Pictures courtesy of Bob Adamson
(Many thanks to my mother's second cousin Jean (Reed) Pinick for her considerable on-line research as well as to Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr.'s granddaughter Terry Ellen (Adamson) Mann for their help with information in this biography!)
Martin Ernest "M.E." Adamson, Sr., 70. of Alhambra (Los Angeles Co.), California died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 9:40 P.M. on August 13, 1953 in the Los Angeles County General Hospital in Los Angeles, California. He had been a patient there for three weeks.
He was born July 20, 1883 in Phelix, Iowa, the first of six children of Levina Ellen (Bennett) AND Ellis Nathan Adamson. He was a grandson of Amy Jane (Stanley) and Nathan Adamson of Columbiana County, Iowa.
siblings
Leona (Adamson) Burgess(October 1884-1958)
Everett Hiram Adamson(August 1886-March 11, 1946)
Mary Myrtle(Adamson) Hopkins (September 1891-1978)
Fred Dail Adamson(January 25, 18965-October 17, 1955)
Chester Claude Adamson(August 1898-March 21, 1966)
He married Elizabeth "Bessie" Fortner (December 16, 1886-1963). They had one son, Ernest Ellis Adamson (July 14, 1905-June 13, 1941). They were divorced.
He married Mildred L Wightman in Traverse City, Grand Traverse, Michigan on September 1, 1927. She was 21, and he was 44. Their only child, Martin Ernest "Binky" Adamson, Jr., was born on February 8, 1932 in Florida.
Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. was a journalist and an entrepreneur.
In his application to the Consulate General of the United States at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on April 13, 1918, it states that he had been working as the business manager of the Tribune Publishing Company, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada since January 2, 1913. This application further states that he was still married to Bessie (Fortner) Adamson at the time and that she was residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The application states his age as 34.
Bu 1935 Martin and his second wife, Mildred, along with their son, Binky, were living in Wichita, Kansas. HIs application at that time was Director of Advertising for the WICHITA EAGLE newspaper.
In 1938 Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. was working in San Francisco, California for the SAN FRANCISCO NEWS newspaper. He and Mildred and Binky left San Francisco after he finished his work on the World Fair editions for the SAN FRANCISCO NEWS, and they moved to Capitola, California, a small coastal town just south of Santa Cruz, California. In Capitola he owned a drug store along with several other small businesses.
In 1948 Martin, Mildred, and Binky were still living in Capitola, California because my father, Dean Allen Adamson, and my mother, Florine, and I visited them there in December of that year. As a matter of fact, my babny book has a notation from my mother that we traveled to Santa Cruz in December of 1948 to visit my dad's "Uncle Martin." I also still have my dad's 8 mm home movies of all of us during that visit. I was a year-and-a-half old at the time. Binky was approximately 16-years-old in this home movie, and the movie shows Binky smoking a cigarette while walking beside my dad along the beach. Also, Martin, Mildred, and Binky were still in Capitola in 1949 because William E. "Uncle Bill" Adamson, visited them in 1949 when he traveled to California to take his dental board examinations for the State of California. Both my dad and my uncle Bill were nephews of Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. Sometime after 1949 Martin, Mildred, and Binky moved to Los Angeles where "Uncle Martin" died just a few years later. I believe that no one in our extended family of "Uncle Martin" ever heard from or saw Mildred after he died. In fact, no one knows what happened to her or when and where she died, which is an Adamson family mystery to this day.
To put his life in perspective, I remember even as a small boy that my dad's "Uncle Martin" was a household name to be heard often in family conversations. In other words, he was a person of great interest and admiration to my dad and his siblings. He was often mentioned both in my own family's home as well as at family reunions. Of course, this was because he had money and property. That was my first understanding of him. Probably the most frequent story about him, which I've come to believe as fact, is that he became a millionaire and then went broke at two different times in his life, one of which was the stock market crash of 1929. However, as I've become interested in my family history in later years, I've had the time to reflect about him at length. He was born and reared on a farm in the late 1880's in Iowa. This fact alone would have prevented most people in similar circumstances from obtaining very much formal education, which is very likely the case for "Uncle Martin." I have no doubt that he was thinly educated, which might or might not have extended to even a high school diploma. Very likely he had an 8th grade education as was the case for most males of the era. Despite this humble beginning of his life, it is obvious that he had intelligence and ambition and the vision to see that there was quite a bit to be achieved if one was willing to make some sacrifices by being willing to take risks and to "move around." From rural Iowa to rural Franklin County, Kansas to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Traverse City, Michigan to Wichita, Kansas to San Francisco, California to Capitola, California, and to Los Angeles, California reflects unusual effort and quite a journey in life. Who knows how many other destinations will never be known? Even more remarkable is the nature of his journey in life: most migration in the 1880's and the turn of the 20th Century was for the purpose of relatively free land as well as better land to farm. In contrast, my dad's "Uncle Martin's" migration was toward the goal of business opportunities, which in his case very much included being articulate if not downright eloquent with the written word on a formal basis. Differently stated, "Uncle Martin" was an aberration within his family and from the common male identity of the times. He was a man of the written word and of the perpetual dress suit and four-in-hand necktie.
He was a person with thinking beyond his humble beginning and beyond the restricted circumstances of common folk during his place in time. An appropriate question might be, "Whatever caused him to be what he was?" There absolutely is not an answer!
Robert Neal "Bob" Adamson
grand nephew
(Many thanks to my mother's second cousin Jean (Reed) Pinick for her considerable on-line research as well as to Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr.'s granddaughter Terry Ellen (Adamson) Mann for their help with information in this biography!)
Martin Ernest "M.E." Adamson, Sr., 70. of Alhambra (Los Angeles Co.), California died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 9:40 P.M. on August 13, 1953 in the Los Angeles County General Hospital in Los Angeles, California. He had been a patient there for three weeks.
He was born July 20, 1883 in Phelix, Iowa, the first of six children of Levina Ellen (Bennett) AND Ellis Nathan Adamson. He was a grandson of Amy Jane (Stanley) and Nathan Adamson of Columbiana County, Iowa.
siblings
Leona (Adamson) Burgess(October 1884-1958)
Everett Hiram Adamson(August 1886-March 11, 1946)
Mary Myrtle(Adamson) Hopkins (September 1891-1978)
Fred Dail Adamson(January 25, 18965-October 17, 1955)
Chester Claude Adamson(August 1898-March 21, 1966)
He married Elizabeth "Bessie" Fortner (December 16, 1886-1963). They had one son, Ernest Ellis Adamson (July 14, 1905-June 13, 1941). They were divorced.
He married Mildred L Wightman in Traverse City, Grand Traverse, Michigan on September 1, 1927. She was 21, and he was 44. Their only child, Martin Ernest "Binky" Adamson, Jr., was born on February 8, 1932 in Florida.
Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. was a journalist and an entrepreneur.
In his application to the Consulate General of the United States at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on April 13, 1918, it states that he had been working as the business manager of the Tribune Publishing Company, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada since January 2, 1913. This application further states that he was still married to Bessie (Fortner) Adamson at the time and that she was residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The application states his age as 34.
Bu 1935 Martin and his second wife, Mildred, along with their son, Binky, were living in Wichita, Kansas. HIs application at that time was Director of Advertising for the WICHITA EAGLE newspaper.
In 1938 Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. was working in San Francisco, California for the SAN FRANCISCO NEWS newspaper. He and Mildred and Binky left San Francisco after he finished his work on the World Fair editions for the SAN FRANCISCO NEWS, and they moved to Capitola, California, a small coastal town just south of Santa Cruz, California. In Capitola he owned a drug store along with several other small businesses.
In 1948 Martin, Mildred, and Binky were still living in Capitola, California because my father, Dean Allen Adamson, and my mother, Florine, and I visited them there in December of that year. As a matter of fact, my babny book has a notation from my mother that we traveled to Santa Cruz in December of 1948 to visit my dad's "Uncle Martin." I also still have my dad's 8 mm home movies of all of us during that visit. I was a year-and-a-half old at the time. Binky was approximately 16-years-old in this home movie, and the movie shows Binky smoking a cigarette while walking beside my dad along the beach. Also, Martin, Mildred, and Binky were still in Capitola in 1949 because William E. "Uncle Bill" Adamson, visited them in 1949 when he traveled to California to take his dental board examinations for the State of California. Both my dad and my uncle Bill were nephews of Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. Sometime after 1949 Martin, Mildred, and Binky moved to Los Angeles where "Uncle Martin" died just a few years later. I believe that no one in our extended family of "Uncle Martin" ever heard from or saw Mildred after he died. In fact, no one knows what happened to her or when and where she died, which is an Adamson family mystery to this day.
To put his life in perspective, I remember even as a small boy that my dad's "Uncle Martin" was a household name to be heard often in family conversations. In other words, he was a person of great interest and admiration to my dad and his siblings. He was often mentioned both in my own family's home as well as at family reunions. Of course, this was because he had money and property. That was my first understanding of him. Probably the most frequent story about him, which I've come to believe as fact, is that he became a millionaire and then went broke at two different times in his life, one of which was the stock market crash of 1929. However, as I've become interested in my family history in later years, I've had the time to reflect about him at length. He was born and reared on a farm in the late 1880's in Iowa. This fact alone would have prevented most people in similar circumstances from obtaining very much formal education, which is very likely the case for "Uncle Martin." I have no doubt that he was thinly educated, which might or might not have extended to even a high school diploma. Very likely he had an 8th grade education as was the case for most males of the era. Despite this humble beginning of his life, it is obvious that he had intelligence and ambition and the vision to see that there was quite a bit to be achieved if one was willing to make some sacrifices by being willing to take risks and to "move around." From rural Iowa to rural Franklin County, Kansas to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Traverse City, Michigan to Wichita, Kansas to San Francisco, California to Capitola, California, and to Los Angeles, California reflects unusual effort and quite a journey in life. Who knows how many other destinations will never be known? Even more remarkable is the nature of his journey in life: most migration in the 1880's and the turn of the 20th Century was for the purpose of relatively free land as well as better land to farm. In contrast, my dad's "Uncle Martin's" migration was toward the goal of business opportunities, which in his case very much included being articulate if not downright eloquent with the written word on a formal basis. Differently stated, "Uncle Martin" was an aberration within his family and from the common male identity of the times. He was a man of the written word and of the perpetual dress suit and four-in-hand necktie.
He was a person with thinking beyond his humble beginning and beyond the restricted circumstances of common folk during his place in time. An appropriate question might be, "Whatever caused him to be what he was?" There absolutely is not an answer!
Robert Neal "Bob" Adamson
grand nephew
Pictures courtesy of Bob Adamson
(Many thanks to my mother's second cousin Jean (Reed) Pinick for her considerable on-line research as well as to Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr.'s granddaughter Terry Ellen (Adamson) Mann for their help with information in this biography!)
Martin Ernest "M.E." Adamson, Sr., 70. of Alhambra (Los Angeles Co.), California died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 9:40 P.M. on August 13, 1953 in the Los Angeles County General Hospital in Los Angeles, California. He had been a patient there for three weeks.
He was born July 20, 1883 in Phelix, Iowa, the first of six children of Levina Ellen (Bennett) AND Ellis Nathan Adamson. He was a grandson of Amy Jane (Stanley) and Nathan Adamson of Columbiana County, Iowa.
siblings
Leona (Adamson) Burgess(October 1884-1958)
Everett Hiram Adamson(August 1886-March 11, 1946)
Mary Myrtle(Adamson) Hopkins (September 1891-1978)
Fred Dail Adamson(January 25, 18965-October 17, 1955)
Chester Claude Adamson(August 1898-March 21, 1966)
He married Elizabeth "Bessie" Fortner (December 16, 1886-1963). They had one son, Ernest Ellis Adamson (July 14, 1905-June 13, 1941). They were divorced.
He married Mildred L Wightman in Traverse City, Grand Traverse, Michigan on September 1, 1927. She was 21, and he was 44. Their only child, Martin Ernest "Binky" Adamson, Jr., was born on February 8, 1932 in Florida.
Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. was a journalist and an entrepreneur.
In his application to the Consulate General of the United States at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on April 13, 1918, it states that he had been working as the business manager of the Tribune Publishing Company, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada since January 2, 1913. This application further states that he was still married to Bessie (Fortner) Adamson at the time and that she was residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The application states his age as 34.
Bu 1935 Martin and his second wife, Mildred, along with their son, Binky, were living in Wichita, Kansas. HIs application at that time was Director of Advertising for the WICHITA EAGLE newspaper.
In 1938 Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. was working in San Francisco, California for the SAN FRANCISCO NEWS newspaper. He and Mildred and Binky left San Francisco after he finished his work on the World Fair editions for the SAN FRANCISCO NEWS, and they moved to Capitola, California, a small coastal town just south of Santa Cruz, California. In Capitola he owned a drug store along with several other small businesses.
In 1948 Martin, Mildred, and Binky were still living in Capitola, California because my father, Dean Allen Adamson, and my mother, Florine, and I visited them there in December of that year. As a matter of fact, my babny book has a notation from my mother that we traveled to Santa Cruz in December of 1948 to visit my dad's "Uncle Martin." I also still have my dad's 8 mm home movies of all of us during that visit. I was a year-and-a-half old at the time. Binky was approximately 16-years-old in this home movie, and the movie shows Binky smoking a cigarette while walking beside my dad along the beach. Also, Martin, Mildred, and Binky were still in Capitola in 1949 because William E. "Uncle Bill" Adamson, visited them in 1949 when he traveled to California to take his dental board examinations for the State of California. Both my dad and my uncle Bill were nephews of Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. Sometime after 1949 Martin, Mildred, and Binky moved to Los Angeles where "Uncle Martin" died just a few years later. I believe that no one in our extended family of "Uncle Martin" ever heard from or saw Mildred after he died. In fact, no one knows what happened to her or when and where she died, which is an Adamson family mystery to this day.
To put his life in perspective, I remember even as a small boy that my dad's "Uncle Martin" was a household name to be heard often in family conversations. In other words, he was a person of great interest and admiration to my dad and his siblings. He was often mentioned both in my own family's home as well as at family reunions. Of course, this was because he had money and property. That was my first understanding of him. Probably the most frequent story about him, which I've come to believe as fact, is that he became a millionaire and then went broke at two different times in his life, one of which was the stock market crash of 1929. However, as I've become interested in my family history in later years, I've had the time to reflect about him at length. He was born and reared on a farm in the late 1880's in Iowa. This fact alone would have prevented most people in similar circumstances from obtaining very much formal education, which is very likely the case for "Uncle Martin." I have no doubt that he was thinly educated, which might or might not have extended to even a high school diploma. Very likely he had an 8th grade education as was the case for most males of the era. Despite this humble beginning of his life, it is obvious that he had intelligence and ambition and the vision to see that there was quite a bit to be achieved if one was willing to make some sacrifices by being willing to take risks and to "move around." From rural Iowa to rural Franklin County, Kansas to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Traverse City, Michigan to Wichita, Kansas to San Francisco, California to Capitola, California, and to Los Angeles, California reflects unusual effort and quite a journey in life. Who knows how many other destinations will never be known? Even more remarkable is the nature of his journey in life: most migration in the 1880's and the turn of the 20th Century was for the purpose of relatively free land as well as better land to farm. In contrast, my dad's "Uncle Martin's" migration was toward the goal of business opportunities, which in his case very much included being articulate if not downright eloquent with the written word on a formal basis. Differently stated, "Uncle Martin" was an aberration within his family and from the common male identity of the times. He was a man of the written word and of the perpetual dress suit and four-in-hand necktie.
He was a person with thinking beyond his humble beginning and beyond the restricted circumstances of common folk during his place in time. An appropriate question might be, "Whatever caused him to be what he was?" There absolutely is not an answer!
Robert Neal "Bob" Adamson
grand nephew
(Many thanks to my mother's second cousin Jean (Reed) Pinick for her considerable on-line research as well as to Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr.'s granddaughter Terry Ellen (Adamson) Mann for their help with information in this biography!)
Martin Ernest "M.E." Adamson, Sr., 70. of Alhambra (Los Angeles Co.), California died of a cerebral hemorrhage at 9:40 P.M. on August 13, 1953 in the Los Angeles County General Hospital in Los Angeles, California. He had been a patient there for three weeks.
He was born July 20, 1883 in Phelix, Iowa, the first of six children of Levina Ellen (Bennett) AND Ellis Nathan Adamson. He was a grandson of Amy Jane (Stanley) and Nathan Adamson of Columbiana County, Iowa.
siblings
Leona (Adamson) Burgess(October 1884-1958)
Everett Hiram Adamson(August 1886-March 11, 1946)
Mary Myrtle(Adamson) Hopkins (September 1891-1978)
Fred Dail Adamson(January 25, 18965-October 17, 1955)
Chester Claude Adamson(August 1898-March 21, 1966)
He married Elizabeth "Bessie" Fortner (December 16, 1886-1963). They had one son, Ernest Ellis Adamson (July 14, 1905-June 13, 1941). They were divorced.
He married Mildred L Wightman in Traverse City, Grand Traverse, Michigan on September 1, 1927. She was 21, and he was 44. Their only child, Martin Ernest "Binky" Adamson, Jr., was born on February 8, 1932 in Florida.
Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. was a journalist and an entrepreneur.
In his application to the Consulate General of the United States at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on April 13, 1918, it states that he had been working as the business manager of the Tribune Publishing Company, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada since January 2, 1913. This application further states that he was still married to Bessie (Fortner) Adamson at the time and that she was residing in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The application states his age as 34.
Bu 1935 Martin and his second wife, Mildred, along with their son, Binky, were living in Wichita, Kansas. HIs application at that time was Director of Advertising for the WICHITA EAGLE newspaper.
In 1938 Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. was working in San Francisco, California for the SAN FRANCISCO NEWS newspaper. He and Mildred and Binky left San Francisco after he finished his work on the World Fair editions for the SAN FRANCISCO NEWS, and they moved to Capitola, California, a small coastal town just south of Santa Cruz, California. In Capitola he owned a drug store along with several other small businesses.
In 1948 Martin, Mildred, and Binky were still living in Capitola, California because my father, Dean Allen Adamson, and my mother, Florine, and I visited them there in December of that year. As a matter of fact, my babny book has a notation from my mother that we traveled to Santa Cruz in December of 1948 to visit my dad's "Uncle Martin." I also still have my dad's 8 mm home movies of all of us during that visit. I was a year-and-a-half old at the time. Binky was approximately 16-years-old in this home movie, and the movie shows Binky smoking a cigarette while walking beside my dad along the beach. Also, Martin, Mildred, and Binky were still in Capitola in 1949 because William E. "Uncle Bill" Adamson, visited them in 1949 when he traveled to California to take his dental board examinations for the State of California. Both my dad and my uncle Bill were nephews of Martin Ernest Adamson, Sr. Sometime after 1949 Martin, Mildred, and Binky moved to Los Angeles where "Uncle Martin" died just a few years later. I believe that no one in our extended family of "Uncle Martin" ever heard from or saw Mildred after he died. In fact, no one knows what happened to her or when and where she died, which is an Adamson family mystery to this day.
To put his life in perspective, I remember even as a small boy that my dad's "Uncle Martin" was a household name to be heard often in family conversations. In other words, he was a person of great interest and admiration to my dad and his siblings. He was often mentioned both in my own family's home as well as at family reunions. Of course, this was because he had money and property. That was my first understanding of him. Probably the most frequent story about him, which I've come to believe as fact, is that he became a millionaire and then went broke at two different times in his life, one of which was the stock market crash of 1929. However, as I've become interested in my family history in later years, I've had the time to reflect about him at length. He was born and reared on a farm in the late 1880's in Iowa. This fact alone would have prevented most people in similar circumstances from obtaining very much formal education, which is very likely the case for "Uncle Martin." I have no doubt that he was thinly educated, which might or might not have extended to even a high school diploma. Very likely he had an 8th grade education as was the case for most males of the era. Despite this humble beginning of his life, it is obvious that he had intelligence and ambition and the vision to see that there was quite a bit to be achieved if one was willing to make some sacrifices by being willing to take risks and to "move around." From rural Iowa to rural Franklin County, Kansas to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada to Traverse City, Michigan to Wichita, Kansas to San Francisco, California to Capitola, California, and to Los Angeles, California reflects unusual effort and quite a journey in life. Who knows how many other destinations will never be known? Even more remarkable is the nature of his journey in life: most migration in the 1880's and the turn of the 20th Century was for the purpose of relatively free land as well as better land to farm. In contrast, my dad's "Uncle Martin's" migration was toward the goal of business opportunities, which in his case very much included being articulate if not downright eloquent with the written word on a formal basis. Differently stated, "Uncle Martin" was an aberration within his family and from the common male identity of the times. He was a man of the written word and of the perpetual dress suit and four-in-hand necktie.
He was a person with thinking beyond his humble beginning and beyond the restricted circumstances of common folk during his place in time. An appropriate question might be, "Whatever caused him to be what he was?" There absolutely is not an answer!
Robert Neal "Bob" Adamson
grand nephew
