William Herbert Adams
25th Governor of Colorado
In office
January 11, 1927 – January 10, 1933
LieutenantGeorge Milton Corlett, Edwin C. Johnson
Preceded byClarence Morley
Succeeded byEdwin C. Johnson
Personal details
BornFebruary 15, 1861
Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedFebruary 4, 1954(1954-02-04) (aged 92)
Alamosa, Colorado, U.S.
Resting placeAlamosa, Colorado
Political partyDemocratic

William Herbert Adams (February 15, 1861 – February 4, 1954) was an American politician who served as the 25th governor of the state of Colorado, from 1927 until 1933.

Biography

Adams was born in Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. In 1878, when he was 17, Adams moved to Alamosa, Colorado. He was later elected to City Treasurer, then Mayor of Alamosa, and later as Conejos County commissioner. In 1886, he was elected to the Colorado General Assembly as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives. In 1888, he was elected to the Colorado Senate where he served until 1926, when he was elected as Governor of Colorado.[1] The centennial historian of the state, Marshall Sprague, summarized Billy Adams as "a cheerful, outgoing, bowlegged cowboy."[2]

In 1921, during his term as Colorado Senate Senator, Adams received approval on a bill that formed Alamosa State Normal School in Alamosa, Colorado. The college’s name was later changed to Adams State Teachers College in honor of its founder and finally to its present name Adams State University. Adams died on February 4, 1954, in Alamosa, Colorado, at the age of ninety-two, where he is buried.[3]

Personal life

John Adams, Billy's father, was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and the Wisconsin State Senate. Billy’s older brother, Alva Adams, was also governor of Colorado from 1887 to 1889, from 1897 to 1899, and 1905. Billy's nephew, Alva Blanchard Adams, was a United States Senator from Colorado from 1923 until 1925 and from 1933 to 1941.

Adams married twice. First to Emma Ottaway, and later to Hattie D. Mullins.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Home | Archives".
  2. ↑ Sprague, Marshall (1976). Colorado: A Bicentennial History. New York City: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 157. ISBN 0-393-05599-X.
  3. ↑ "Ex-Governor Billy Adams Dies at Alamosa, Aged 92". Greeley Daily Tribune. February 4, 1954. p. 1. Retrieved December 25, 2018 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ↑ "William Herbert Adams". National Governors Association. 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
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