Stanislaus
County
Biographies
MOSES ADAMS
The beauty of a city depends largely
upon its architecture, and to those who design and construct its buildings is
due the credit of the position it holds in this direction. Among those who have done a large amount of
work which adorns the streets and avenues of Modesto, Stanislaus County, is
Moses Adams, who is well versed in the details and principles of this branch of
industry and has established an extensive and lucrative business. He is prepared at all times to execute orders
with accuracy and promptness and manifests the courtesy and fairness which ever
marks the successful businessman. Many of
the fine structures in his city and the surrounding country stand as monuments
to his industry and skill.
Mr. Adams was born in Waterford,
Vermont; on the 12th day of July, 1838, of old English
ancestry. The ancestors of one branch of
the family landed with the Pilgrims from the Mayflower on Plymouth Rock. The great-great-grandfather of our subject
became one of the early settlers of Waterford, Vermont, and men of worth and
prominence belonging to the family have since resided in that portion of the
Green Mountain state. The family is one
of distinction in American history. Jonathan
Adams, the father of our subject, was born in Waterford, on the 3rd
of May, 1811, and became an industrious and well-to-do farmer. He was also a valued member of the Methodist
Church and his life was well worthy of emulation, while his influence was ever
on the side of right and the good. He
married Roxanna Ladd, a native of his own town, born November 3, 1814. She belongs to another branch of the family
from the ancestors to whom he traced his lineage. The Ladd’s were honored early settlers of the
Green Mountain state and were noted for their uprightness, intelligence and
prominence in the commonwealth in which several generations had lived and
died. Mr. and Mrs. Adams spent their
lives on a farm near Waterford, respected and esteemed by all who knew
them. The mother of our subject departed
this life on the 3rd of February, 1889, and the father was called to
his final rest on the 21st of March, 1894, having attained the ripe
old age of eighty-three years. He left
to his children an untarnished name.
Five of the six sons and daughters who constituted the family are still
living, Martin, having died in 1856. The
others are Otis, Moses, Jonathan C., Orange and Hannah, the last named being
the wife of Henry Hudson, of Vermont, while the sons are well-to-do and
respected citizens of the Golden state.
Moses Adams, the third child of the
family, acquired his elementary education in the public schools of Vermont, and
at the age of eighteen began to learn the carpenter’s trade, following that
vocation in the east until 1862, in which year he came to California, in
August. In Sacramento he joined his brother
Otis, who had come to this state in 1854, having made the journey across the
plains. They proceeded to Aurora, in Esmeralda
County, Nevada, where for some time the subject of this review engaged in
contracting and building. He then returned
to the southern mines and engaged in the search for the precious metal at
Angel’s Camp and vicinity for two years, but met with only moderate
success. Subsequently he returned to the
east to visit his parents, relatives and friends, and since then has made the
trip across the continent four times.
After remaining for some time at his old home in Vermont, he went to Chicago,
where he was engaged in the building business for a year, after which he
returned to California, where he has since resided. The year 1873 witnessed his arrival in
Modesto. The town had been founded in
1870, and Mr. Adams began work on the new court-house which was then being
erected. Through the past twenty-seven
years he has been actively engaged on many of the leading structures, including
the Odd Fellows building, of which he was also the architect, and the Modesto Bank
building, having charge of its construction and making it one of the model bank
buildings of the state. During his
residence in the city he has won a creditable reputation by reason of his
skill, his executive force and his thoroughly reliable methods.
Mr. Adams belongs to the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, having become identified with the fraternity in all its
branches, his connection therewith covering a period of more than a quarter of
a century. He passed all the chairs in
both the subordinate lodge and the encampment.
In politics he has been a life-long Republican, and is earnest in his
support of the party which stands for the protection of American industries,
for national expansion and which believe in upholding the supremacy of the flag
wherever it has been planted.
Mr. Adams returned to the east in
1890, and on the 24th of September of that year was united in
marriage, in his native town of Waterford, to Miss Mary E. Ladd, who was born
in that town and is a representative of that branch of the Ladd family of which
his mother was a member. She had for
some years been a successful teacher in her native state and is a lady of
sterling worth, culture and refinement.
Their union has been a most happy one, and on the 24th of
May, 1892, there came to bless their home a little son, whom they named Ezra
Parker. Theirs is one of the pleasant
residences of Modesto. It was erected by
Mr. Adams and is surrounded by orange and other fruit and ornamental trees
which were planted by him. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Adams enjoy the warm regard of a large circle of friends in Modesto and in
the best homes of the community they receive a cordial welcome.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 618-620. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.