Show Echoes tan from the Die dust History of Ashley Valley J ADAMS Compiled Complied by Iva C C. C Gray Kate Kale Forrest Adams known in this area as Mother Adams was born In Westmoreland Westmoreland Westmoreland West West- moreland County Virginia February 25 1866 She had a twin brother William who died j i at the age of eleven I Her lIer father David Cranford i Forrest ran away from Annapolis Annapolis Annapolis An An- to join General Scott in ini inthe inthe i the Mexican War of 1848 In the war between the states he fought in the Confederate Army under General Robert E. E Lee A second cousin was the famous fighting general of the Confederacy Confederacy Con Con- Nathan Bedford Forrest of Tennessee So Mrs Adams prided herself on being a fighter as she was a product of a long line of fighting ancestors i HER IIER GRANDFATHER Cranford Cranford Cranford Cran Cran- ford judge advocate of Maryland signed the famous Document granting religious freedom to all colonists She was also a lineal descendant of Sir Thomas Forrest the first permanent English colonist in America Kate Forrest met George E E. Adams in Washington DC D.C. and married him on September 20 I l 1887 87 The young couple left a afew few ew minutes aft after r. r the T nY f for Cor the West Mr Adams had graduated in 1885 from Dartmouth Dartmouth Dartmouth Dart Dart- mouth College and then enlisted in the US U.S. Army Signal Corps as a meteorologist One of his first assignments was to Fort Duchesne Utah where they remained for Cor two years In 1890 George Adams left leCt the Army and settled in Vernal His Ills first business enterprise was a mercantile establishment which was called the Adams Store A lover of music he organized and played in a band He Ile retired from business in 1916 and died at Vernal January 15 1944 Their only son Elsworth Forrest Adams managed their extensive sheep interests until his own death in the flu epidemic of 1919 at which time the lie Adams sold their sheep Mrs Adams recalls that during the period in which they owned sheep one of her Eastern relatives asked what she shedid did out West Mrs Adams replied that she was a sheepherder The relative slightly slight y shocked suggested Dont you mean a shepherdess shepherdess shepherdess dess Mrs Adams rejoined emphatically Oh gracious no Im I'm a Westerner now Im I'm a sheepherder KATE Tt didn't believe that politics s and business were proper fi fields for women She explained her own interest in inthe inthe inthe the Emerald and Raven oil companies and other holdings as simply a legacy from her husband According to Mrs Adams her vocation was picnicking with children since I went out of the sheep business She was a very dear friend to everyone but C especially to her picnic kids which included many children in Vernal They loved to pile into Mother Adams car on warm summer days and go off to the mountains for a day of fun and picnicking They recognized her by a little white sailor hat that she so often wore Besides being so good to the children of the community she helped older boys and girls t through rough school aided war veterans befriended the servicemen servicemen servicemen ser ser- of the armed forces and sent many letters and gifts to the soldier boys which have been long Jong remembered Her lIer Hermany Hermany many acts of kindness are too numerous to mention She had a most mOist generous spirit in giving and helping those in need Her lIer great love and understanding of the out doors of doors and the wild woolly West brought her hermany hermany hermany many many joys In picnic kids v y AW k x y t v r t y i Ii r- r rv v f i. i yd lh BELOVED MOTHER ADAMS parties and in her extensive travels In 1955 she received injuries in an automobile accident and was confined to St. St Marks Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City On her birthday she was visited by many friends and received ed many birthday wishes and gifts On her birthday a party was given in her honor in the American Legion Hall Mrs Clair Hopkins and Mrs Hugh Colton acted as as' as hostesses f for forthe forthe r the j affair Her many friends friends' were in attendance The Legion Legio Hall where they held the c celebration was a gift to the An American Legion from Mrs Adams She had presented the building and grounds to the Post Pos when the organization was without a meeting place In the early forties MOTHER ADAMS known and beloved throughout the Uinta Basin was a small sprightly figure with twinkling eyes and on her head was perched a white sailor cap She had started wearing the cap when her law in Captain Orr of the Philadelphia Navy Yard sent her young son sona a sailor cap Her boy wouldn't wear it so she did and continued to do so from then on so her friends could recognize her she said A big room eleven-room house at Second West and Main Street InVernal in inVernal inVernal Vernal had been her home since 1902 but after her husbands death she found it too large and lonely for one person She gave up the house and lived thereafter at the Johnson Hotel Of Vernal she had this to say Of course its it's grown so much since we came h here re in 1890 From the first day I loved this community and felt at home here I love my friends and here I expect to be At the age of 93 the grand little old lady finished her life of kindness and service to others She had a fall in which she had suffered a a fractured hip and passed away on a Sunday 1 1959 at the Sti St M Marys Mary's rys ry's Hospital in Grand Junction Colorado Beautiful final tributes were paid to toMother toMother toMother Mother Adams at the services services services ser ser- vices and she was laid to rest in inthe inthe inthe the Vernal Cemetery |