JOHN PETER ADAMS.
Faithfulness to duty is generally recognized and rewarded by the people of an average American community. Atchison county is singularly fortunate in having as its officials men of whom it can be said are above the average type of county officials. The office of probate judge of the county is no exception, and is ably filled by the present incumbent of whom this biography treats. John Peter Adams is an able member of the Atchison county bar and a painstaking and conscientious public official. In the performance of the duties of his high office he has won the esteem of the people of the county and showed such marked ability in his judicial capacity that he was elected to the office for the third time without opposition from any source.
Judge John Peter Adams was born in the town of Lock Berlin, Wayne county, New York, June 7, 1855. His parents were Peter and Martha (Eldridge) Adams, and Judge Adams was one of six children.
WILLIAM A. JACKSON,
Judge District Court.
CHARLES J. CONLON,
County Attorney.
JOHN PETER ADAMS,
Judge of Probate Court.
ROY C. TRIMBLE,
Sheriff.
Judge Adams received his early education in the schools of his native State and the Macedon Academy, following which he completed a business course at the Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He practically worked his way through school by teaching, becoming a teacher at the early age of eighteen. He came to Atchison in 1879 and entered the law office of Judge H. M. Jackson, as a law student, and was admitted to the practice of law in 1880. A short time following his admission to the bar he opened an office for himself, and later became a partner with Roy C. Crawford. A partnership with Charles J. Conlon was formed some time afterward, which continued until the election of Mr. Adams to the office of probate judge in 1910. Judge Adams was reëlected in 1912, and again in 1914, without opposition for the nomination or election. He is a Republican and a firm believer in a high protective tariff. Previous to his election to the probate judgeship, he served as judge of the Atchison city court, having been appointed by Governor Bailey in 1902, and reëlected three times following his appointment without opposition. Judge Adams has always earnestly advocated Republican principles and has been a faithful party worker.
Judge Adams was married in Albion, Mich., June 24, 1885, to Mary Stevens, a native of Lock Berlin, N. Y., and a daughter of Wells J. L. and Nancy Stevens. To Judge and Mrs. Adams have been born three children, who are the pride of their parents, as follows: Eldridge, born November 30, 1892. He received his classical education in Kansas University and graduated in medicine from Rush Medical College at Chicago in 1914, after a thorough course of study in the University of Chicago, now a practicing physician and surgeon in the Illinois State Hospital for eye, nose and throat, at Chicago. Dr. Adams is a rising young physician of marked ability and was an apt student, and is ambitious to succeed in his chosen profession. He graduated from the Atchison High School at the age of fifteen, from the Kansas University at the age of nineteen, and received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Rush College of Medicine when but twenty-three years of age. It is safe to predict a brilliant future for this Atchison boy. A daughter of Judge Adams, Eleanor, aged twenty, is a student of Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., class of 1916, where she is specializing in music—violin and voice. Genevra, the youngest child of Judge and Mrs. Adams, is eighteen years old, a graduate of the Atchison High School, and a student in Baker University. The Adams family has resided in the same house at Fourth and Laramie streets for thirty years, or since the marriage of Judge and Mrs. Adams. They believe in giving their children the advantages of a good education, as the best preparation possible for their future success.
Judge Adams was reared in the Episcopalian faith, which was the church of his fathers, but is an attendant with the members of his family at the Methodist Episcopal church. He became a member of the Masonic lodge in 1876.