Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1915
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 611
J. E. ADAMS

Perseverance and sterling worth are almost sure to win recognition in any locality. J. E. ADAMS, who today is recognized as an authority on farm-land values in Harrison county, and who has a well-established real estate business, is one of the worthy men of this section who began life on the lower rungs of the ladder of success, and who, by close attention to business and faithful discharge of the duty which lay nearest at hand, has won for himself an enviable reputation among the citizens of this county.

J. E. ADAMS is a native of this county, having been born in Magnolia township on July 30, 1869, a son of Reuben and Adaline (PURCELL) ADAMS, the former a native of the state of Wisconsin, who was brought to this state and county by his parents in 1852, when not much more than an infant. The family settled in Magnolia township, near Bigler's Grove, where the father secured a tract of land well covered with timber, and proceeded to put the land in a good state of cultivation. The trip from Wisconsin was made in a heavy wagon drawn by oxen, many Indians being encountered on the way, and at night, when the camp fire was burning, in the darkness could be heard the howling of the prairie wolves. Reuben ADAMS was reared on the farm and continued in this vocation until a few years ago, when he retired from active duties and settled at Moorhead, Monona county, there to pass his declining years in quiet enjoyment.

To Reuben and Adaline (PURCELL) ADAMS were born three children, J. E. being the eldest. The latter has a brother, Fred, who resides at Rigby, Idaho, and a sister who is the wife of William SMITH, of Chicago, Illinois. When a boy, J. E. ADAMS received such education as the somewhat limited schooling facilities of that time afforded and when not much more than a youth began life on his own account by working out among the neighboring farmers by the month. This he continued for about two years, at the end of which time he came to Woodbine, this county, and operated a dray, remaining in that town for practically one year. The next three years saw him engaged in farming on land which he had rented for that purpose and where he won an encouraging degree of success, but deciding the life of an agriculturist was not to be his life's work, he returned to Woodbine and engaged in the buying and selling of live stock. He was highly successful in this undertaking, but gradually drifted into the real estate business, the buying and selling of farm properties and kindred interests, which has since claimed his attention.

Mr. ADAMS was married on May 29, 1892, to Elizabeth May GLOVER, daughter of William and Nancy (HOYT) GLOVER, and a native of this county. Their union has been blessed by the birth of four children, Grace, the eldest of the family, being the wife of Lewis HUNT and the mother of one son, Harold Clement. The others of the family, Arlo Wight, Ruth Elvera and Carl William, still remain under the parental roof.

While not a member of any religious society, Mr. ADAMS is an attendant upon the services of the Presbyterian church and evinces a commendable interest in its welfare. His fraternal affiliation is held with the Knights of Pythias and also the Modern Woodmen of America through the local lodges at Woodbine. In politics he is a Republican, although never having aspired to public office. Mr. ADAMS is a thorough-going man of affairs, giving close attention to his business, and a man of pronounced domestic tastes. He is a pleasant man to meet and has won a good standing among the representative citizens of this section. He is well liked and trusted by a large circle of friends, and it is fitting that specific mention should be made of him in a volume of the character of the one in hand.

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