Bartholomew County IN Archives Biographies.....Adams, William C. 1811 - 1890 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/in/infiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 24, 2007, 1:15 pm Author: B. F. Bowen (1904) WILLIAM C. ADAMS. A compilation of this character would be incomplete were there failure to make prominent reference to William C. Adams. He came to Bartholomew county when it was a frontier district, the work of progress and improvement having been scarcely begun. He at once took his place among the active business men and energetic workers of the county and aided in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which has been built the present prosperity and progress of this section. His record proves that opportunity in America is open to all and that success may be gained if one has courage, determination and an industrious spirit. Step by step Mr. Adams worked his way upward and at the time of his death he was one of the extensive landowners and prosperous citizens of Bartholomew county. Born in Henry county, Kentucky, in the year 1811, he was a son of John Adams, who owned a distillery in that state. In the year 1821 his parents removed from the Blue Grass state to Indiana, taking up their abode in Bartholomew county, which was just being opened up to the influences of civilization. The forests were still uncut, the streams unbridged and the lands uncultivated. The farming implements which were used in improving the fields were crude when compared with the splendid machinery in use at the present time, but the farmers were men of resolute purpose and of unflagging energy and they who possessed these characteristics ultimately won success. The Adams family became actively identified with farm work here, although the father of the subject afterward removed to Missouri, spending his last days near St. Joseph, that state. William C. Adams was reared amid the wild scenes of pioneer life and he worked early and late in the fields to clear his father's land and develop the farm. He also learned the tanner's trade and for a number of years followed that pursuit in Columbus. He also engaged in teaming for a long period, carrying produce to and from Madison and Indianapolis. He was thus engaged at a time when Madison was the wholesale center of the state, goods being taken from that town to the interior towns throughout Indiana. At all times he made the most of his business opportunities, doing any task that presented itself which would yield to him a good living. For a long period he engaged in packing pork and found that a profitable source of income. His chief occupation, however, was farming and though he never entered any land from the government he became one of the extensive property holders of this portion of the state. All that he owned he purchased and as his financial resources increased he added to his possessions until they aggregated twenty-two hundred acres. As the country became more thickly settled and improvements were made its land increased in value and Mr. Adams was in later life known as one of the wealthy farmers of Bartholomew county. In the year 1851 William C. Adams was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Phillips, a native of Ohio and a daughter of William and Catherine (Stephens) Phillips, the former born in Loudoun county, Virginia, and the latter in Kentucky. They were married. however, in Ohio, and remained residents of that state for some years, but prior to the war removed to Bartholomew county, Indiana, where the father secured a tract of land and engaged in farming. His death, however, occurred many years ago. In the family were eight children, namely: Joseph, John, Margaret, Mary Ann, Sarah, Catherine, Lewis and Harriet. Mrs. Adams, whose birth occurred in the Buckeye state in the year 1831, there lived until nineteen years of age, when she came with her parents to Indiana. At the time of her marriage she> went with her husband to his farm, where she now lives, but about twenty years ago they took up their abode in Elizabethtown, where he made his home until he was called to his final rest. They became the parents of six children: Lewis, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work; Lowry, deceased, who was a farmer and married Isabelle Thaker, by whom he had two children, Lorain and Dallas; Joseph G., who married Laura Cook and carries on agricultural pursuits on the old homestead; Hattie, who is still at home with her mother; and Charles, who was a twin brother of Hattie, and is now deceased. Mr. Adams held membership with the Masonic fraternity and also with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was in hearty sympathy with the teachings of these organizations and in his life exemplified their principles and tenets. His political allegiance was stanch in support of the Republican party. He always lived so as to merit the confidence and respect of his fellow men. His business record was such as any man might well envy. He never incurred an obligation that he could not meet or made an engagement that he did not fulfill. His word was a synonym for integrity in business transactions and his example is indeed well worthy of emulation. He worked hard and therein lies the secret of his prosperity. He realized that in America "labor is king" and he did not seek a royal road to wealth. He was loyal and enterprising, watchful of opportunities and never avoided the close attention to details of business which is so necessary to the successful control of any enterprise. He passed away at his home in Elizabethtown February 20, 1890, when about seventy-nine years of age. He left many friends as well as relatives to mourn his death and the community also deplored the loss of a worthy pioneer and valued citizen. Additional Comments: Extracted from BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY INDIANA INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA ILLUSTRATED 1904 B. F. Bowen PUBLISHER File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/bartholomew/bios/adams755gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/infiles/ File size: 6.3 Kb