Adkins, Martin

ADKINS, PEMBERTON

Posted By: Volunteer (email)
Date: 5/23/2007 at 20:17:44

Martin Adkins was born in Wayne County, Kentucky, January 26, 1821, the son of James and Nancy (Pemberton) Adkins, the father a native of one of the Carolinas; the mother was born in Wayne County, Kentucky, and her death occurred in 1879.

Martin Adkins grew up in his native state and went to school there. He made the overland trip to Jasper County, Iowa, in 1845 and in March of that year settled in Kellogg Township, two miles west of the town of Kellogg, and there he farmed all his life, being actively engaged in his affairs until his death, on August 7, 1878.

He was one of the earliest pioneers of the County and although he had to undergo the usual hardships and privations that all who choose to invade a new country must bear, he let nothing discourage him and became well to do for those days. At the time of his advent here the city of Newton had not been laid out and there was an unbroken prairie where the town of Kellogg now stands. There was not a house between his farm and Lynnville, a distance of sixteen miles, and there was not a railroad in the state and only stage lines between important places.

The mother of these children is still living, being now eighty-six years of age, owning a large, substantial and comfortable home in the town of Kellogg, where she is spending her declining years in the midst of plenty, her sons William and George making their home with her. She is a woman of beautiful Christian character and is beloved by all who know her. Her two sons who live with her are unmarried.

The father, Martin Adkins, belonged to the Grangers, one of the prominent lodges in his day. He was a Democrat and a member of the Baptist Church.

Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa, Gen. James B. Weaver, Editor-In-Chief, B.F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912, page 1062.