Henry DeLafayette Adkins, the efficient and well known cashier of the First National Bank of Elkhorn, is a worth) representative of one of the oldest and best known families of Walworth county. Time and prolific enterprise have wrought wonderful changes in this section since he first saw the light of day, and the great section no longer depends upon its initial industry of lumbering but has been brought forward to the high plane which marks the older sections of the commonwealth. The Adkins family have played no inconspicuous role in this development.
Mr. Adkins was born in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, on January 10, 1864. He is the son of Henry Breckenridge Adkins and Emma (Cronk) Adkins, the father a son of Henry and Betsey Ann (Adams) Adkins. Henry Adkins, son of Henry and Martha Adkins, was born on December 23, 1812, in county Kent, England. In his youth he was apprenticed to learn the drug business am] he served three and one-half years. In 1833, when twenty-one years old, he emigrated to the United States, locating in Oneida county, New York, where he married Betsey Ann Adams, daughter of William Adams and wife. She was born in Otsego county, New York, September 10, 1813. In 1841 he and his family came to Walworth county, Wisconsin, and located on a farm in Sugar Creek township, moving the following year to Lagrange township, entering eighty acres of land from the government, in section 14. In the autumn of 1854 he was elected register of deeds and in December of that year moved to Elkhorn and entered upon his official duties. He was re-elected and served four years. While there he started the original books now in use by the Walworth County Abstract Company. After his term of office had expired he entered the abstract business, in which he remained until 1863, when he engaged as a clerk in the First National Bank of Elkhorn. He finally became assistant cashier and vice-president and was active in the affairs of the bank until his death in 1889, and was one of the substantial and influential men of the county.
The Adkins family consisted of the following children: Elizabeth, who married Reuben Eastwood, died on March 5, 1892; Henry B., father of Henry DeLafayette, of this sketch; Charlotte Isabell, who was born in New York, now lives in Elkhorn; Zehrua A., born in 1841. is the wife of Charles D. Root and lives at Lake Mills. Wisconsin; William E., born September 4, 1847, died July 13, 1903; Mary Lydia died in early childhood; Mary Ellen, who married Preston Smith, died on December 28, 1889; John Charles, born April 28, 1856, died on April 26, mi 1. Henry Breckenridge Adkins, father of the subject, was born near Utica, Oneida county, New York, on January 17, 1839. He came to this county as a child with his parents, in 1841. He received a fairly good education, and was an excellent penman, but preferred mechanical work to clerical confinement. He learned the painter’s trade, which he followed most of his life. He was married on January 1, 1862, to Emma Cronk, who was born in Dutchess county, New York, in 1842. She was the daughter of Acel and Polly (James) Cronk. Her father was born in Dutchess county, New York, in 1803, and her mother was born at Clifton Park. Saratoga county, New York, in 1802. The Cronk family came to this county in the early days. Acel Cronk died on December 28, 1881, his wife having died on December 14, 1880.
On December 10. 1863, Henry B. Adkins enlisted in Company K. Thirtieth Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and served his country well in those trying times during the Civil war. his labors being for the most part confined to Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas and Kentucky. He was honorably discharged in September. 1865. After the war he made his home in Elkhorn during the principal part of his remaining life. His wife died on November 9;. 1901, and he survived until November 16. 1907.
As a companion, whether at home or in business life, the father of the subject was always agreeable, kind, obliging and always fair in his relations with his fellow men. He was a keen observer and kepi well posted on current events.
The children of Henry B. Adkins and wife were as follows: Henry D. L. of this sketch: Jessie Lena, wife of George Ranney Short, of Sanger, California.
The immediate subject of this sketch grew to manhood in Elkhorn and he received a good education in the local schools. He entered the First National Bank of this city on October i, 1882, and has been with this popular institution ever since. Starting as a clerk, he later became bookkeeper, which position he held for a number of years. He became assistant cashier in 1896, and in July, 1911, he became cashier, and has thus been an employe of this bank for over thirty years, having given the utmost satisfaction to the stockholders and patrons, always discharging his duties in a manner that reflected much credit upon his ability and fidelity, his honor and integrity never being questioned. He has kept well informed on financial matters and has been a profound student of banking affairs. He is secretary and treasurer in group Five of the Wisconsin Bankers Association.
Mr. Adkins has been city clerk, which position he held a number of years at the time the village was merged into a city. He represented his ward on the board of supervisors for a number of years. He and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church, and for about twenty years he has been chorister of the church.
Mr. Adkins was married in 1896 to Jennie McDougald, of Elkhorn, daughter of William and Eugenia (Foster) McDougald, and to this union one child has been born. Jessie Louesa, whose birth occurred on December 30, 1897.
Mr. Adkins was a charter member of the local lodge of Knights of Pythias, and he has been active in lodge affairs, having held all the chairs in the local lodge and has received the grand lodge honors.
From: Beckwith, A.C. (1912). History of Walworth County Wisconsin