An Illustrated History of Central Oregon, Western Historical Publishing Company,
Spokane, WA. 1905, pg.

STEPHEN B. ADAMS, deceased. The history of Wasco county and in fact a large
portion of Oregon, could not be thoroughly written without especial mention of
Mr. Adams. He was born in Pennsylvania, near the Ohio line, on May 9, 1829, the
son of Abner and Zeruiah (Griswold) Adams. The father is a close relative of the
noted John and John Quincy Adams and the family is too well known in American
history to need further comment. The Griswolds were old and prominent people and
Mrs. Adams, the Widow of our subject, has a property deed made to the Griswold
family prior to the Revolution. Our subject was reared and educated in the
eastern part of the United States and in 1853, with his wife and one child
joined a train for Marion county, Oregon. In due time the horse and ox teams
brought them safely through and then they took a donation claim near the present
site of Jefferson. However, previous to that, they moved to town and later
bought other land near by. Owing to the asthma of his wife, Mr. Adams removed to
Grant county, Oregon, in 1871 and engaged in stock raising. He did very well and
soon had large bands of cattle, sheep and horses. In 1880, he came to The Dalles
and engaged as a wool buyer for the Oregon City mills. Later, he bought wheat.
During his residence in The Dalles for nearly a quarter of a century, he was one
of the leading figures in its improvement and progress. For nine years, he held
the directorship of The Dalles public schools and was most prominent in bringing
them to their present excellent condition. He was a moving spirit in securing
the high school building and was tireless in his efforts in any line where he
could bring improvement and betterment. In 1898, Mr. Adams retired from active
business life and on March 27, 1903, came the summons of the death angel to
depart from this scene. He was beloved by all and widely known throughout this
state where he had made a reputation for himself as an honorable, noble and
capable man.      

On December 31, 1849, at Knoxville, Illinois whither the Adams family had moved
when our subject was fifteen years of age, he married Miss Nancy C. Cox, who was
born in Indiana, on January 24, 1831. Her parents, Benjamin B. and Elizabeth
(Vangilder) Cox, were natives of Ohio and from German and Dutch extraction,
respectively. They married in Ohio and came to Oregon with Mr. Adams and his
family, bringing with them a family of two sons and three daughters. Mr. Cox
died in 1878 at Camp Watson, Grant county. His wife had died at Oregon City, in
1853. Mr. Adams has no brothers or sisters living but his widow has one sister,
Louisa, widow of Willis Osborn of Milton, Oregon. To Mr. and Mrs. Adams two
children were born, M.D., mentioned elsewhere in this work and Elizabeth, the
widow of C.M. Brown and now living with her mother. Her son, the grandson of our
subject, Harry E., is a young man of promise and well known as a carpenter and
builder in The Dalles.      

For many years, Mr. Adams was a member of the I.O.O.F. and was prime mover in
the establishment of the Oddfellow cemetery at The Dalles. Politically, he was a
Democrat but never active, preferring always to assist his friends to public
positions than to take them for himself.

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2005 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. 
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.