W.E. Adams
Although a native of Michigan, young Will Emery Adams was living in Minnesota when, in 1877, he headed west to the land of opportunity, the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory. He purchased a team of mules and a covered wagon to transport a load of hardware for a friend along the newly established Bismarck Trail. He soon realized that one of the best ways to "strike it rich" in Deadwood wasn’t panning for gold, but by selling the pans, and other supplies, to miners. He established a grocery store at 629 Main Street and invited his brother James to join him. The Adams Brothers Banner Grocery opened in 1877 and burned to the ground along with most of the Deadwood businesses in 1879. They quickly rebuilt and occupied several other addresses in town before James moved to California in 1889.

By 1894 Adams moved the business to Sherman Street, eventually building the Adams Block across the street from the Adams Museum. The four-story structure included a modern elevator run by waterpower. By 1901 Adams discontinued his retail business, concentrated on wholesale, and grew it into one of the largest businesses in the state. At the time of his death, his was the largest estate to ever go through probate in South Dakota.

W.E. Adams married Alice Mae Burnham on December 22, 1880. He was 26 and she was 20. A devoted couple, they had two daughters: Lucile, born in 1884 and Helen, born in 1892. Lucile married banker and executive Frank Stratton in 1909. They moved to Detroit where she tragically died from typhoid three years later. Helen married developer Irving Benton in 1915 and lived in Pasadena, California. Tragedy struck again in June of 1925 when Alice traveled to California for the birth of Helen’s first child. Diagnosed with cancer, Alice had been ill for some time. On June 6 she died. Helen, distraught, went into labor and died the following day. The baby died soon afterward, and was buried in her mother’s arms. Within a period of 48 hours, W.E. lost his entire family.

Grief-stricken, Adams wondered if he’d ever find happiness again. He did. A year later he met a young widow, Mary Mastrovich Vicich from Lead. Even though their relationship was condidered scandalous by some... she was Roman Catholic and he was Episcopalian, she was 29 and he was 73...love prevailed and they married in 1927. They shared seven happy years together. In June 1934, Mr. Adams suffered a stroke. He died at his home several days later.

W.E. was a public-spirited man. Stressing economy in government, he was mayor for six terms. He was a community leader, serving on many boards of financial and civic institutions. His philanthropy extended to the establishment of several parks and the gift of the Adams Memorial Museum to the City. For all his successes, both public and private, he had relatively little formal education. He was largely self-taught, well-read, a statesman, and a poet. A man loved by all, the entire city mourned when he died.

Mary Adams honored the memory of W.E until she died in 1993 at the age of 95. She kept the Historic Adams House and its contents together for over 50 years, enabling it to eventually become the beautifully restored structure that it is today. She also established the Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation that keeps the Adams’ memory and tradition of philanthropy alive through projects in Deadwood, Lead and Southern California. Organizations such as the Adams Museum & House, the Deadwood Hospital, the Lead Opera House, and the Young Musicians Program in California are grateful beneficiaries of her generosity and vision.

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