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She died one day before her 65th birthday. Rae never had children.
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Sophia may be a shortened form of Sophronia.
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Daniel Sharp left Rachel the home & farm in Ofelia when he died for taking care of him & her sister Mary Ann, who was blind. Reuben Adamson was a scoundrel who took her possessions & kicked her out in the street. He was about 10 years younger than her. They were married in the 1900 census, & had been for 12 years. He is in Elba, Coffee Co., AL in 1910 as a boarder. Rachel is buried next to her mother & father, on her mother's side.
There is a small concrete marker with no name or dates. It may have been a base for a marker. I plan on having a new marker made for her.
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From "On the Hills of Home" by Cal Sharpe (1972):
Page 18
"There is generally one member in every family who is quite different from all the others. In this family it was Aunt Rachel, who was referred to by some as "peculiar," others called her "eccentric," while still others said that no sane person would do many of the things she did. She was called "Aunt Rachel" by everyone who knew her, and those elderly persons still living today laugh when asked "Do you remember Aunt Rachel?" She was adored by the children, as well as the older generation, for her whole-hearted laughter, funny stories, and her singing heart.
Aunt Rachel married Billy Wilson, an older man who had been married before, and had four children by his former wife. His financial means were considered above the average, and Uncle Billy saw to it that his young wife had all the fine clothes she wanted. She was often seen at church wearing dresses which required the services of a colored boy to carry her trains. These were the days when the South began to feel the effects of the reconstruction and the fast-approaching gay nineties.
Rachel lost her husband in a few years, and her troubles with the step-children were considerable, but she stood her ground, and at the sale of the large plantation and other equipment, she obtained quite a tidy sum, tied it around her person, and, with her personal belongings, moved to Clay County, where her father had just purchased a large farm on the Tallapoosa River. Having inherited from her father and mother a great love for nature and outdoor life, she spent many warm sunny days down on the river fishing for catfish, of which she often brought home large strings. This was quite a reversion of her former days, and gave lots of time to ponder over her past experiences.
While her father felled trees and cleared large tracts of bottom land, where he grew large crops of corn, Rachel often rode horseback across the river to visit her sister, Mary Ann, who lived on the other side. When the river was high, she often made the horse swim across, almost floating her off his back. Once she fell out of a boat and broke her arm when a floating log struck the boat while she was crossing, but managed to hang onto the boat for several hours until help arrived to float her to the bank.
Aunt Rachel, like most people, couldn't seem to bring herself around to be content with just fishing in the river of love. Having once waded in the sea of matrimony, she pulled off and dived in deeper than ever, when she married one, Reuben Adamson, who she established in a thriving country store business in the forward-looking community of Ophelia. Here again, her father Daniel, out of a generous heart, as he had done before in Chambers County, gave 10 acres of land on which to erect a church and school building. The church, with some 50 members, is still being used today, known as old Prospect Church, where Great-Grandfather Daniel and Great-Grandmother Charlotte were buried with a suitable marker; a five fool spire of stone marks their graves.
About this time the lifesaving money belt, which Rachel wore around her midriff, was proving to be a bandoleer of live ammunition, for while she was singing "Praise the Lord," he was singing "Pass the Ammunition." As times changed and his business began to ebb, she tied a cute little bowknot in her purse strings, and he immediately had her declared crazy, and sent to the asylum at Tuscaloosa, but not without the belt of gold. Upon the examination at the institution, the belt was discovered, thence the question, "Who sent you here? You have more cents than we have." So after resting up a few days, one of her nephews arrived and took her back home, but not to Adamson, who soon after moved to south Alabama. She lived some 10 years near the old home place, and with her sister, Mary Ann, who lived across the river.
Aunt Rachel, like her mother, Charlotte, was said to be deeply emotional, and the story of the suffering Savior never ceased to stir their souls. Everyone spoke of their readiness to speak of the saving power of God. Although Rachel had no children, she was never seen without that familiar bag of something to eat for children.
Inheritance alone can save no one, but who among us as descendants can despise such an inheritance. Aunt Rachel was buried in the cemetery at old Prospect Church by the side of her father and mother.
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Name: Rachael Adamson
Gender: Female
Death Date: 13 Feb 1911
Death Place: Randolph, Ala.
Age: 63
Birthdate: 1848
Occupation: Housekeeper
Race: White
Marital Status: Married
Father's Name: Daniel A. Shark
Father's Birthplace: Ga.
Mother's Name: Sharlotte Sharp
Mother's Birthplace: S.C.
Indexing Project (Batch) Number: B54816-1
System Origin: Alabama-EASy
Source Film Number: 1686176
Reference Number: page 127 #4
Collection: Alabama Deaths and Burials 1881-1952
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1880 Chappel Hill, Chambers Co., AL
Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
William S. Wilson Self M 59 SC ? ? Farmer
Rachael S. Wilson Wife F 34 AL MD TN
Allen B. Wilson Son M 19 AL SC AL
Allen is from his first marriage. They are also housing 5 boarders.
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1900 Ofelia, Randolph Co., AL
Household Role Sex Age Birthplace
Reuben Adamson Self M 45 GA GA AL - married 12 years - Dry Goods Salesman
Rachel S. Adamson Wife F 55 AL GA SC - no children born
Mary R. Wadkins Boarder 14 AL GA AL
Living in the Sharp house.
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1910 Ofelia, Randolph Co., AL?
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