Adams, Samuel Gaines; 1905 Bio, Routt County, Colorado http://files.usgwarchives.net/co/routt/bios/adamssg.txt --------------------------------------- Donated April 2001 Transcribed by Judy Crook from the book: Progressive Men of Western Colorado Published 1905, A.W. Bowen & Co., Chicago, Ill. --------------------------------------- Samuel Gaines Adams While the lessons of adversity are not always salutary, sometimes awakening and intensifying humors which lie near the surface of our being, and exciting the uncomfortable feelings that spring from envy and kindred passions, they are in the main beneficial in that they strengthen character, multiply resources and increase self-reliance. When the burdens laid upon us appear heavy beyond our years and unjust in proportion to those of others, a sense of duty is aroused and the reserve forces of our nature are called into action, and by their very exercise they are built up and fortified. It was so in the case of the interesting subject now under consideration. Called upon at the early age of eleven to support himself and assist in the support of his widowed mother, he nerved himself for the task and in the very effort gained new power and greater self-confidence. And the gain thus made has continued through life to him, enabling him to meet later trials and difficulties with greater fortitude and more extensive facilities. Mr. Adams was born at Kingsport, Sullivan county, Tennessee, not far from the Virginia line, on July 6, 1862, and is the son of Joseph and Susan (Crickenberger) Adams, natives of the Shenandoah valley in Virginia. The father farmed until his death, which occurred in 1863. He supported the Republican party in politics and was generally esteemed a good and useful citizen of his county and state. The mother and their one child, Samuel G. Adams, survived him, the mother living until September 12, 1886. The son grew to the age of eleven with scarcely any schooling, as he was obliged to work at whatever he was able to do from a very early age. In 1873 he and his mother moved to Colorado Springs, this state, and there he at once became connected with newspaper work, using his spare time in attending school. The summers of 1874, 1875 and 1876 he devoted to running cattle in the employ of A.V. Hunter. He next moved into the mountains and, in partnership with S.B. Clark, raised cattle on the open range, being successful at the business and making a gratifying profit out of their venture. The partnership continued until the fall of 1878, when it was harmoniously dissolved. In March, 1879, Mr. Adams, then nearly seventeen, changed his residence to Leadville and his occupation to prospecting and mining, in which he had varying success for two or three months. In May he moved to the Tincup country, where he mined and prospected for a year, then passed an equal portion of time near Salida. In the summer of 1881 he became a news agent on the Rio Grande Railroad, and in time was promoted to the position of conductor on this line, remaining with the road until 1893. He was then sent to the Columbian Exposition at Chicago to represent the state of Colorado in the department of natural history, exhibiting especially the native animals and birds of the state. After the close of the fair he returned to Colorado and followed mercantile life at Minturn until 1898, then selling out his interests there, he moved to Routt county, locating at Steamboat Springs in July. Here he has been continuously engaged in keeping a hotel and dealing in coal lands, and was interested in the Steamboat Springs Pilot, a publication devoted to the development of the county by making known the value, extent and character of its mineral lands, of which he makes a special study. His services in this behalf have been so valuable and so much appreciated that he has the credit of having done more to develop the county and bring its hidden wealth to the notice of investors and into the channels of trade than almost any other man living within its borders. In politics he is not an active partisan, but in national and state affairs supports the Republican party. Fraternally he belongs to the Masonic order and the Brotherhood of Railway Conductors. On December 19, 1886, he united in marriage with Miss Ada L. Weaver, a native of Massachusetts reared in Vermont. =================================================== Contributed for use by the USGenWeb Archive Project (http://www.usgenweb.org) and by the COGenWeb Archive Project USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access.