Albert C. Adams, farmer Pleasant Township, was born in Limerick, Me., March 28, 1816. His parents, Thomas and Betsey (Doliff) Adams, were natives of Maine and New Hampshire, respectively, and lived on a farm where our subject was reared to the age of sixteen. The humdrum of farm life was not congenial to his naturally buoyant and romantic spirit and he abandoned it for the sea, shipping on a merchant vessel on which he remained three years. In 1835 he shipped aboard a man-of-war and served three years and five months. While in the navy yard at Charlestown he received a wound in the right shoulder which disabled him for further service as a sailor, though he afterward made one trip as a landsman. He came home off a cruise and received his discharge at Norfolk and after remaining at home about one year with his mother, engaged as second pilot on a steam boat. In 1845 Mr. Adams came to Switzerland County and engaged in farming and this occupation he has since successfully pursued. He married Rebecca Jane Tibbletts (? could be Tibbetts), a native of Whitefield, Me., and ther children born to them were named as follows: James, Indiana, Elizabeth, Carrie, Madors, Celestia, Emma, Charles G., George, Albert C., Jr., Eugene, Oliver P. and Leora. A few years ago Mr. Adams concluded that on account of the wound he had received while in the service of the government, he was entitled to a pension. He went directly to Washington, applied at the department, and proved his identity, exhibited the scar of the wound and had his claim granted on the spot, without the aid of any witness or attorney. This clearly illustrates Mr. Adams' peculiar force of character, and his matter-of-fact business-like turn of mind.
Source: History of Switzerland County, Indiana 1885. Chicago, Illinois: Weakley, Harraman & Co., 1885
Transcribed by: Sheila Kell