Re: Burials of unknown persons
ADAMS
Posted By: Sharyl Ferrall - Clayton co. IAGenWeb coordinator In Response To: Burials of unknown persons (Mary Meyer)
Date: 1/8/2020 at 20:55:31
Mary - the following newspaper article may give you some 'food for thought' about Moses H. Adams. Although the family lore about him being murdered may be true, the article does give another reason that he may have disappeared.....
"Our town has been considerably excited over the absconding of M.H. Adams. He suddenly disappeared leaving a large amount of debts and but very little to pay with. The creditors lost no time in attaching whatever property could be found, and most of them will secure something, if not enough to pay the full amounts. Such a man does more harm in a community than simply cheating people out of their just dues; he teaches the lesson of dishonesty, and should be punished as severely as the law will permit, that the young may see how terrible it is to be dishonest. Such men should be hunted down and brought to justice at whatever cost."
~Elkader Weekly Register, Thursday, August 12, 1886 (Clayton correspondence column)--
Do you have a source for the information about a body being found sometime after he disappeared?Moses' wife didn't file for a Civil War Widow's pension until July 1901, so if he was murdered maybe that's around the time his body was found. Obtaining the pension records might be very beneficial to your search.
It seems odd that if he had been murdered, none of the local papers appear to have covered it. Also that the obit of Mrs. Adams only mentions that she'd married him - nothing about when he died - or that she was tragically widowed. The court reports printed in the Elkader papers (most in Sept. 1886) contain several civil suits brought against M.H. Adams. It looks like all were settled for the plaintiff.
This is an interesting case. I'd be interested in knowing more, as I'm sure you are! Hopefully someone else will find your query and have more information.
Clayton Queries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
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