Untitled Document

Moses Adams

A former citizen of Munson Township , at present residing in Chicago , is a native of the State of Maine and removed to Henry County in 1852. He was a citizen of the same township until his removal to Chicago in 1877. He was born in Old Falmouth, Cumberland Co., Me. , Dec. 21, 1811 , and is the second son of Moses and Sarah (Skillin) Adams. The grandfather of our subject was a soldier of the War of the Revolution, and was in the fight at Bunker Hill . He was in the Colonial service throughout the war and after the declaration of peace he settled near Portland , Me. He was born in Newbury , Mass. The father of Mr. Adams inherited the traits of his father, and when the second war with the British Government was declared he enlisted in the defense of his country. He was born Sept. 16, 1775 . After his marriage he settled at Portland in Maine . The family

removed there when the son who is represented in this sketch was about 16. The latter was apprenticed to a merchant and was in the same employ five years, officiating as a

clerk. When he was 21 his employer set him up in business in Portland and he conducted his commercial operations there 16 years. A disastrous five ruined him in a financial sense, or nearly so, and he returned to his former station of clerk. He engaged at first as an assistant in a warehouse and later as a clerk in a store. He came West in 1851 and was employed in the position last named in LaSalle , Ill.

In 182 he came to Henry County and entered a claim of land in Munson Township , or what is now known as such. It was situated on the northwest quarter of section 22. He took possession of the place as resident owner and manager in 1854, and occupied it as long as he remained in the county. Mr. Adams is a member of the fraternity of Masons and also belongs to the I.O. O. F. He has been connected with the latter since December, 1843. He was brought up in the tenets of the Presbyterian Church, but he is now a believer in the principles of the Universalist Church . He is a firm believer in the doctrine of the final subjugation of sin and the restoration of all mankind to a reconciliation with the Savior.

In 1835 Mr. Adams formed a matrimonial alliance with Frances E. Cutler. She was born in Medford , Mass. , May 26, 1811 , and died in Munson Township , Aug. 17, 1867 . Seven of the children of which she became the mother are living: Frank, the oldest son, was a soldier in the 14 th Ill. Cav., and was for a long time a prisoner at Andersonville; his health was injured beyond recovery by the privations he endured, and he is now a resident of Topeka , Kan. ; Moses A., lives in Cook County; Edward is an engineer in Oregon; Sarah M., is the widow of Asa Smith; he served in the 124 th Ill. Vol. Inf., and lost his life in the war; Elethea is the widow of Lorenzo Eldredge; Mary married Henry Boyce; Charlotte L. is the youngest.

Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County, page 562

Transcribed by Jan Roggy

Illinois Ancestors