The death of Earl Adams, aka. Uncle Tom, is under some dispute. Here goes the conversation between cousins in 2009:

Cousin Kathy Kennedy [grand-daughter of Kitty Adams]: Yes, Uncle Tom did die in a car accident. As my mother told the story, he helped my Grandmother Kitty and Grandfather John Robert Welch, move to Florida. It was on his way back to Pound, VA that he took a curve in the road too fast and his car went over the mountain. Uncle Tom is buried in the Qualls' Cemetery, in Pound, VA.. On his headstone is a picture of Tom. The picture was taken when he was smoking a cigarette. Apparently, Grandpa and Grandma Adams believed that smoking was a vice and therefore; they burnt a hole in the section where the cigarette had been, before putting it on his headstone. Mama said that Uncle Tom was 19 when he died. I suppose that could be corroborated by looking at his headstone.

Response by Cousin Sarah Cornett-hagen [daughter of Reba Adams]: Kathy, Yes, Tom was 19 years old and the delight of the family. I find it interesting that the cigarette was supposedly blocked out. I never heard that before but I know for a fact Granpa grew and cured his own tobacco and stored it in a bin upstairs in the house. That picture on the headstone always fascinated me as a child because I loved my Uncle Dick so much and could not imagine another uncle so loving.

Cousin Raymond Adams response [son of Dick Adams]: My dad, Richard Adams, told the story of Tom's death diferantly from what I am reading here. here is what dad told me hapened. Yes grandma and grandpa went intodebt to buy tom a new car, but here the story begins to diverg. Dad told me Tom was out drinking with a young "lady" and ran off the road. Tom was knocked out in the wreck, but the girl managed to crawl up to the road where she was picked up and taken to the hospital. it was the next day before someone went down to the wreck and found Tom. Dad said he lived for a couple of days, but eventually died of his injuries. Dad felt that had the woman bothered to tell someone there was another person in the car, Tom might of survived, but this is just another example of how stories, passed down by verbal tradition get all mixed up in the telling. the part about the smoke being removed from the picture is true. At least that is the same story dad told me. lol

Kathy Kennedy response: I remember my mother telling me the story about Uncle Tom because her mother, Kitty, felt so bad about the accident due to the fact that he was returning to VA from helping the Welch family move. Yes, you are correct, Raymond. Many different stories get handed down and twisted!...LOL