Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1889

Source: Portrait and Biographical Album, Muscatine County, Iowa, 1889, page 344
ELIAS ADAMS, a farmer and stock-raiser, residing on section 18, Pike Township, has been a resident of Muscatine County for about fifty-two years, having located in this community in 1837. He was born in Michigan in 1829, and is a son of Asa and Harriet ( Root ) Adams, who were natives of New York State.The parents emigrated from their home to Michigan in an early day, there residing until 1830, when they located in Indiana, where the father engaged in the cultivation of a farm until 1837, at which time he emigrated to Iowa, settling in Pike Township, Muscatine County, where Mr. Adams entered a claim of 160 acres. He afterward moved to Kansas City, where he made his home until his death, which occurred in 1866, at the age of fifty-six years. His wife died in Indiana in 1835. They were the parents of two children : Elias, of this sketch; and Harriet, who died in childhood.

Our subject was reared upon a farm in this county, where, with the exception of three years, his entire life has been spent since 1837. In 1847, his marriage with Miss Jane Reamer, a native of Indiana, was celebrated, and by their union five children were born : Marietta, wife of Louis Mill, of Fremont, Neb.; Arthur, who was drowned at the age of twenty-eight; Harriet, who wedded Jesse Buner, of Black Hills, Dak.; Chester, who is engaged in farming in Pike Township ; and Louisa, deceased, who was the wife of Robert Shannon.

In 1863 Mr. Adams was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife. He was afterward again married, becoming the husband of Mrs. Martha ( Stafford ) Hughes, a native of Ohio. The ceremony was performed in 1867, and to them were born five chldren : Hester Elvira, born Oct. 12, 1868, is now the wife of H. Ryan ; Edgar, born Narch 20, 1871, died in infancy ;Elias William, born Aug. 20, 1873; John Q., born Sept. 21, 1875, died at the age of seven years, losing his life by being mired down with a horse in a slough ; Frank A., born Sept. 21, 1879. Those living yet remain under the parental roof.

Mr. Adams has ever been an enterprising, progressive citizen, and has aided largely in the growth and upbuilding of Muscatine County. He laid out Adams Station on a part of his farm, and is the owner of a mercantile store in that village, and is the present Postmaster and Station Agent. He also engages in buying and shipping stock and grain, and gives special attention to the raising of garden produce, which he ships to the North. Mr. Adams is the owner of 700 acres of fine land, which is highly cultivated and improved, and is one of the successful and leading farmers of Pike Township. He has been honored by his fellow-citizens with various local offices of trust, and politically, affiliates with the Democratic party. He is one of the earliest settlers of the county, has endured the trials and hardships of pioneer life within its borders, and has done all in his power to promote its interests and aid in its advancement. To him the county owes much of her present prosperity, and as one of its founders, he will long be held in loving remembrance by the people.

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