186 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
GEORGE WILLARD ADAMS 
The subject of this sketch, familiar to 
many of the older members of the Flor¬ 
ida State Horticultural Society, for he 
and his wife were most enthusiastic mem¬ 
bers for many years, passed away on Jan¬ 
uary 3d, 1921, at the ripe age of eighty- 
three years and six months. In 1837 
George W. Adams was born in North- 
bridge, Massachusetts, moving from there 
to Milford in his boyhood. Until young 
manhood he spent his time on his father’s 
farm. The call of business in Boston 
came to him and he went there to live 
prior to 1867. 
In July, 1868, he married Miss Hattie 
S. Humphrey and they made their home 
in Chelsea for a few years; in 1873 Mrs. 
Adams died. For some years Mr. Adams 
and his older brother represented the Da¬ 
vis Sewing Machine Co., throughout the 
New England States, with headquarters 
in Boston. After a few years his health 
failed and his physicians ordered him 
away from the cold climate. In March, 
1875, he married Miss Elizabeth Conant, 
and they immediately left for Florida, 
where they spent the remainder of the 
winter. Mr. Adams improved in health 
and their next move was to Iowa and Col¬ 
orado. In 1877 came to South Flor¬ 
ida to live. 
Mr. Adams was the first Northern set¬ 
tler to get his homestead from the gov¬ 
ernment and settle at Lake Thonotosassa 
(Lake of Flints), Hillsboro county. He 
and another would-be settler traveled by 
wagon over a large portion of South Flor¬ 
ida but found nothing so beautiful as this 
lake. Here they became pioneers in earn¬ 
est. There was no railroad as far south 
as Tampa until 1883, so these travelers 
from the North went to Cedar Keys 
thence by boat to Tampa. When he had 
his land cleared so a house could be built, 
the lumber was ordered from Pensacola 
and one can imagine the wearisome days 
they were hauling this lumber sixteen 
miles through the pine woods to the pres¬ 
ent location. Mr. Adams said, “he could 
feel himself getting better every day,” 
and he did entirely recover from the tu¬ 
bercular trouble with which he was af¬ 
fected. 
He set out orange trees, going miles to 
get trees or nursery stock to put in his 
grove, then he raised quite a stock of nur¬ 
sery trees, supplying many of the new¬ 
comers with trees for groves. Mr. 
Adams set out about twenty acres in 
grove but recently sold out all but five 
acres surrounding his house when he 
found his strength was not sufficient to 
care for so many trees. In 1892 he put 
in an irrigating system that gave the fin¬ 
est results in watering the grove, and 
gave him more uniform crops yearly. 
JAMES C. CRAVER 
Mr. James C. Craver was born at edge which lingered with him to the end. 
Jonesboro, Ill., December 27, 1849. He was a studious lad. Stories are still 
Early in boyhood he gave evidence of that abundant of his taking his books to the 
eager desire for scholarship and knowl- field and resting his tired horse often 
