The Genealogy of Horace G. and Mabel Gertrude (Warren) Adams

I have already written at length about the parents and ancestors of Horace G. Adams Sr. Therefore, this article will detail only the genealogy of his immediate family. I will write about the family of his wife, the Warren Family, in separate posts. I will also write separate posts for each of his children.

Horace Greeley Adams, Sr. was born October 21, 1862, the son of Alexander and Mary Jane (Porter) Adams. While some sources report he was born in Mendota, Illinois, he was in fact born on his familys farm in Ophir Township, LaSalle County, Illinois. Mendota was nearby and the county seat of LaSalle County.

His older brother, Franklin Adams, came to investigate and purchase property for his family in Maple Hill Township, Wabaunsee County, Kansas in the fall of 1878. He reported favorably to his father, Alexander, telling him that the countryside was suitable for farming and ranching and that he believed the family would do well to sell their Illinois property and move West. Alexander told Franklin to build a house over the winter of 1878-1879, and that the remainder of the family would move to Kansas in the spring of 1879. Horace G. Adams, Sr. was 16-year-old when his family arrived.

Alexander Adams purchased 655 acres of land in Maple Hill Township, which he farmed until he retired. His son Franklin Adams, had purchased several nearby farms and was involved in farming and opening prairie for speculative sales to settlers. While Alexander Adams did not found a bank, he lent money to individuals, charging interest, and was known locally as a money lender. It would be his sons Franklin and Horace G. Adams that would formally found that bank, The Stockgrowers State Bank, with Franklin as its first president and Horace G. Adams as its Vice President for many years.

Horace G. Adams remained with his parents and began building a cattle ranch. He first leased the 655 acres from his father and by 1902, that land was already known as the Horace G. Adams Ranch Headquarters, as the Wabaunsee County Land Atlas so labels the property. Alexander Adams died in 1904, and from that point forward, the site was simply known as The Adams Ranch.

In the beginning, Horace Adams didnt concentrate on acquiring land, but on fattening and marketing fine cattle. By the time of his death, he owned the 2,955 acre home ranch at Maple Hill as well as many thousands of acres in southwest Kansas variously known as the XI Ranch and the West Ranch. In later posts, I will be providing verbatim copies of articles about the development of his ranches and his involvement in the cattle industry locally, in Kansas and nationally.

Horace G. Adams, Sr. married Miss Mable Gertrude Warren, daughter of Benjamin and Gertrude Warren, in 1885. I have not been able to find a date when their first home was built, but it was likely around 1890. It is located in the 1902 Wabaunsee County Land Atlas and I will use a 1910 picture post card of the house, as well as a photograph after remodeling and additions in 1915, with this article. The frame house was situated on the east side of the Maple Hill-St. Marys Road. A 1915 Maple Hill News Item reports that the house was substantially remodeled and improved with the addition of sleeping porches, an indoor bathroom, and an electric lighting plant. It was to be the Adams Family home until a new brick home was built across the road in the early 1930s. Ann Adams Russell, only surviving granddaughter of H. G. and Gertrude Adams, and daughter of Raymond E. and Jessie (Stewart) Adams, lived in the old house as a little girl with brothers Raymond Edmond II and David Stewart Adams. She says that the house was torn down because it became infested with mice. The brick house has been occupied by the families of H. G. and Mabel Adams, Raymond E. Adams, Sr.; Raymond E. Adams, II and now Raymond E. Adams, III.

H. G. and Mabel Adams were the parents of seven children:
Bessie Ethyl Bess Adams was born at Maple Hill, Kansas on March 30, 1886.

Mable Rae Adams was born at Maple Hill, Kansas on June 26, 1889.
Helen Olney Adams was born at Maple Hill, Kansas on November 6, 1891.
Mary M. Dougan was born at Maple Hill, Kansas in 1895.
Horace Greeley Adams, II was born at Maple Hill, Kansas on September 19, 1897.
Alexander Warren Adams was born at Maple Hill, Kansas on December 20, 1899
Raymond Edmond Adams, Sr. was born at Maple Hill, Kansas on February 8, 1902.

Horace G. Adams died February 5, 1933 at Los Angeles, California. He and Mrs. Adams made an overland auto trip to visit various family members and Mr. Adams caught pneumonia and died. He was buried in the Old Stone Church Cemetery at Maple Hill.

Mabel Gertrude (Warren) Adams died November 23, 1940 at the home of her daughter, Helen O. Miller in Los Angeles, California. Mrs. Adams was buried beside her husband in the Old Stone Church Cemetery, Maple Hill.

I will write about the children of Horace G. and Mabel G. (Warren) Adams in separate later posts.

Photos one and two are of Horace Greeley Adams, Sr. at various times.

Photos three and four are of Mabel Gertrude (Warren) Adams at various times.

Photo five is taken from the 1902 Wabaunsee County Land Atlas, showing that while Alexander Adams still actually owned the land, it was known as the H. G. Adams Ranch Headquarters.

Photo six is taken from a 1910 post card of the Horace G. Adams homes.

Photo seven is a photo provided by Mrs. Jessie Stewart Adams for the 1975 Maple Hill Church Centennial publication and shows the house as it looked after many additions and shortly before being torn down.

Photo eight is a picture of the extended Adams family, taken in 1910. In the back row from L-R are: Helen Olney Adams, Mabel Rae Adams, Mr. William Robert, Mary Adams, John E. and Bess (Adams) Robert, Horace G. Adams, Sr., Horace G. Adams, II, Gertrude and Benjamin Warren. In front are Raymond E. Adams, Sr., Mabel G. (Warren) Adams and Alexander W. Adams. The photograph was furnished by Ann Adams Russell.