Abner Adams Biography
Montana Archives,maintained by burns@asu.edu
USGENWEB Montana Archives
 
May be copied for non-profit purposes 
History of Montana by Joaquim Miller, 1894 
  
Abner Adams, one of the highly respected early pioneers of 
Montana, resides in the Prickly Pear valley, 
six miles northeast of Helena. The facts in regard to his 
life and ancestry as gleaned for publication,
are as follows: 

Abner Adams was born in Otsego County New York, May 12, 1829. 
He traces his ancestry back to English people who were among 
the earliest settlers of America. His great-grandfather 
Adams fought in the Revolution. The Adamses had a farm in the 
town of Harwicks, where several generations of the 
family were born, lived and died, the land passing from one 
generation to the next. The name Abner who also handed 
down from father to son, from great-grandfathr Abner Adams 
on down to the subject of our sketch. On this farm grandfather 
Abner Adams was born, resided 68 yeears and died and his 
son Abner was also born there and also
lived to be 68. The mother of our subject who maiden 
name was Diana Latin was a native of Connecticut. She 
was the mother of five sons and one daughter, the 
subject of our sketch being next to the oldest and 
one of the four who are still living. The mother died 
at the age of 45 years. Both parents were members of 
the Episcopal Church and were people of high standing 
in the community. 
When the subject of our sketch was four years old his 
parents removed to Cattaraugus County New York, where 
they remained 14 years and from whence they removed to 
Janesville, Wisconsin. At Janesville his early manhood 
was spent and there in 1854 he was married to Arabelle 
Wheeler, a native of Connecticut. After their marriage 
they settled on a farm on which they resided until 1857, 
when they sold out and moved to Iowa. In Iowa Mr. 
Adams was engaged in farming ten years. He was a 
bricklayer by trade, and in addition to his farming operations 
he also did considerable building in Iowa. 

In 1867, with his wife and two children, Ella M. and Emma, 
Mr. Adams came up the Missouri River to Montana.
They first settled on Ten Mile River near Holter's Mill and 
until the following spring he worked at his trade. 
Then he came to the Prickly Pear valley and here he has ever 
since resided. The land in this valley was then all
unsurveyed. He bought a squatter's right to 160 acres, for 
which he paid $700 and later paid $1000 for another 
160 acres. In 1885 he sold half of his land for $3000 and 
it has since become worth much more than that. In 1882
he built the comfortable brick residence in which he now 
resides. While he has devoted much of his energies 
to the improvement of his land, he has also given much of 
his time to work at his trade, many of the buildings 
in Helena being the result of his handiwork. 

Mrs. Adams died of apolexy in 1884, aged 60 years and 
after remaining single seven years, Mr. Adams was married 
April 20, 1891 to Marguerite Machen, a native of Wilkes 
Barre, Pennsylvania. Her father, Jonas Hartzell, died in 
Pa. and soon afterward her widowed mother moved to 
Edgerton, Rock County, Wisconsin in 1855. Both were 
members of the Presbyterian Church. Her mother took 
charge of the property, and reared her famly of three 
daughters and two sons. Mrs. Hartzell was a descendant 
of the dintinguished family of Downings of London, 
England from which Downing Street in London took its 
name. She proved herself not only a kind and loving 
mother, but also a successful financier. At the time 
of her death, which occurred in 1886, in her 67th 
year, she was the owner of four good farms, and left 
one to each of her surviving children. Mrs. Adams was 
the youngest of the family. She still owns her valuable 
farm in Wisconsin. By her first husband she had one son, 
George Grant, who died in infancy and one daughter, 
Blanche, who is now the wife of S.T. Clark, a son of 
Rev. Robert Clark, and a Mason in good standing. Mr. 
and Mrs. Clark have two children--Clifton and Percy. 
Mr. Adams has been a Master Mason since 1864. 

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