Biographies E
Adam Elliott
Adam Elliott was a former slave belonging to Richard Elliott of Hartford, Ohio County, Kentucky. His mistress, Emily Elliott, the daughter of Richard Elliott, brought Adam Elliott to Greenville, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. When Emily married Ellington Martin of Greenville, Adam assumed the alias Adam Martin and kept this name until the abolition of slavery.
Adam Elliott, as a slave, was used as a “breeder.” In the early 1920s Adam told Mr. C.J. Vaught Sr. that he fathered some 64 children, and this was his only job while a slave.
After being freed, Adam served with Company D, 115th U.S. Colored Infantry during and after the Civil War. Adam was wounded in the right leg at Deep Bottom, Virginia, in the Battle of Petersburg.
Following the war, Adam returned to Greenville and married Ella Wing, a former slave of Charles Fox Wing. Adam and Ella had nine children: Henretta, Robert, Emily, Wateman, Harry, John, Adam, Susie, and Walter.
Adam was about 107 years of age when he died in 1925. He was reported to have fathered about 73 children. One of his children was Samuel Spicer Elliott, the great-uncle of Dorothy Martin.
Adam Elliott was the great-grandfather of John Gene Elliott; and the great-great-grandfather of Georgia Elliott, Clarice Elliott Willis, Marion Elliott Broadnax, John Elliott, and Larry Elliott.
This information was gathered in 1991 by Larry Elliott, who was a great-great-great-grandson of Adam Elliott, and submitted by Thomas S. Brizendine, of Greenville, KY.
Source: Kentucky Explorer. Vol. 19, no. 3, page 4, July/Aug 2004.
Note: Adam Elliott's Civil War service record is listed under the name Adam Martin. It shows that he was NOT emancipated before serving in the military and that Ellington Martin had to sign both a “Proof of Ownership” for Adam Martin and a “Proof of Loyalty” to the United States.
Adam Elliott is buried at West End Cemetery in Greenville, Kentucky.
Updated June 16, 2018