Gilbert, Frank T. "Historic Sketches of Walla Walla, Whitman, Columbia and Garfield Counties, Washington Territory, and Umatilla County, Oregon." Portland, OR: Print. and Lithographing House of A.G. Walling, 1882. p. a2. Umatilla County. J. F. ADAMS A leading sheep and horse raiser of Umatilla county, lives in the edge of the Blue mountains near the Umatilla reservation. His parents were Joseph and Areete Adams, of Franklin county, Maine. He was born in the town of Jay, Maine, July 20, 1835, and has seven brothers and sisters, Charles B., Henry C., Joseph W., Helen M., Mercy H., Adda B., and Bertha. His boyhood days were spent in the quiet of New England farm life, attending the public school at intervals, and dividing two of the later years between attendance at an academy and working on the farm. In 1858 he resolved to make a bold stroke to better his condition. He therefore, came to this coast by the Panama rout, and made his way to Umpqua valley, Oregon, where he began life as a school teacher. He taught four years, investing his earnings in live stock, thus laying the foundation of his fortune. He then devoted himself to the stock business. In 1865 he came to Umatilla county and located his present home, containing 250 acres, which forms one of the illustrations of this work. J. F. Adams, Robert Thompson and Jacob Frazier were the pioneers in that section of the county. Mr. Adams confined his attention to sheep until 1870, when he began raising horses also. His bands of sheep contain from 6,000 to 10,000, and his horses graze on the hills in large numbers. In 1868 he married Miss Susan F. Fry, a lady from Indianapolis, Ind. Their children are: John R., born January 15, 1880; George H., July 27, 1881. Having lived so long on the frontier, Mr. Adams has had many adventures and experience incident to such a life, including a narrow escape from the hostile Bannocks, when they came upon the reservation in 1878 and murdered several people. He possesses in a marked degree the qualities of energy and activity required to conduct his business successfully, and is reconed among the most enterprising citizens of Umatilla County. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in September 2005 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.