Santa Clara County
Biographies
JOHN HICKS ADAMS
Among the notable California forty-niners
resident in Santa Clara County who have joined the silent majority of that
adventurous host and found homes in yet fairer golden lands than those to which
they struggled amid countless hardships in 1849, John Hicks Adams deserves
especial mention in any historical record annalling the affairs of Santa Clara
County, since he was a real pioneer in that county. On September 4, 1878, the
county and that section of the state was called upon to mourn the taking of a
true and worthy man, one who had been true to this own ideals and convictions,
and who by his large life work conferred benefit upon hundreds of his fellow
citizens who of necessity shared in what he accomplished toward the material
progress and outbuilding of his community. While on his way from his mine in
Arizona to Tucson he was killed by Mexicans in ambush. He was born at
Edwardsville, Ill., June 13, 1830. His father John Quincy Adams, (named for the
president) who had been a resident of Illinois since 1816, was engaged in wool
carding and in the manufacture of woolen goods. In 1822 he commenced raising the
castor oil bean, having obtained a few seeds from the East Indies. In 1823 he
gave seeds to his neighbors, who put in crops, and their returns ran as high as
one dollar per bushel, paid them by Mr. Adams, who had erected a factory that
season where he made castor oil to supply the market. This was the beginning of
this industry in the state of Illinois.
In 1823, Mrs. John Q. Adams died and the son, John H., our subject, was sent to
school at Shurtleff College, in Upper Alton, and remained there two years. In
the meantime his father had married a Miss Gordon, then John H. returned home
and assisted in his father’s factory and store. On the night of April 12, 1838,
the castor oil mills, five in number, with 20,000 bushels of beans and fifty
barrels of oil, were completely destroyed by fire, there being no insurance, the
loss being something like $45,000. This was a severe loss, but they immediately
set about erecting another building and continued their business. In 1838 John
Quincy Adams was elected county sheriff and his son, John Hicks, was appointed a
deputy and looked after collection of taxes and court business. During the
winter of 1838 a bold jail break was effected by two men and, as Sheriff Adams
was absent, John Hicks took full charge of the pursuit and after several days
captured the two desperate men and returned them to the jail. On May 16, 1840,
the father passed away at Edwardsville, leaving five children by his first wife
and three by his second. John Hicks Adams then went into business with H. K.
Eaton, and for the next two years manufactured castor oil; then he and his
brother, W. R. Adams, carried on the business until low prices forced them to
suspend.
In the spring of 1847, John Hicks Adams assisted in raising a company for the
Mexican War and was mustered in on May 20, 1847, at Alton, Ill., in Company J,
Fifth Illinois Volunteers, and Mr. Adams was commissioned first lieutenant, and
at Fort Leavenworth he received the appointment of regimental quartermaster,
taking charge of the government supplies, stock and wagons to cross the plains
to Santa Fe, 120 wagons in all ; later in July Lieutenant Adams was advanced to
a captain, upon the death of Captain Niles, and took command at 110-mile Creek
near the border, and during the march and campaign acquitted himself with honor.
At the close of the war he returned to Illinois with his regiment and was
discharged at Alton on October 12, 1848. During the winter of ’48-’49 the news
of the discovery of gold in California had reached Illinois and Captain Adams
was among the first in his locality to leave. With a six-mule team and light
wagon, accompanied by Allen Pomeroy, William Reynolds, and Dr. C. N. Lusk, he
left St. Joseph, Mo., April 8, 1849. They passed heavily loaded trains, guarded
carefully against Indian attacks, were joined by several other parties, and
after many hardships and deprivations from lack of water, arrived at Hangtown
August 1, 1849. Captain Adams mined and ran pack trains in various camps in
Northern California for two years, then went back to Illinois via Panama and
arrived at Edwardsville, October 12, 1851. In the spring of 1852 he started for
California over the plains with his wife and two children, and arrived in
Placerville on September 6 of that year. The winter of 1852-53 was spent at
Manhattan Creek near Georgetown, where his brother-in-law, Allen Pomeroy had
located a claim for him and he was very successful.
In August, 1853, Captain Adams removed to Santa Clara County and settled on a
farm near Gilroy, and the present Adams district school near Gilroy stands on
the land which he donated to the county for that purpose in 1856. Those were
wild west days, to be sure, when upon arriving at the schoolhouse in the
morning, bear and lion tracks were to be found in front of the door and around
the building. In 1860 Captain Adams was elected a member of the county board of
supervisors to represent Gilroy and Almaden townships. In the fall of 1863 he
was elected sheriff of Santa Clara County and removed with his family to San
Jose; he held this office for three successive terms; again reelected in 1871-73
and retired in March 1876. While in office he acquired a reputation as a brave
and efficient officer and a shrewd detective, second to none in the state. His
connection with the pursuit and capture of Vasquez, the notorious bandit of
California, is well known by old-timers and the praise he received was well
deserved. To Captain Adams is due the credit for making the first exploration of
Lake Tahoe. One of a company of eight men, he set out from Georgetown on May 1,
1850, in search of gold, and on May 20 he reached this now-famous lake exploring
this region extensively prospecting for the yellow treasure.
In December, 1841, Mr. Adams married Miss Matilda Pomeroy, born in Shelby
County, Ky., and they were the parents of eight children: John H. died in
Illinois in childhood; Mary married James Hanna and lives in Livermore and has
one son living; Alice M., widow of John Gordon, resides in San Jose; Sadie
married James Reed and both are dead; William H. of the Llagas district; Charles
C, also on the Llagas; Abraham L. of Los Angeles has one son and one daughter ;
Nellie M. married George Stark and resides in San Jose and has one daughter
living. Mr. Adams organized the Home Guards in Gilroy during the Civil War and
was their captain; he also served as president of the South Almaden Quicksilver
Mining Company. He was public-spirited in citizenship, was trustworthy in
business, faithful in friendship, and in his home, was most devoted to the
welfare and happiness of his wife and children. Many were his good qualities and
few his faults. He loved truth and justice and represented a high type of our
American manhood.
Transcribed by Carolyn Feroben , from Eugene T. Sawyers' History
of Santa Clara County, California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922.
page 1055
WILLIAM HUMBOLDT ADAMS
The life which this narrative
chronicles began in a tent at the Sink of the Humboldt in Nevada, on August 12,
1852, while his parents were en route from Illinois to California with ox-teams.
He is the oldest living son of Capt. John Hicks and Matilda (Pomeroy) Adams, the
former a sturdy pioneer who first came to California in 1849. William Humboldt
Adams was reared in Santa Clara County and he attended the Adams district school
and later Gates Institute and Business College in San Jose. In 1870 he was a
student a the University of the Pacific , and served during 1873-76 as deputy
sheriff under his father. In 1876 he went to San Benito County, where he owned a
stock ranch, but the dry year broke him up; then he returned to San Jose and
engaged in contract teaming until settling on his present ranch. In 1896 he
removed to the Llagas district, where he had purchased eighty-five acres, twenty
of which he set to prunes. When he first settled on the ranch, the land was
covered with oak trees and poison oak brush, but he persevered until the
tillable land was cleared and a fine orchard property was developed.
Mr. Adams’ marriage on May 9, 1877, at Emmet, San Benito County, united him with
Miss Nellie Ackley, a daughter of Samuel Ackley, a pioneer of San Benito County,
and they are the parents of five children; Gertrude I., the wife of Roy Ackley,
and orchardist at Llagas; Harry J. is married and with his wife and two children
reside on the Llagas; W. J., Jr., died at the age of thirty-five, survived by
his widow and five children, who reside in San Francisco; Earl S. is married and
has two children and resides at Gilroy. Ruby M is the wife of Wesley W. Burden;
they have two sons and Mr. Burden is manager of the Adams home place. Mr. Adams
is an active member of the California Prune & Apricot Association and
politically is a stanch Republican; for eighteen years he has served as trustee
of the Llagas school district.
Transcribed by Carolyn Feroben, from Eugene T. Sawyers' History of Santa Clara
County, California, published by Historic Record Co. , 1922.
page 1056