John E. Adams Biography


	This biography appears on page 1291 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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	JOHN E. ADAMS.—Among the prominent members of the bar of the state 
of South Dakota is the subject of this sketch, who is established in the 
practice of his profession in the city of Aberdeen, being one of the 
pioneer members of the bar of Brown county. Judge Adams was born in the 
city of Paterson, New Jersey, on the 13th of May, 1857, and is a son of 
John and Sarah J. Adams, both of whom were of Scotch-Irish extraction. 
When he was a child his parents removed to Pennsylvania, and he there 
secured his early educational discipline, after which he took a course 
of study in Allegheny College, at Meadville, that state, while he took 
up the study of law, made rapid progress in his technical reading and 
assimilation of legal lore, so that he secured admission to the bar of 
the Keystone state in 1880. In the spring of 1882 he came west to Iowa, 
locating in the southeastern part of the state, where he engaged in the 
practice of his profession until the following spring, when he came to 
the territory of Dakota and located in Columbia, which was then the 
county seat of Brown county. There he soon built up a good practice and 
gained marked precedence in his profession, while in 1887 he was elected 
mayor of the town, serving one term. When the county seat was removed to 
Aberdeen, he transferred his residence to the new capital of the county. 
In 1890 he was elected county judge and presided on the bench for two 
terms, while in 1900 he was elected mayor of the city, serving one term 
and giving an admirable and progressive administration. He is one of the 
loyal and public-spirited citizens of this fine little city and is held 
in the highest esteem in professional, business and social circles. He 
is a staunch Republican and has taken an active part in furthering the 
interests of his party in the state. He has attained to the maximum 
degree, the thirty-third, in Scottish-rite Masonry, and is one of the 
prominent and appreciative members of this time-honored fraternity in 
the state, while he is also identified with the Knights of the 
Maccabees, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen. He and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal 
church and are prominent members of the thriving parish of St. Mark's 
church, one of the leading and most prosperous ones in the missionary 
diocese of the state. 

	On the 12th of August, 1888, was solemnized the marriage of Judge 
Adams to Miss Martha E. Wilkinson, who was born in the city of Kankakee, 
Illinois, on the 15th of April, 1867, being a daughter of William H. and 
Mary Wilkinson. Of this union have been born five children, all of whom 
still remain at the parental home, namely: Maple F., Merle E., Constance 
M., Mildred and Doris L.