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From Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 489-490
HENRY ADAMS, late of Patch Grove, Grant county there lived a retired life in the enjoyment of a rest, which by reason of his industrious efforts of former years, he truly earned and richly deserved. Accomplishment and progress ever imply labor, energy and diligence, and it was those qualities that enabled Mr. ADAMS to rise from the ranks of the many and stand among the successful few. He was one of the highly respected citizens of Patch Grove, and his long residence in Grant county and the active part he had taken in its development, well entitled him to representation in its history. A native of New York, Mr. ADAMS was born in Montgomery county, in 1820, a son of Samuel and Jemima (JUDD) ADAMS, and was the first of the family to come West. Arriving in Grant county, Wis., in the fall of 1841, the following year he made a claim of government land in Patch Grove township, which became his homestead. To the arduous task of clearing and improving his farm he at once turned his attention, and in due time the tract became one of the best cultivated farms in the locality.
In 1845 Mr. ADAMS married Miss Hannah ASHLY, since deceased, and of the nine children born of that union six are living at the present writing in 1901. Mr. ADAMS was again married, Aug. 6, 1865, his second wife being Mrs. Emma J. HITCHCOCK, a native of Illinois, born Aug. 15, 1840, and a daughter of Amos and Rebecca (FONCE) BARROWS. Her first husband was Eli HITCHCOCK, by whom she had three children, but only one is now living. Six children have been born of the second marriage of Mr. and Mrs. ADAMS, all of whom are living, while Daisy and Henry are still under the parental roof.
Mr. ADAM continued to reside upon the farm until March, 1900, when he removed to the village of Patch Grove to spend his remaining years in ease and quiet, free from the cares and responsibilities of business life. Notwithstanding he was well advanced in years, he enjoyed good health, though rheumatism made it difficult for him to go around much, until his death Jan. 1, 1901, from heart disease. For the long period of sixty years he was identified with the interests of Grant county, and in early days when engaged in the work of improving his farm he endured all the hardships and privations incident to frontier life. He watched with interest the marvelous transformation that had taken place during his residence here, and as a generous, liberal-minded and progressive citizen aided in the development of his town and county. Mr. ADAMS led a life of honest toil, and his death caused genuine sorrow among his friends.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck