Russell and Arminta Adams

Wedding portrait of R. D. and Mattie Adams
Wedding portrait of R. D. and Mattie Adams

Russell Dean Adams, second son of Lewis and Mary Adams, was born June 16, 1856, in the log house on his father's farm near Fitchburg, Dane County, Wisconsin. He was named for his maternal grandfather, Russell Dean "R. D." Salisbury and like his grandfather, he was always called "R.D.". R. D. Adams grew up with his brothers and sisters on his father's farm, living at home until 1883 when he followed his brother, Lewis Lewellyn, Jr., to Iowa. There R. D. leased a farm in O'Brien County, near Primghar, Iowa. One of his near neighbors was the William Oliver family.

Arminta "Mattie" Oliver, eldest daughter of William and Martha Oliver, was born on June 25, 1866 in Howard Lake, Minnesota. In 1872 the Olivers moved to Indiana, staying there only one year. They came west again, locating near Primghar, in O'Brien Co., Iowa. Here Mattie grew up on the farm, attending rural school with her sisters and brothers. Later she attended Normal School to secure a certificate to teach school.



R.D. and Mattie were married on March 19, 1885 in Primghar, Iowa, and had eleven children:

Mae AdamsBorn November 4, 1877.
Russell Dean Adams Born September 22, 1889.
Chester Arthur AdamsBorn May 12, 1891.
Grace Clemintine AdamsBorn April 12, 1893.
Lewis Lewellyn AdamsBorn April 14, 1895.
Mary Anne AdamsBorn December 26, 1896.
Ruth Arminta AdamsBorn July 13, 1898.
William Oliver AdamsBorn January 4, 1900.
Maude Letitia AdamsBorn May 3, 1901.
Vernon AdamsBorn August 26, 1902.
Darlene AdamsDied as an infant shortly after birth in 1903.

In 1905, the family having outgrown the O'Brian County farm, R.D. bought a 320-acre farmin the Clear Creek Valley, on the west side of Sherman County. On the farm was a modest frame house, which served as the family home for 14 years.

R. D. and Mattie in front of their first house on the Sherman County farm
R. D. and Mattie in fornt of their first house on the Sherman County farm.

In 1919, R.D. built a new frame house on the Sherman County farm.


New house built on the Sherman County farm by R. D. Adams and family.
New house built on the Sherman County farm by R. D. Adams and family.

The boys left home to go to high-school and college, but they all returned and became successful farmers, with farm homes of their own. For much more detail on the lives of R.D. and Mattie, see the section on R. D. Adams, Sr. in the memoirs of his daughter-in-law Ruth VanDyke.

Children of R. D. and Mattie Adams.
Children of R. D. and Mattie Adams. Maude, Chester, Grace, Russell, Jr., Ruth, Vernon, Mary Ann, William, and Lewis. Taken in 1934.

This page was first created on December 16, 2001, and was last revised on June 23, 2013. If you have comments, corrections or additional information or pictures you would like to contribute, feel free to contact Dave Nims.