ADAMS, WILLIAM HENRY         GRAVESTONE PHOTO                      

Biographical Sketch

Died:  Jan. 31, 1932

   William Henry Adams was born 18 October 1837 in Posey County, Indiana the son of Jabez Adams and Lucinda Cundiff.  William Henry was never known to be sick a day.  He was always up before sunrise and he never wore an overcoat, gloves, or ear mufflers in even the coldest weather.  He was a Lieutenant in the Civil War in the Missouri State Militia, serving under General Lyons in Missouri.  He enlisted in the Civil War, 13 August 1862, at Warsaw, Missouri, in Company G, 60th Regiment of the Missouri Militia, under Capt. William Miller, serving from August 13, to December 1, 1862.  He later served under Captain W. E. McGinnis in Company H, the Kansas State Militia, being ordered into active service again 13 October 1864 as second lieutenant, serving 109 days.  He was a chief spy for General Lyons; this duty was considered a most important one, and was considered an honor to hold it.  His spy duty one time was in locating the Rebel General Marmaduke and he was in the regiment that caused Marmaduke’s retreat to the South out of Missouri.  At one time, while going home on a furlough, he was captured by two rebel soldiers at a farm house where he had stopped temporarily; he asked permission to go to the stable and get his horse and side arms, so he could ride with them to the Rebel camp.  He never came back to them but kept going, keeping the barn between him and the rebels, and ducking and hiding behind the gopher mounds and working his way to freedom.  At another time he escaped rebels who were close on his trail.  He stopped at an old log cabin, and becoming aware that the rebels were after him, he concealed himself behind the stone fireplace, in the space between the fireplace and the log wall.  They searched the cabin house to the best of their ability, and certain that he was hiding therein, demanded that the woman of the place tell them his hiding place.  She said that she did not know.  They left without finding him and he then went to the barn and mounted a colt that had never been “broke,” and succeeded in getting back to his regiment.

  He had a sandy beard and mustache, black hair, blue eyes, and a small mouth.  He was considered dark complexioned.  He never smoked, but he did chew Horseshoe tobacco all his life.  He had no false teeth in the year 1916.  His weight was about 150 lbs, and was about 5 ft., 9 inches tall.  He was a rather spare man, and was always ready to talk on any topic of the day.  William was always kind to his stock and he had the fattest horses, cows and pigs in the neighborhood.  He was very methodical, always wanted his children to go to school, if possible.  He would take his children to school a-horse-back thru the deep snow.

  William Henry Adams married Mary E(maline) Spurgeon in the Methodist Episcopal Church near Carthage, Missouri, on November 4, 1867.  They settled in Newton Co., Missouri.  William Henry worked for John C. Freemont, hauling freight from St. Louis, Missouri, to Fort Scott, Kansas.  To William Henry and Mary were born 13 children, the first two were born in Newton Co., Missouri.  The others were all born in Franklin Co., Kansas.  Children of William Henry Adams and Mary Emaline Spurgeon:

            Edward, born Oct. 6, 1868 and died Aug. 20, 1970

            James H. Adams, born Dec. 11, 1870 and died May 2, 1932

            Bert A. Adams, born July 15, 1873 and died Jan 14, 1959

            Charles H. Adams, born March 10, 1875 and died April 10, 1935

            Pearl A. Adams, born Sept. 7, 1878 and died May 3, 1969

            Minnie E. Adams, born Nov. 28, 1880 and died Dec. 3, 1963

            William A. Adams, born Nov. 15, 1882 and died 1963

            Myrlte M. Adams, born Feb. 14, 1884 and died June 27, 1951

            Ross D. Adams, born March 28, 1887 and died _______

            Lester D. Adams, born Oct. 19, 1888 and died June 27, 1951

            Lola M. Adams, born Jan. 15, 1891 and died March 7, 1968

            Ollie G. Adams, born Oct. 18, 1896 and died Aug. 16, 1947

            John Jabez Adams, born Oct. 18, 1896 and died Aug. 16, 1947

  They came to Kansas in 1872 and settled near Centropolis, living there 11 years.  Later the family moved to a farm 12 miles southwest of Ottawa in the Pomona vicinity, living there 35 years.  They left Cold Creek farm about 1918 and moved to Ottawa, Kansas.