Henry Adams (April 30, 1811 - July 30, 1871) was a Green County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, farmer who served as a member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

and the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

, as well as holding various local offices.

Background

Adams was born on April 30, 1811, in

Bedford County, Pennsylvania Bedford County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,577. The county seat is Bedford. History In 1750 Robert MacRay, a Scots-Irish immigrant, opened the first trading post in Raystown (w ...

. He married Sarah Mills, likewise a Bedford County native, and they remained there for some time before moving to

Coshocton County, Ohio Coshocton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,612. Its county seat is Coshocton. The county lies within the Appalachian region of the state. The county was formed on January 31, 18 ...

, where they lived until leaving for Wisconsin in 1845. They started a farm of 160

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ya ...

in what would become

Mount Pleasant, Green County, Wisconsin :''There is also the Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, Village of Mount Pleasant in Racine County, Wisconsin, Racine County.'' Mount Pleasant is a town in Green County, Wisconsin, Green County, Wisconsin, in the United States. As of the 2000 United Stat ...

Public office

Adams soon became active in public affairs.

County and township offices

In 1847 he was elected one of the county's three

county commission A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

ers. After statehood, in June 1849 he was chairman of the

town board A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

for Mount Pleasant, and thus ''ex officio'' a member of the county

board of supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

, remaining in that position until November of 1851. He returned to the board for the November 1853 session, being elected board chairman. In 1856, Adams was an unsuccessful candidate for county

register of deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights over ...

. From 1861, state law reduced the county board to three supervisors. Adams was elected from the first district (the Towns of New Glarus,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

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and Mount Pleasant) in 1861, and re-elected in 1863. (He also served as assessor and

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the township.)

State office

Upon statehood, he was elected to the Green County seat in the State Assembly for the

1st Wisconsin Legislature The First Wisconsin Legislature convened from June 5, 1848, to August 21, 1848, in regular session. Members of the Assembly and Senate were elected after an election on February 1, 1848, that ratified the proposed state constitution. Major event ...

as a

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, with 469 votes to 398 for John W. Stewart. He was not a candidate for re-election, and was succeeded by John C. Crawford, a Whig. In 1853, he ran for

Wisconsin's 24th State Senate district The 24th Senate District of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin State Senate. Located in central Wisconsin, the district comprises all of Portage County and most of Wood County, as well as the northern half of Adams County, the ...

, losing to

Francis H. West Francis Henry West (October 25, 1825March 6, 1896) was an American businessman, politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was a member of the Wisconsin Legislature for three years, and served as a Union Army officer during the American Civil War, ea ...

, a Democrat who in the next session would join the newly-organized Republican Party. In 1859, he ran against old opponent John Stewart (now a Republican) for the vacant Senate seat (Republican incumbent John H. Warren was not a candidate), losing with 1175 votes to Stewart's 1633. In 1865, he won the Senate seat as a National Union candidate, with 1,517 votes to 746 for H. T. Pearson. He was re-elected in 1867 as a Republican, with 2,064 votes to 1,112 for a "Mr. Passmore" (first name unknown). He was not a candidate for re-election in 1869 (having moved to

Hardin County, Iowa Hardin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,878. The county seat is Eldora. The county was named in honor of Col. John J. Hardin, of Illinois, who was killed in the Mexican–Americ ...

), and was succeeded by "

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Republican" John C. Hall.

Civic organizations

In addition to governmental offices, he served as an officer of the Green County Agricultural Society, and as a trustee for the Monticello Cemetery.

Leaving and returning to Green County

The Adams' sold their farm in 1868 and moved to Hardin County, Iowa, but soon returned to Green County, settling in Monroe, where they lived until Henry died on July 13, 1871. They had had ten children, eight still living at the time of his death.''History of Green County, Wisconsin'' Springfield, Illinois: Union Publishing Company, 1884

References

External links

The Political Graveyard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Henry People from Bedford County, Pennsylvania People from Green County, Wisconsin People from Hardin County, Iowa Wisconsin state senators Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Wisconsin Democrats Wisconsin Republicans Farmers from Wisconsin 1811 births 1871 deaths People from Monroe, Wisconsin 19th-century American legislators American justices of the peace Wisconsin city council members County supervisors in Wisconsin Mayors of places in Wisconsin