W. G. ADAMS/Co. B 24th Regiment Texas Cavalry

WILLIAM G. ADAMS

Photo contributed by Jeannette Sosa. Click for larger view.

William G. Adams was born about 1822 in South Carolina. His parents’ names are not known.
By 1850, William was living with his brother, Thomas Richard Adams, age thirty-three, in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana. William’s age was given as twenty-four, and his occupation was shown as laborer.
On August 5, 1852, William married Sarah E. Chambliss in Louisiana.
The couple moved to Texas from Louisiana with their oldest son in about 1855. A second son was born upon arrival in Texas, and another in about 1858. At the time of the 1860 census William was enumerated in Montgomery County in the section that was also listed that year as Waverly in Walker County. He had two small children and no spouse and was the manager of a farm.
Sarah had probably died in childbirth, and the youngest child was a two-year-old living in the home of John Hardy and his wife Sarah, three houses away. John and Sarah, both born in South Carolina, may have been related to William Adams in some way. In addition, the E. Adams enumerated in the 1860 census of Montgomery County may have been a relative.
In May of 1861 William joined Danville Mounted Riflemen as a private. He is listed on the muster roll of September 13th. Later that summer, on the 21st of August 1861, he married Mahala Wallace in Montgomery County. William continued serving in the Riflemen, and his name is on the roll of February 14, 1862.
That year in March, he enlisted at Montgomery County in Capt. Wooldridge's Company of The Second Texas Lancers, which became Co. B 24th Texas Cavalry.

He reported to Hempstead for training on April 28, 1862. He was elected Second Sergeant, and his age was given as thirty-nine. His horse was valued at $175.00 and his equipment at $35.00. His home was fifty miles from the place of rendezvous. William rode to Louisiana with the rest of the men.
By August, when the men were stationed at Camp Holmes, near Pine Bluff, Arkansas, he was listed on the muster roll as being "Absent, sick." He may have been in the hospital at Camp Holmes.

While at this station, the soldiers of the Twenty-fourth were ordered to dismount, to send their horses home, and to proceed to Arkansas Post on foot. William was discharged on September 6, 1862, but it is not known whether he marched to Arkansas Post with the others, or if he was discharged while on sick leave. In December, he was paid for his five months of service.

After being discharged, William returned to Texas. He and Mahala made their home in Iola, Grimes County. They had two daughters before William died, some time prior to 1879. In January that year, Mahala was married to John Thomas Wilcox.
No burial place has been located for William or for his wives, Sarah and Mahala.

The above biographical material was compiled from census, family, and military records. Thanks to Jeannette Sosa, a great-great-granddaughter of William G. Adams, who supplied information on William’s family in Louisiana and on his first wife and children, as well as his residence after the war, and his death. Muster rolls for the Danville Mounted Riflemen are located in the Texas State Archives. Compiled Service records are housed in the National Archives, and were accessed on microfilm at the Confederate Research Center in Hillsboro, Texas.
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