M. J. ADAMS, the popular agent of the Panhandle Railroad system at Hamilton, is a native of Preble county, Ohio, born at Hambery, on the 16th of July, 1854, a son of Martin C. and Mary (Shewmon) Adams, who were also natives of Preble county.  Martin Adams spent most of his mature life in mercantile pursuits of Galveston, Indiana, and died in  that town  at the age of fifty-five years.  His widow is now a resident of Kokomo, while her seen sons and daughters are variously distributed, though mostly in the Indiana gas belt.  The eldest of the family in Harriett, who is the wife of Amos French of Bluffton, Indiana; Madison J., of this sketch, was the second in order of birth; Alice married Robert Cox, of Alexandria, Indiana; Florence is the wife of Edmond Leech, of Fairmount, in the Hoosier state; Daniel is a prosperous farmer at Hague, Illinois; Lincoln is train dispatcher of the Northern Pacific Railroad at Spokane, Washington, and Grant has a lucrative clerkship with the Pennsylvania lines at Kokomo, Indiana, his position being designated as that of cash clerk.  All of the family, except Lincoln, are married and the heads of happy families of their own.
     M. J. Adams was reared and educated at Galveston and Kokomo and his life thus far has been devoted to railroading and its contingent employments.  As early as 1878 he was employed as telegraph operator in the office of the Pennsylvania Company, at Frankton, Indiana.  After four years' service there, he was promoted to a more lucrative position as agent at Elwood, remaining there until 1886, when he received another deserved promotion and was placed in charge of the company's business as agent at Kokomo.  He remained there eleven years, and in October, 1897, he took charge of the office in Hamilton.  Mr. Adams has been in the employ of the Pennsylvania company, continuously, for twenty-six years, each of the three changes during that time representing an increase of salary and an increase of responsibilities.  These facts are sufficient evidence of the high standing which Mr. Adams sustains with his employers, as well as of the company's estimate of his business capacity.  There are two assistants employed in the Hamilton ticket office, and five clerks are required in the freight office to handle the large volume of business in this city.
     On the 20th of March, 1880, Mr. Adams was united in marriage with Miss Louise Edson, then a resident of Frankton, Indiana, but a native of Canada.  Mr. and Mrs. Adams have an interesting family of three children, the eldest of whom, Miss Ethel, is a student in the senior class of the Hamilton high school.  Her educational advancement, at the age of sixteen, gives evidence of superior intellectual talents.  Charles is a bright boy of twelve, and little Miss Lena, at eight, takes greater pride in being the family pet than in mastering the intricacies of class-room exercises.
     Mr. Adams is a member of the Masonic order, still continuing his membership in the home lodge at Kokomo, Indiana.  He is also a member of Esther Court.  Tribe of Ben Hur, in Hamilton.  In political views he is a Republican.  Mrs. Adams is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Source: Centennial History of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. B. F. Bowen & Co., Publishers - 1905 - Page 580