Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Adams, William C 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 2, 2008, 2:41 am

Author: Past & Present Will County, 1907

William C. Adams is numbered among the oldest settlers of Crete, where he has 
made his home since 1883 but he was for many years prior to that time engaged 
in general agricultural pursuits and at one time owned a farm of one hundred 
and forty-one acres in Crete township. A portion of this tract is now included 
within the village of Steger. Mr. Adams still retains possession of forty 
acres, which is operated by his son Byron. Mr. Adams was born in Lunenburg, 
Massachusetts, April 8, 1829, a son of Phineas H. and Mary P. (Clark) Adams, 
the former a native of Massachusetts, and the latter of New Hampshire. The 
father was a wheelwright by trade. In 1836 he left his native state and 
removed to Vermont, while in 1845 he took up his abode in Will county, making 
the journey from the east by way of the Erie canal and the Great Lakes to 
Chicago, from which city he continued his journey to Will county, settling on 
a tract of forty acres of government land, situated near Crete. He was a 
successful farmer and at the time of his death, which occurred when he had 
reached the very advanced age of eighty-four years, he was the owner of one 
hundred acres of land. His wife, however, survived her removal to Will county 
for only a year, passing away here in 1846, at the comparatively early age of 
forty-two years. After her death the father married again, his second union 
being with Mrs. Mary Cutler. He was a consistent member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church and a highly esteemed pioneer settler of his community. 
William C. Adams is one of a family of fifteen children, and with the 
exception of three all still survive. Mr. Adams received only a limited 
education, this being pursued in the country schools. He was reared to the 
occupation of farming, assisting his father in his farm labor. He accompanied 
his parents on their various removals and was a youth of sixteen years when he 
arrived in Will county. He remained under the parental roof until he had 
attained his majority, when in 1850, with a party consisting of Austin Hewes, 
Benjamin Hewes, R. A. Mott, Asa Kyle, H. Haslett, David Orr and A. P. K. 
Safford, he made the overland trip to California, covering a period of four 
months. He remained on the Pacific coast for three years, during which time he 
was engaged in mining, meeting with fair success. Of this party of men, Mr. 
Safford later removed to Arizona, where he became governor of the territory, 
and with the exception of our subject, R. A. Mott, is the only surviving 
member, he making his home at the present time in Faribault, Minnesota. Mr. 
Adams returned from the Pacific coast by way of the isthmus route. Again 
taking up his abode in Will county, he purchased one hundred and forty-one 
acres of land in the northern part of Crete township, this land being 
partially improved. He at once began to further improve and develop the place 
and thereon made his home until 1883, in which year he retired from 
agricultural pursuits and removed to the village of Crete, where he has since 
made his home, now residing with his son Byron. He has since disposed of a 
portion of his landed holdings and now retains possession of forty acres, this 
being operated by his son. In 1854 occurred the marriage of Mr. Adams and Miss 
Mary R. Wilder, who was born in Ohio, December 15, 1833. Her death occurred in 
Crete, November 13, 1905. She was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and by her marriage became the mother of five children, of whom four 
are now living, namely: Morton G., a resident of North Dakota; Byron E., who 
is operating his father's farm; Albert W., who makes his home in Chicago; and 
Harry G., who is a bookkeeper of Chicago. The eldest child, Alice, died in 
infancy. Mr. Adams has always supported the men and measures of the republican 
party and for fourteen years he served as school director, while for thirteen 
years he was school trustee but aside from these offices he has never been 
active in local politics. He is thoroughly familiar with the pioneer 
conditions which here existed at the time of the removal of the family to Will 
county. The nearest mills were located at Wilmington and Plainfield, where the 
products of the farm were hauled with ox teams, and there were also many other 
inconveniences which had to be borne by the family during that early period. 
He has ever lived an upright and honest life and commands the respect and good 
will of all with whom he is associated.

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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