I posted this back in 1999 - thought it was time for another try.
My g-g-grandparents, Thomas ADAMS and Elizabeth RALSTON ADAMS, arrived in Porter Co in
1834/35. Thomas' son Henry S. ADAMS arrived 1933/34. They migrated from Jefferson Co,
OH. Henry and his brother RALSTON Waltemyer ADAMS, my g-grandfather, were born in Crawford
Co, OH.
Ralston married Clarissa Ann BROADHEAD in LaPorte Co in 1848, they moved to Texas where
Clarissa and two daughters died in 1856 of yellow fever, leaving him with a baby son. He
married Virginia Parilee PLUMMER, who was a widow with a baby daughter, in 1857 in
Sherman, TX. They moved to Porter Co abt 1860/61. Their first two children were born in TX
in 1858 and 1860. The next several were born in Porter Co from 1861 to 1871. The rest were
born after their move to KS in the fall of 1871.
Thomas and especially Henry S. were quite instrumental in the settlement of the area. I
have a feeling, from all the accounts I have read, Henry was probably a
"wheeler-dealer." He was involved in the ADAMS Cemetery, the ADAMS Church, had a
hardware and insurance business and owned several 100 acres of land in and around Porter
Co.
Ralston's son David Perry ADAMS accidently hanged himself, while playing an April fool
joke on his siblings in 1868, although the out of state newspapers called it a suicide
caused by the abuse of his step-mother.
If any of this sounds familiar to anyone please contact me by email. I am most interested
in finding out if anyone knows where Thomas ADAMS was born.
I have all of Thomas' and Ralston's and Henry's children and most of their
birth, death, marriage dates and spouses. I am willing to share.
Are there any descendants of these families still living in the area?
Aileen ADAMS Brandis