William Nelson Adams

​First Generation
 
1.  William Nelson Adams was born on 4 Jun 1848 in Knox Co, Tennessee. He died on 15 Jun 1926 in Brown Co, Texas. He was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
 
Elected Sheriff of Brown Co 11/7/1 882; re-elected 11/4/1884; re-elected 11/2/1886;
 
W. N. ADAMS was elected on November 7, 1882, re-elected November 4, 1884, November 2, 1886, and served until November 6, 1888. Contributed by Patsy in Brownwood at ikesis2@juno.com
 
Known as Uncle Bill; Taught 1 or 2 sessions of school in Thrifty.
1896 elected Brown Co Treasurer for 10 years.
Came to Texas in 1870. Came to Brownwood 1872.
1908- was State Senator; married Kate Haden and had 12 children.(”The Promised land” pg 87.)
1850 US census - Knox Co, Tennessee, Subd 31
1900 US census Brown Co, Texas
1910 US census Brown Co, Texas
1920 US census Brown Co, Texas
 
By 1884, Brownwood had ten (10) saloons.. (The Nice and Nasty in Brown County, A collection of Stories by Ruth Griffin Spence; Banner Printing Co, Brownwood, Texas; pg 124)
 
“Whiskey came to Brown County along with axes, Bibles and guns.  The first saloons were established in the early 1 870s. September 8, 1885, the first county wide election was held to stamp out the sale of liquor and the prohibitionist lost by a vote of 472 to 687 Source —Brownwood Banner, Brownwood Bulletin
(In the Life and Lives of Brown County People; Brown County Historical Society Book I Second Edition Indexed 1988, complied by Lorene Bishop assisted by Melba Coursey; pg 24)
 
1883— Jesse Perry was Deputy Sheriff
1883 — W A Butler was Deputy Sheriff
 
First train arrived in Brownwood November 1886.
 
In the spring of 1883, fence cutting began in Brown County. It was spread to all parts of the county. These ranchers met with Sheriff W.N. Adams and demanded protection. The sheriff and a posse of twenty-six cattlemen visited the suspects (who L.P. Baugh recognized when he surprised a group of them cutting his fences) and warned them that the fence cutting must stop. This so angered the small farmers and ranchers who were being squeezed off their lands that they held a meeting called “The Fence Cutters Convention.” On December 7, 1883, Sheriff Adams received an urgent message that a large crowd had gathered at the Coggin Brothers’ ranch southwest of Brownwood to cut fences. The sheriff and thirty armed men went to the ranch and broke up the gathering. Three days later, word reached Brownwood that 200 fence cutters were on their way to burn down the town. The Brownwood citizens armed themselves. About forty armed men stationed themselves on top of the buildings with rifles ready — just like in “Gunsmoke”. By midmorning, men on horseback were approaching the town from all directions.
At noon the leader of the wire cutters, J.B. Scruggins, arrived. He and Sheriff Adams met and the sheriff ordered everyone to put down their guns. After many threats and arguments from both sides, Scruggins agreed to disarm. Then Adams led the men into the courthouse for the “Second Fence Cutters Convention.” Finally, a truce was reached and fence cutters seemingly received some consideration for their needs. Except for the Baugh’s there were no more incidents of fence cutting.
In the meantime, Governor Ireland called a special session of the legislature to consider the problem of fence cutting which had spread to many parts of the state. A bill was drafted and passed to make fence cutting a felony. Even after this Baugh’s fences continued to be cut. Finally, L.P. Baugh presented enough evidence to the grand jury on March 5, 1885, to get indictments against ten of the fence cutters; however, in 1886, the district attorney asked that the case be dismissed.
Baugh asked the adjutant general of Texas to send a Texas Ranger to work undercover. The Ranger worked his way into the confidence of the fence cutters and finally reported that a fence of W.M. Baugh was to be cut the night of November 9, 1996. The adjutant general then dispatched four more Rangers to Brown County. The Rangers, the Baughs, Joe Copeland, the undercover Ranger and some hired hands hid themselves in the brush near the place where the fence was to be cut.
Within a short time the fence cutters appeared and began cutting the wire. Ranger Captain Scott called on them to halt. As the cutters ran, the Baugh party fired on them and killed two. (The Nice and Nasty in Brown County, A collection of Stories by Ruth Griffin Spence; Banner Printing Co, Brownwood, Texas; pg 29-30)
The cost of keeping prisoners in the county jail, in 1885, was $1448.00. County commissioners spent the following amounts “working county convicts on county roads — Guards $860.00, provisions $210.00, tools -$329.00, handcuffs and leg-irons -$35.00, repairs - $12 and cost of capturing run-a-ways - $27.00. (In The Life and Lives of Brown County People, Book Number Eleven, (Brown’s Henry Ford, Pioneer, Historian, Educator, Brown County Clerk and Banker, Researched by: Lex Johnston, Great Grandson) , (The Dawn of Brown County Early History 1904-1908 from Henry Ford’s Cotton Calculators), (Brown County Trivia by Lex Johnston), compiled by Mrs Louise Martin Johnston, Mrs. Lorene Eastman Bishop and Mrs. Pauline Glass Hochhalter, published by the Brown County Historical Society, Brownwood, TX, R D Printing, Brownwood, TX, June 1994, pg 95
 
William married Kate Haden. Kate was born on 18 Jan 1856. She died on 18 Dec 1909 in
Brown Co, Texas. She was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
They had the following children:
 2F          i.              Irene Bell Adams was born about 1879 in Brown Co, Texas.
Irene married John W Trapp. John was born about 1860.
3F         ii.             Lula Dell Adams was born on 2 Apr 1882. She died on 15 Feb 1884 in Brown Co., Texas.
 She was buried in Greenleaf Cemetery, Brown Co, Texas.
 4F          iii.            Daisy Adams was born about 1883 in Brown Co, Texas.
 5M        iv.           Otho Adams was born about 1888 in Brown Co, Texas.
 6F          v.            Willie Adams was born about 1890 in Brown Co, Texas.
 7M        vi.           Max I Adams was born about 1892 in Brown Co, Texas.
 8F          vii.          Kitty Adams was born about 1894 in Brown Co, Texas.
 9M        viii.         Carl H Adams was born about 1896 in Brown Co, Texas.
 10M      ix.           William N Adams was born about 1898 in Brown Co, Texas.
 11F        x.            Doris E Adams was born about 1904 in Brown Co, Texas.