Enos Adams was born May 1, 1895, in Mountain Grove, Missouri, the eldest of eight children of William and Sarah Jane (Kelly) Adams. His maternal grandfather brought his family from Illinois to Missouri by wagon train in 1869, some of the wagons being pulled by oxen.
When he was three years old, the family came by covered wagon to the Tilden areas where they settled on 40 acres, raising sugar beets as there was a sugar beet plant nearby. They later located near Oakdale where the children attended school. Enos and brother Lawrence were members of the championship Oakdale basketball team in 1914.
On May 31, 1916, Enos and Murl Beer, daughter of Charles and Esther Simmons Beer, were married at the home of her parents in Oakdale. As a wedding gift, his father gave them two horses, a load of oats, and a load of hay. They lived on many farmsteads during their married life, all in Antelope County.
They were the parents of five children. Gene L. (1917) was born on the old Malzacher place south of Oakdale; Melvin C. (1919) and Gerald E (1924) and Ruth D (1926) on the Clemensen place south of Oakdale, where the Monks of Tintern Monastery is now located. In 1933, they moved to the Christine Lorenzen farm just east of Neligh.
All five children graduated from Neligh High School and the four boys served in the Armed Forces. Gene joined the Naval Air Force, Melvin, the Navy, Robert, the Air Force, and Gerald, the Army Signal Corps. Their son-in-law, Melvin Marsh also served in the Army Infantry. Gene died in 1959 and was never married. Melvin was married to Ilene Loewe in 1941 and they have three children, Sharon, Melvin Douglas, and Eric. Robert married Velda Recroft in 1942 and they have one son, Robert E. Velda died June 30, 1985. Gerald married Audrey Peterson in 1946 and they have two sons, Lynn and Tedd. Ruth married Melvin Marsh in 1944 and have four children, Barry, Patricia, Carla and Jacque.
Enos and Murl were both 50 year members of the United Methodist Church. Enos also served on the Co-op board and school board. Enos’s mother, Sarah Jane, for many years had a popcorn stand on the Oakdale main street just west of the bank building and in the 1930’s it was a great treat to attend the free show with a sack of freshly popped popcorn.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in June 2007