Home › History › People › The Measure of a Man: Henry A. Adams
Part of the Sandwich Manufacturing Series
When Henry A. Adams died in 1917, Sandwich did more than record his passing, it reflected on the life he had lived.
Published in the local press, the following tribute offers a rare, contemporary view of Adams not only as a businessman, but as a man whose character, faith, and daily conduct left a lasting impression on his community.
Henry A. Adams at Rest
The body of the late Henry A. Adams, whose death was noted in our issue of last week, reached Sandwich Saturday afternoon and was taken to his home at the corner of Main and First streets. Mrs. Adams, Mrs. Minnie Houston and daughter Nancy, and Charles Adams met the body at Kansas City, Missouri, to accompany it part of the way on its sad journey.
This article is part of the life and legacy of Henry A. Adams.
The funeral services were held at the Congregational church on Sunday afternoon. The church was filled with sorrowing relatives and friends who had come to pay a just tribute to one whom everyone respected and admired for his sterling qualities and strength of character.
The altar and coffin were almost hidden from view by the wealth of beautiful flowers sent by relatives, intimate friends, and business associates. Dr. James M. Lewis, the pastor of the church and who had known Mr. Adams intimately for more than twenty years, paid an eloquent tribute to him and his worth as a member of the church and the community.
He said in part:
“I hardly know what term to use to describe the feelings that have been stirred within us by the death of Mr. Adams. It is not often that there are so many consolations when death comes as in this case. We all feel that there has been a great loss, not only to his family, but also to the church and community. There is nothing in his death, no bitterness. Death is as much a part of God’s plan as birth, and is just as expressive of divine love.”
Mr. Adams lived to a good old age, being a little past eighty years old. His life was about twice the average length of life. As a rule his health during his entire life had been good. His last days were comparatively free from suffering.
His home life was perhaps as nearly ideal as any that we have ever known. His married life covered a period of about fifty eight years, every moment of which was a happy one. He continued to live in his children, all of whom are highly respected and great moral powers in the communities in which they live.
He was successful in business and was an important factor in building up an institution that has given employment to many in this city, and one where the relationship between employer and employee has always been most cordial.
He was able to secure for his family not only the necessities and comforts of life, but also what luxuries they cared to have. Had his income been many times more than it was, it is not likely that he would have spent any more on himself, nor would his family have cared for more for themselves.
With such facts as these in mind we are comforted in our loss.
It was in 1856 that Mr. Augustus Adams came to Sandwich. Since then Henry A. Adams had been a resident of this city. He was prominent in its business, public, social, and religious life. It is doubtful if any man in the history of the city was as widely and as intimately known.
What I shall say today is not intended primarily as an eulogy. This is not necessary. His life speaks for him in terms more eloquent and persuasive than any words that could be spoken concerning him.
There are, however, some important lessons that may be learned from his life, and it is of these that I wish to speak.
We learn more from life than from all other sources combined—from experience, from our own life, and also from the lives of others. The life of Mr. Adams was as an open book. In it there was nothing concealed. There was no duplicity. What he was he expressed in word and act.
In him was a meeting of the real and the ideal to a degree that is unusual. Hence, we know the man as he was.
The lessons of his life lie on the surface, and whosoever will may learn. The lessons were on the surface, but they sprang from a depth of soul within.
There was no miracle in his life. It was thoroughly human. It was as natural as anything could be. What he was was the effect of laws and forces which are at the command of all.
The prime element in him, as it is in every one, was himself. One’s own self is the most determining factor in one’s life, more than heredity or environment or both combined.
What he did others can do. Of course his life cannot be duplicated, for no two persons are exactly alike. If there were, one could be spared. However, the kind of life he lived can be duplicated, and has been, by many.
He lived a higher and better life than most, but no higher and better than others have lived. That is hope and encouragement for us all.
Without doubt the explanation of his life is found in the obedience of what the Master called the Great Commandment:
“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.”
In early life he became a disciple of Christ. He voluntarily made Christ his Lord and Master.
He was not satisfied with accepting the teachings of Christ as true, though he did that without reservation. He was not a mere conformist. His thought was not to be merely an imitator of Christ.
He possessed the Christ spirit. He committed himself to the living of the Christ life as Christ taught and lived it. It is not an exaggeration to say that Christ lived among us in the spirit of Mr. Adams.
It was because of this spirit and the rigid moral discipline to which he subjected himself that he came to have the heart he had.
The natural thing for him to do was to identify himself with the church. This he did in 1857. No one has ever been a member of this church so long as he.
He was not merely a nominal member, but a very active one—serving as trustee, deacon, and in many other roles. He was, in reality, one of the pillars of the church.
He also observed the second part of the commandment—love of neighbor. He spent his Sundays visiting the sick, helping the poor, and offering friendship to all, regardless of status.
If we would be kindly remembered by people when we are dead, we must kindly remember people while we are living.
In his death we have lost a valued citizen. The church has lost a devoted member. The family a loving husband and father.
“I cannot say, and I will not say, that he is dead, he is just away.”
Continue the Story
Research & Sources
- Contemporary newspaper accounts of Henry A. Adams, 1917
- Local publications including the Sandwich Gazette and regional press
- Historical obituary collections and archival materials