William M. Adams, of Spring Hill, Kan., who is engaged in the insurance business there, is one of those veterans who are still with us to link the Civil war period of our country with the present. He is also a Kansas pioneer and has seen this state, like our national government, emerge from the throes of civil warfare and achieve greater development in all the forms of institutional life.

Mr. Adams was born near Monroe, Butler county, Ohio, Dec. 7, 1838. He is the son of Samuel W. and Lucinda (Floyd) Adams, the former of whom was a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Newburg, Orange county, New York. They settled in Ohio in the twenties and continued to be residents of that state until their respective deaths, the father's having occurred in Shelby county in 1845 and the mother's in Warren county in 1854. They were the parents of four children, two of whom grew to maturity: William M. Adams, of this review, and Wilson W. Adams, who now resides in Hulington, Ohio. The latter, too, was a soldier in the Civil war, having served in the Thirty-seventh Indiana regiment and later in the Ninth Ohio cavalry. His service in the army continued until he became disabled from a rupture and by being shot in the hand.

The parents of William M. Adams removed from Butler to Warren county, Ohio, when he was a small lad. His father was a tanner by vocation and he was reared to farm pursuits, being thus engaged until the opening of the Civil war. At Lincoln's first call for troops on April 15, 1861, Mr. Adams promptly responded to the call by enlisting in the First Ohio infantry which was organized at Columbus, Ohio, April 18, 1861, with Alexander McD. McCook, an ex-Mexican soldier, as its colonel. It was mustered in April 29, 1861, at Lancaster, Pa., for three months' service and on its arrival at Washington was assigned to General Schenck's brigade of General Tyler's division, Army of the Potomac. It was actively engaged at the battle of Vienna, Va., and at the first battle of Bull Run. Mr. Adams was discharged from service Aug. 16, 1861, by reason of the expiration of his term of service. He reënlisted Aug. 31, 1861, in Company B, Second Ohio infantry, to serve three years. The regiment immediately crossed the Ohio river from Camp Dennison and moved by the way of Paris and Mount Sterling to Olympian Springs in eastern Kentucky. On October 22 it made a forced night march of nearly thirty miles, surprised and totally defeated a band of Confederates under Jack May at West Liberty, inflicting some loss to the enemy in killed and wounded and coming off unscathed. The enemy was pursued to Piketon and with the remainder of the force the regiment marched down the Big Sandy to Louisa, thence to Louisville, Ky., by water. When in March the main body of General Buell's army went to the assistance of General Grant at Shiloh, the regiment was engaged in several small affairs with the enemy on the line of the Memphis & Charleston railroad, the most important of which, at Widow's creek, near Bridgeport, resulted in the dispersion of a force placed to dispute the passage of the creek, and the capture of their camp equipage. The regiment was also with the column that first occupied Bridgeport and destroyed the railroad bridge at that point across the Tennessee river. In the reorganization of the army at Louisville the regiment was assigned to Rousseau's division in General McCook's left wing, and with two divisions of that command participated in the well contested battle of Perryville, losing in the action nearly forty per cent. In the battle of Stone's river it was closely engaged, and suffered serious loss. In this action the regiment, with the assistance of Guenther's Battery H, Fourth artillery, captured the colors of the Thirty-second Arkansas. Mr. Adams also participated with his regiment at the engagements at West river and at Chickamauga. While en route to join his regiment at Huntsville, Tenn., Mr. Adams, with 279 other Union men, were captured at Pulaski by Morgan, but shortly afterward were paroled and joined their regiment at Bowling Green. Mr. Adams was in the battle of Murfreesboro and was taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga on Sept. 20, 1863. He was detained at the Confederate prison at Richmond, Va., six weeks, from there was taken to Danville, where he was imprisoned six months, then was transferred to the noted Andersonville prison, where four more months were spent in bondage, and finally was taken to Florence, S. C., where he was held five months. From there he was taken to Goldsboro, N. C., where he was paroled Feb 28, 1865. He received his honorable discharge at Columbus, Ohio, March 25, 1865.

He returned to his home near Franklin, Warren county, Ohio, and engaged at farm work by the month, remaining in the employ of one man three years. Both he and his employer came to Kansas in February, 1869, and Mr. Adams bought a farm in Spring Hill township, three miles north of Spring Hill, in 1870. He had returned to the East in 1869, however, and when he came back to Kansas he brought with him his bride, Adelia Harris, to whom he was married at Locke, N. Y. She remained his loving companion until her death on Oct. 3, 1903. Mr. Adams engaged in farming in Spring Hill township for eighteen years. In 1887 he was elected clerk of Johnson county and served two terms. He has also served as a justice of the peace nine years. Since 1901 he has been engaged in the general insurance business and has been quite successful.

He associates with his old comrades in arms as a charter member of General Curtis Post No. 104 at Spring Hill and is post commander. He is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a stanch Republican and has given exclusive allegiance to the Republican party for the past fifty years.