Carl Bascomb Adams, born February 12, 1899, reported in 1971 that his birthplace was "somewhere in Madison County, Arkansas." He provided no details on his parents, adding that he was "from a Broken Home, since I was three years of age.... I lived an orphan and didn't have too much schooling." His memoir (published by the Kansas West conference, 1991) gives his birth-parents as Louis and Anna (Keener) Wetzel; he was adopted at age 5 by Tandy Burk and Mary (Craft) Adams. He graduated ninth grade in 1918 and spent the next several years farming, becoming "united with the church" in 1925 in Shoal Creek, Arkansas, in the Fort Smith district, North Arkansas conference. He served Alix Circuit (1949) and Lamar Circuit (1951) in that conference. He later reported, "The Call of my Lord was the greatest influence, and I battled along many years before He finally persuaded me to go into fulltime ministry.... I studied and schooled myself a lot before entering the Ministry in 1949; I visited SMU in Dallas four summers for Conference course of Study, as a Supply Pastor." His studies at SMU were during the summers of 1950-1953. He was ordained a deacon on June 13, 1952 (Blytheville, Ark.), and was ordained an elder on October 10, 1954 (Salina, Kansas). After serving 3 1/2 years in Northern Arkansas, he transferred as an associate member to the Central Kansas conference, where his appointments included Morrowville-Hollenberg, Ebenezer-Green, Isabel-Sawyer, Bloom, Barnard-Ash Grove, and Linn-Morrowville. Rev. Adams retired on June 1, 1971, to Clay Center, Kansas, but was re-appointed to Linn for another year. After his retirement he preached as a supply minister to churches in Washington and Clay counties. Rev. Adams married Edith Lee Dotson (1902-1966; spelled Dodson on grave; spelled Darson in KS West memoir) on November 28, 1920, in Shoal Creek, Arkansas; their children were Lonnie R. (born November 26, 1921), John L. (1923-1924), Carl L. (born July 25, 1926), Robert E. (born October 15, 1928), and Charles A. (born March 5, 1933). The eldest three surviving sons served in WWII (one in the Marines, one in the Army, and one in the Navy), and their fourth son, Charles, served in the Air Force during the Korean War. His family later included eight grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren. His wife Edith died April 16, 1966; he married Juanita Seon (Lindholm) (1905-2000) of Greenleaf, Kansas, on June 29, 1968, in Washington, Kansas. Rev. Adams died December 20, 1990, in Clay County. His funeral services were held in Paris, Arkansas, and his final resting place is in May Cemetery, Logan County, Arkansas. His memoir can be found in the minutes of the Kansas West Conference, 1991, page 278.

Note written by Sarah St. John