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SAMUEL T. ADAMS It is not now definitely known at what time Mr. Adams' father arrived in the county. He came out, however, at a very early date along with other old settlers from Virginia. We have an account by which it is certain that he was in St. Louis county in 1816. He remained there several years working in various ways to " turn an honest penny," and made some money before coming into the limits of Franklin. It is probable that he settled here about the time this county was struck off from that of St. Louis, in 1818. He bought land and made improvements sear the site of Labadie station. He at once began a systematic course of farming, and stuck to his plow and hoe with a pertinacity that no blast from a hunter's horn could falter. He let others do the hunting and sporting, but he chose for himself the even tenor of a farmer's life. He raised large quantities of tobacco, which he disposed of in St. Louis at profitable rates, and soon found himself with ample means. He was married here to Elizabeth Steele, the daughter of Henry Steele, who made him an economical and industrious house wife, and bore him two children, the daughter being Mrs. Elvira W. Jeftries, of Washington. He continued to invest in real estate till a large tract of valuable land was secured. He was known not only as a man of wealth, but as a gentleman of the strictest integrity, who always kept his reputation "honor bright." His wife died in 1843, and he followed her to the grave the ensuing year. Our subject was born here November 8th, 1837. After the demise of his parents he and his sister were put under the superintendence of guardians and received each a good education. At the age of nineteen he began farming on the old homestead. When twenty-two, he chose as a life companion Miss Agnes, the daughter of Wm. North, an old settler, and one of the first merchants in Boles township. He located on his present premises, about two miles southwest of Gray's Summit, in 1866-- a fine location, handsomely improved, a view of which has been contributed to our lithographic department. Mr. Adams is a large land owner, and is well circumstanced, and is known in business circles as a gentleman in every way responsible. The soil in each of his farms is rich, to say the least. In 1876 a field of thirty-five acres, where he lives, averaged seventy bushels of corn to the acre which we note down as a comment on the character of the lands of this section of the county. He has two sons, one now about grown, on whom he is conferring all the advantages of a thorough education, believing that knowledge is power, and the best patrimony that can be left to children. Franklin County Atlas Page 57 |
