Ezra Adams Biography


	This biography appears on pages 821-822 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				JUDGE EZRA ADAMS. 

	For six years Judge Ezra Adams ably served upon the county bench 
and is an attorney of prominence in Hazel, Hamlin county. He is also 
president of the Security Bank of Wallace, South Dakota, and the owner 
of a large tract of land. He was born in Ontario, Canada, on the 25th 
of May, 1851, a son of Elihu and Dienna (De Pencier) Adams, both 
natives of Ontario. The father farmed in that province until after the 
demise of his wife, which occurred in October, 1887. He subsequently 
came to South Dakota and lived for two years with the subject of this 
review. He then went to Los Angeles, California, and made his home with 
his son, Abel B. Adams, until his death, which occurred in 1902, when 
he had reached the advanced age of eighty-four years. 

	Judge Adams was reared at home and pursued his education in the 
public and high schools of Prescott, Ontario. After completing his 
studies he secured a clerkship in a law office in Prescott and two 
years hater was made deputy clerk of courts. In 1880 he came to the 
States and located in Watertown, South Dakota, on the 24th of February, 
of that year. On the 16th of the following May he filed on a preemption 
claim on section 20, Brantford township, Hamlin county, and proved up 
upon this within six months and then filed on a homestead adjoining. In 
November, 1883, he took up a tree claim adjacent to his other holdings 
and from time to time bought land until he now owns seven quarter 
sections in one body and also holds title to a half section in Stanley 
county, this state. The prices which he paid for the land that he 
bought at various periods indicate the advance in realty values. In 
1887 or 1888 he purchased a quarter section for eight hundred and 
forty-five dollars, the following year he paid twelve hundred dollars 
for one hundred and sixty acres, five years later a quarter section 
cost him three thousand, two hundred and eighty dollars, and still 
later he had to pay sixty-four hundred dollars in order to buy one 
hundred and sixty acres. In 1909 he built a fine residence and set of 
farm buildings upon the place for which he paid eight hundred and 
forty-five dollars. 

	After coming to South Dakota Judge Adams was elected clerk of the 
circuit court of Hamlin county and served for two terms in that office, 
from 1892 to 1895. During this time he continued his law studies and 
after the expiration of his second term as clerk he completed his 
preparation for the legal profession in the office of Judge Julian 
Bennett of Watertown. On the 5th of October, 1894, he passed the 
examination before the state board at Pierre and was admitted to the 
bar. He subsequently opened offices in Castlewood, where he 
successfully practiced his profession for four years. During this time, 
or in 1895, he was elected states attorney and acceptably discharged 
the duties of that office for two terms, his record winning him 
reelection. In his capacity as states attorney he prosecuted the first 
murder case ever tried in that county, namely, the notorious Tom Hall 
case. The criminal in question was convicted and is now serving a life 
sentence in the state prison. From 1900 to 1906 Judge Adams served upon 
the county bench and his rulings and decisions were marked by a 
thorough knowledge of the law and a strict and equable application of 
its principles to the matters in question. Since coming to Hazel in 
1906 he has become recognized as one of the leaders of the local bar 
and has a representative and remunerative practice. He is also 
president of the Security Bank of Wallace, Codington county, and is 
much interested in everything that subserves the interests of his 
section of the state. 

	Judge Adams was married in February, 1872, to Miss Esther L. 
Howe, of Kemptville, Ontario, and to this union nine children have been 
born, eight of whom survive. Morton A. resides in Pierre, and is chief 
clerk in the office of the commissioner of schools and public lands. 
Amos E. is cashier of the Security State Bank and a resident of 
Wallace. Dr. Burton A. lives in Bristol. William W. and Harold Hugh are 
farming the home place. Lulu B. is the wife of Andrew Melham, a banker 
of Hazel. Linnie M. is the wife of P. H. Setbacken, a farmer of Hamlin 
county. Myrtle M. is the wife of A. J. Buskrud, a hardware merchant of 
Hazel. 

	Judge Adams is a republican in politics and is loyal in his 
support of the policies of that organization. He is a member of the 
Episcopal church but attends the Methodist Episcopal church, to which 
his wife belongs. Fraternally he belongs to the Masons and the Modern 
Woodmen. Aside from his position as one of the leaders of the local 
bar, he is held in the highest esteem in Hazel, as all who know him 
recognize and value his integrity and his many other admirable personal 
qualities.