The Adcock Family​​...

​(printed in THE MILLER COUNTY AUTOGRAM-SENTINEL in the column, 'WINDOW TO THE PAST', Nov. 15, 2001)
​(printed in THE MILLER COUNTY AUTOGRAM-SENTINEL in the column, 'WINDOW TO THE PAST', Jan. 20, 2011)
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​Joseph Still Adcock wrote the following information about his Adcock family history when he was 84 years old in 1924. It has been preserved by the family for all future generations and was sent to me by George Wilks Peabody of Placerville, CA, who is a descendant of the Adcock family... (Peggy Hake)
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"This is a partial biography of my great grandfather, Joseph Adcock and his descendants, from the time he landed in Colonial Virginia from England in 1745 down to the present time (1924). It is supposed he married in Virginia circa 1750. Three sons were born to them; with no record of the first two sons. The third was Joseph Adcock, the grandfather of Joseph Still Adcock. He was born in Virginia in 1774 and died in Virginia in 1825. Joseph married Judith Jones c/1795 and they had six children:
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Flemsted Jones Adcock b. 1797; Joseph Samuel Adcock b. 1799; Mary/Polly Adcock b. 1802; George Cogbill Adcock b. 1810; and Lucy Jane Adcock b. 1816.
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After Joseph's death in 1825, Judith Jones Adcock, with her six children, moved to Wilson Co., Tennessee, and lived there for about 4 years. While in Tennessee her daughter, Judith Ann, married Joseph D. Taylor and they soon moved west to Central Missouri. Judith Jones Adcock and her other children moved again to Simpson Co., Kentucky. In the spring of 1836, Judith, 2 sons and 2 daughters, moved to Miller County to join her son-in-law and daughter, Joseph and Judith Taylor. She also brought 3 Negro slaves with her--2 women and a young girl.
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They settled in northern Miller County in what would later become Saline Township after the county's formation in 1837. George Cogbill Adcock, the father of the author of this biography, went back to Kentucky in the fall of 1838 and took himself a wife, Martha Jane Still. They came back to central Missouri in the spring of 1839 and lived on their farm until Joseph Still Adcock was born in April 1841. Once again George and Martha Jane made a trip back to Kentucky. While there, a daughter, Jane Frances, was born and shortly thereafter Martha died, probably with childbirth complications. George returned to Miller County and brought Joseph with him but left the young baby with Martha's sister, Liza Still Hummer.
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In the fall of 1844, George went back to Kentucky and married Emily Bradshaw in March 1845. Once again they returned to Missouri and brought Jane Frances with them. George and his second wife had three children, Judith Ann Adcock, William Bradshaw Adcock, and John Alfred Adcock. George Cogbill Adcock raised tobacco to support his family. When the tobacco crop was ready for market, George would put it in a hogshead (a large barrel or cask) which was large enough to hold over 1000 pounds and load it on a wagon which was hitched to a team of steers. He would then haul it to Jefferson City to be shipped down river to St. Louis on a boat. There was no railroad at Jefferson City until 1857.
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George also kept sheep so that Emily could spin wool for their clothing. Processing the wool was a long, drawn-out procedure...it had to be carded, made into rolls, spun and reeled into hanks, spooled into thread, washed down and put into the loom and finally made ready for weaving.
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The Adcocks were members of the Old Salem Christian Church in northern Miller County. They were very active in the church's history. George Cogbill Adcock, Albert Wilkes (who married Lucy Jane Adcock), William Jones and his son, William Jones Jr., built this Old Salem Church house, made the seats, the pulpit, and did all the work. It was built in 1857, the largest church house in central Missouri......Most of the Adcock family members are buried at Old Salem cemetery, although George Cogbill Adcock is buried at Fulton, Callaway County, MO. He died on March 4, 1857.