. It showed that she did volunteer work for the Red Cross and was visited often by her children, Condia, Rubin, Julia, and Leota. She also frequently stayed over with Julia, Leota, Condia and Ona at their homes. It showed that she visited friends often and attended several funerals. She kept good track of the weather and complained of being ill quite often. The 1920 Census of Olympia, shows Margaret living with her 30-year old daughter, Leota, her husband Jim Foreman, and Leota's 11-year old daughter Lora Young. Three years later, at age 69, Margaret Adams, mother of ten children from two marriages, died in Olympia in 1923. She is buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetary, Tumwater, WA, along side her husband Samuel. A picture of the headstone is included. Also buried there are Benjamin, Reuben, Effie, Leota, Condia, and Lora Young Beck.
Note: Margaret was the daughter of William M. Selvidge Jr. and Elizabeth Walker, both from Te
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