Milton Adams

File contributed for use on the Polk County GenWeb by: Nancy Rayburn. Originally posted on Jnauary 28, 2008 by Odell Robinson; reposted April 10, 2017. Transcribed from: The History of Florida: Past & Present, The Lewis Publishing Co., 1923.

ADAMS, MILTON A. came to Haines City, Polk County, in the year 1821 and here became associated with J. R. WADSWORTH and T. G. BOWEN in purchasing from ROBERT REIDDLE, of Kissimmee, the business which they have since conducted under the title of the Haines City Lumber & Novelty Works. Under the control of these progressive business men the enterprise has been expanded in scope and now includes the handling of all kinds of building supplies, contracting for the erection of buildings, besides the manufacturing of various novelties, the concern being one of major importance in connection with the industrial and general business activities and also the material advancement of the community.

Mr. ADAMS was born in Sumter County, Florida, on the 24th of June, 1869, and is a son of JAMES M. and ELMINA E. (GRANT) ADAMS, both natives of Alabama and both young at the time of the removal of the respective families to Lafayette County, Florida. Of the eight children of JAMES M. and ELMINA ADAMS five are living at the time of this writing, in the fall of 1922. JOEL ADAMS, grandfather of the subject of this review, was of Scotch ancestry and was a sterling pioneer who did much to aid in the early development and progress of Florida. WILLIAM GRANT, the maternal grandfather, likewise was a scion of Scotch ancestry and a pioneer in civic and industrial development in Florida.

MILTON A. ADAMS was but six months old at the time of the family removal from Sumter to Suwanee County, in the latter of which he was reared to maturity on the home farm, the whilehe attended the district schools during the winter terms of three months, his broader education having been gained through self-discipline and through the associations of a signally active and successful business career. As a young man he was for six years engaged in the general merchandise business in Lafayette County, and later he was identified with lumbering operations in Clay County, with headquarters at Green Cove Springs, where he also conducteda general store for several years. In lumbering enterprise he was for six years associatedwith the great E.I. DuPont Company of Maryland, in the vicinity of Green Cove Springs, and in January, 1921, he removed to Haines City, where he has since continued as one of the principals in the Haines City Lumber & Novelty Works. He is a member of the Haines City Chamber of Commerce and a vigorous supporter of its progressive policies and work, is a Royal Arch Mason, is a past grand in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and he holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

December 23, 1890, recorded the marriage of Mr. ADAMS and Mrs. INA SKINNER, and she passed to the life eternal in 1914, her surviving children being GUY W., LOIS A., EWART G., HARRIS H., and LONDY M.. For his second wife Mr. ADAMS wedded Miss SARAH BEERY, of Green Cove Springs, and she is the popular mistress of their attractive home at Haines City.