The Political Graveyard: Adams family of Colorado and Wisconsin

Adams family of Colorado and Wisconsin

Note: This is just one of 612 family groupings listed on The Political Graveyard web site. These families each have three or more politician members, all linked together by blood, marriage or adoption.

Some families traditionally (and perhaps properly) considered separately are joined together here if linked by marriage or otherwise. These groupings — even the names of the groupings, and the state or lists of states of main activity — are the result of a computer algorithm, not the choices of any historian or genealogist.

John Adams — of Black Earth, Dane County, Wis. Father of Alva Adams and William Herbert Adams; grandfather of Harry Wilfred Adams. Democrat. Member of Wisconsin state assembly, 1869-70, 1872; member of Wisconsin state senate, 1882-83. Burial location unknown.
- See also Adams family of Colorado and Wisconsin
Alva Adams (1850-1922) — of Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colo. Born in a log cabin in Iowa County, Wis., May 14, 1850. Son of Eliza (Blanchard) Adams and John Adams; brother of William Herbert Adams; father of Alva Blanchard Adams; uncle of Harry Wilfred Adams; grandfather of Alva Blanchard Adams, Jr.. Democrat. Hardware merchant; member of Colorado state legislature, 1876; Governor of Colorado, 1887-89, 1897-99, 1905; member of Democratic National Committee from Colorado, 1908-. Member, Freemasons. Died at a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Calhoun County, Mich., November 1, 1922. Interment at Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo, Colo. Adams County, Colo. is named for him.
- See also Adams family of Colorado and Wisconsin
- See also: National Governors Association biography.
William Herbert Adams (1861-1954) — also known as William H. Adams — of Alamosa, Alamosa County, Colo. Born in Blue Mounds, Dane County, Wis., February 15, 1861. Son of John Adams and Eliza (Blanchard) Adams; brother of Alva Adams; married 1891 to Emma Ottoway (divorced); married 1915 to Hattie Mullins (died 1918); uncle of Alva Blanchard Adams and Harry Wilfred Adams. Member of Colorado state house of representatives, 1887-89; member of Colorado state senate, 1889-1927; Governor of Colorado, 1927-33. Congregationalist. Died, of a heart ailment, February 4, 1954. Interment at Alamosa Cemetery, Alamosa, Colo.
- See also Adams family of Colorado and Wisconsin
- See also: National Governors Association biography.
Alva Blanchard Adams (1875-1941) — also known as Alva B. Adams — of Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colo. Born in Del Norte, Rio Grande County, Colo., October 29, 1875. Son of Ella (Nye) Adams and Alva Adams; nephew of William Herbert Adams; married, October 25, 1909, to Elizabeth Matty; father of Alva Blanchard Adams, Jr.. Democrat. Lawyer; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Colorado, 1916, 1936; U.S. Senator from Colorado, 1923-24, 1933-41; defeated, 1924; died in office 1941. Member, Freemasons; Shriners; Elks. Died in Washington, D.C., December 1, 1941. Interment at Roselawn Cemetery, Pueblo, Colo.
- Cross-reference: William S. B. Lacy
- See also Adams family of Colorado and Wisconsin
- See also: congressional biography.
Harry Wilfred Adams (b. 1879) — of Beloit, Rock County, Wis. Born in Blanchardville, Lafayette County, Wis., February 13, 1879. Grandson of John Adams; son of John A. Adams and Alice (Collie) Adams; nephew of Alva Adams and William Herbert Adams; married, June 15, 1904, to Prudence M. Bennett. Lawyer; mayor of Beloit, Wis., 1914-18. Congregationalist. Member, Scottish Rite Masons; American Academy of Political and Social Science; American Bar Association; Freemasons; Knights Templar; Elks; Kiwanis; Knights of Pythias; Woodmen. Burial location unknown.
- See also Adams family of Colorado and Wisconsin
Alva Blanchard Adams, Jr. (b. 1915) — also known as Alva B. Adams, Jr. — of Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colo. Born in Pueblo, Pueblo County, Colo., October 21, 1915. Grandson of Alva Adams; son of Alva Blanchard Adams and Elizabeth (Matty) Adams; married, November 19, 1945, to Loretta Kissell. Democrat. Banker; hardware business; corporate director, KCRT radio station, Trinidad, Colo.; delegate to Democratic National Convention from Colorado, 1948 (alternate), 1952, 1960; candidate for U.S. Representative from Colorado 3rd District, 1954, 1956. Member, American Legion; Freemasons; Shriners; Eagles; Elks; Kiwanis; Toastmasters. Still living as of 1963.
- See also Adams family of Colorado and Wisconsin

"Enjoy the hospitable entertainment of a political graveyard."
Henry L. Clinton, Apollo Hall, New York City, February 3, 1872

The Political Graveyard is a web site about U.S. political history and cemeteries. It is the Internet's most comprehensive source for American political biography, listing 180,022 politicians, living and dead.

The coverage of the site includes certain federal officials, state officeholders and candidates in all 50 states, state and national political party officials, federal and state judges, and mayors (including candidates at election for mayor) of qualifying cities.
The listings are incomplete; development of the database is a continually ongoing project.
Information on this page — and on all other pages of this site — is believed to be accurate, but is not guaranteed. Users are advised to check with other sources before relying on any information here.
The official URL for this page is: http://politicalgraveyard.com/families/11320.html
Links to this or any other Political Graveyard page are welcome, but specific page addresses may sometimes change as the site develops.
If you are searching for a specific individual, try the alphabetical index of politicians.
More information: FAQ; privacy policy; cemetery links.
If you find any error or omission in The Political Graveyard, or if you have information to share, please see the biographical checklist and submission guidelines.
Copyright notice. Facts are not subject to copyright; see Feist v. Rural Telephone. Original material, programming, selection and arrangement are © 1996-2008 Lawrence Kestenbaum. This work is also licensed for free non-commercial re-use, with attribution, under a Creative Commons License.

The Political Graveyard is created and maintained by Lawrence Kestenbaum, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, who is solely responsible for its structure and content. Web hosting is provided by Paul Haas, of Ypsilanti, Michigan. The site opened on July 1, 1996; the last full revision was done on June 16, 2008.