Parmenio Adams

Adams was born in Simsbury, Connecticut to Parmenio Adams and Chloe Nearing. He married Eleanor Wells on October 23, 1795 and they had four children, James, Sarah, Sarah, and Laura.[1]

In 1806, Adams moved his family to Phelps Corners, which is now located in part of the Village of Attica, which lies in the Town of Alexander. Adams served as lieutenant of light Infantry, captain of Grenadiers, second and first major, and division inspector of Infantry in the New York State Militia from 1806 until 1816. During the War of 1812, he was active on the Niagara frontier as Major, division inspector of Infantry, and commandant of the New York Volunteers.

Adams was Sheriff of Genesee County from 1815 to 1816 and again from 1818 to 1821. He had agricultural interests, ran a gristmill, and was a construction contractor on the Erie Canal.[2]

At the United States House of Representatives elections in New York, 1822, Isaac Wilson was declared elected in the 29th District by a small margin. Adams contested Wilson's election, showing that the returns had been certified mistakenly, and Adams was seated in the 18th United States Congress as an Adams-Clay Democratic-Republican on January 7, 1824. Adams was re-elected as an Adams man to the 19th United States Congress, holding office until March 3, 1827.[3] He returned to his personal businesses.

Adams died in Alexander, Genesee County, New York, on February 19, 1832.[4] He is interred at Forest Hill Cemetery, in the Town of Attica, now in Wyoming County.[5]

• United States Congress. "Parmenio Adams (id: A000042)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pp. 71 and 400; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
• Obit transcribed at Ancestry.com
• Cases of Contested Elections in Congress 1789 to 1834 compiled by Matthew St. Clair Clarke and David A. Hall (Washington, D.C., 1834; Case XLIX, pp. 369ff)
• Parmenio Adams at Find a Grave
• Adams-Cotton family marker at the Forest Hill Cemetery