Fred N. Adam. The popular and energetic postmaster of Longton, Kansas, Fred N. Adam, who was appointed to this office in April, 1916, had been a resident of Longton since 1911, and had been well known in mercantile circles as one of the proprietors of the establishment conducted under the style of Adam Brothers. Almost immediately upon his arrival here he became known as a live and energetic citizen, capable of handling official duties, and his appointment as postmaster was preceded by several terms of good work as a member of the local council.
Mr. Adam is a native son of Kansas, having been born at Monmouth, Crawford County, August 18, 1884. He belongs to a family which came originally from Scotland and located in Virginia (now West Virginia) during colonial days, and is a son of L. C. and Thursa (Casterline) Adam. L. C. Adam was born in that part of Virginia which is now West Virginia, in 1852, and was twelve years of age when he accompanied his parents to Crawford County, Kansas, the family settling as pioneers at Monmouth. His education, commenced in the public schools of his native state, was completed in the new locality, and there he was reared to manhood and married. Mr. Adam commenced his independent career at Monmouth as a mercantile operator, but in 1888 removed to Cedar Vale, Chautauqua County, where he continued to be engaged in commercial pursuits until his death, which occurred in August, 1910. He was one of the substantial business men of his locality and also took a keen interest in local and county public affairs, and as a democrat was elected a member of the board of county commissioners of Chautauqua County. Mr. Adam married Miss Thursa Casterline, who was born in Iowa, in 1858, and died at Monmouth, Kansas, in 1886, and they became the parents of three children: Anna, who died in Wyoming, at the age of twenty-eight years; Fred N., of this notice; and J. F., who resided at Longton and is his brother’s partner in business. L. C. Adam was again married to Miss Flo Curtis, who survives him and lives at Worland, Wyoming, and they had two children: Harry and Marie, who are residing with their mother on the Wyoming ranch.
The public schools of Cedar Vale, Kansas, furnished Fred E. Adam with his early educational training, following which he spent three years at Saint John’s Military School, Salina, Kansas. Subsequently he enrolled as a student at Mount Barbara Military Academy, also at Salina, from which he was duly graduated in 1900, and at that time began to secure his first experience in the mercantile business, with his father, at Cedar Vale. In 1905 he turned his attention temporarily to ranching in Elk County, but in April, 1911, returned to mercantile affairs, this time at Longton, where he and his brother, J. F., founded the firm of Adam Brothers. From a small beginning they have built up a business that includes the trade of the entire surrounding community, and their general store, situated on Kansas Avenue, is one of Longton’s leading business establishments. Mr. Adam is a progressive, enterprising business man who had made his own way in the world and had been the author of his own success. He had solved for himself the problems of business life, and thus had gained the self reliance and confidence that combine to make for prosperity in any of the fields of endeavor in life. From the time that he cast his first vote, he had supported the democratic party unreservedly, and had wielded more than an ordinary influence in local civic matters. He was elected by his fellow citizens to serve on the local council, as a member of which he established a good record for hard and worth-while work, and April 19, 1916, was appointed by President Wilson to the office of postmaster. He had endeavored to give the people good mail service, and his genial courtesy and obliging manner had made him many new friends. Mr. Adam is the owner of his own home on Kansas Avenue. With his family, he belongs to the Episcopal Church, and his fraternal connection is with Longton Lodge No. 242, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of which he is at this time noble grand.
In 1908, Mr. Adam was married at Sedan, Kansas, to Miss Elsie Boutwell, of Cedar Vale, and they have three children, namely: Ronald, born July 1, 1912; Maxwell, born December 25, 1914; and Carol, born September 6, 1916.