Tradition, seemingly authentic, gives the Deem family as English, migrating to Ireland and Scotland very shortly after the Conquest of William the Conqueror, and later to the New World long before the Revolution of the Colonies agains Great Britain. But the first connected and authenticated accont of the family begins with Adam Deem, Sr., who was born in Hagerstown, Maryland in 1757 and who served with honor in the Continental Army during the revolution and was honorably discharged. This same Adam Deem removed form the place of his birth to Pennsylvania in his early manhood, and then to Ritchie County, West Virginia where he spent his later years on what is now known as the "Deem Homestead" just across from the mouth of Goose Creek, where he died in 1861 at the age of 104 years. He was the father of seven sons and five daughters. The sons were named Adam (2), Phillip, John, James, David, Isaac, and Jacob, all of whom married and raised large families.
Adam Deem served for about six months in Capt. Stokeley's Company of Co. Broadhead's 8th Penn. Regiment during 1777. He applied for a pension in January of 1833 for that service during the War for Independence. Stating that he had been a resident of Wood County, Virginia for the past thirty years. His application implies that he was born about 1761 in Maryland. His name was dropped from the annuitant roles in 1835.