U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- Adams, George (b. 1834) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Men of West Virginia, Volume II Biographical Publishing Company George Richmond, Pres.: C. R. Arnold, Sec'y and Treas. Chicago, Illinois, 1903 Pages 575-577 GEORGE ADAMS, who is prominently identified with various business enterprises of Wheeling, has been a resident of that city since 1852, and now makes his home at Pleasant Valley, a suburb of Wheeling. He was born at Baltimore, Maryland, September 13, 1834, and is a son of Philip Adams. The Adams family originally came from England and located in Maryland about 1695. Philip Adams died about 1846, and his widow is now living, in her 95th year, at St. Clairsville, Ohio, whither she moved with the family at the outbreak of the Civil War. They became the parents of nine children, two of whom died in infancy. One son, James P., resides in Wheeling, and is secretary of the Franklin Insurance Company of Wheeling. George Adams was reared in Baltimore, and at an early age entered the employ of a large commission grain and produce house, with which he remained until 1857. It was while on a trip to Wheeling with a member of the firm, in 1852, that he decided to locate there permanently. He embarked in the wholesale grocery and commission business on Main street in 1857. In 1864 he organized the First National Bank of Wheeling and became cashier and manager, George K. Wheat being president. The original directors were: Jacob S. Rhodes, John L. Hobbs, Chester D. Knox and John F. McDermott, all deceased; George Edwards, now of Marshall County, West Virginia; Jacob Hornbrook, John K. Botsford and George W. Franzheim, the last three named deceased; and George K. Wheat. Mr. Adams continued with the bank until 1874, when he resigned, although he still retained his interest in it. The institution was afterward changed to a State bank, the name becoming, as at present, the Bank of the Ohio Valley. About 1878, at the urgent request of interested parties, Mr. Adams again resumed the management, and continued in charge of it until the early part of 1880, when he resigned to travel with his son, Samuel Philip, who died in November, 1882, at the age of 24 years. Although owning interests in various enterprises, he has not since actively engaged in business of any kind. He was interested in the Riverside and Aetna iron companies, which are now a part of the United States Steel Corporation. He was president of the Wheeling Library Association, and treasurer of the Soldiers Aid Society. He was president of the Buckeye Glass Company, a director in the Franklin Insurance Company of Wheeling, and a member of the Board of Trade. Mr. Adams was united in marriage. September 13, 1857, with Mary E. McClellan, a daughter of Samuel McClellan, an old merchant of Wheeling. She died in 1870, having given birth to three children: Samuel Philip, deceased; one who died in infancy; and Elizabeth, who first married Philip Taylor Allen, deceased, and is now the wife of Charles Russell Caldwell, of Staunton, Virginia. Mr. Adams was married March 24, 1874, to Jane W. McClellan, a sister of his first wife. In politics he is a Republican. He is at present serving as mayor of Pleasant Valley, a beautiful suburb of Wheeling, he attends the Vance Memorial Chapel (Presbyterian), at Woodsdale. He was one of the original directors of Greenwood Cemetery, organized in 1865. His present fine home in Pleasant Valley was completed in May, 1895, and is equipped with all the modern conveniences. He served in the State militia during the Civil War, and in September, 1862, was commissioned a captain by (Governor F. H. Peirpoint, who was the chief executive of the Restored Government of Virginia. In November, 1864, he was commissioned colonel by Governor Boreman, the first Governor of West Virginia. He is a man of excellent character and pleasing personality, and has many friends in this section of the state. ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Ohio County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/ohio/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------