Person:Lester Adams (3)

Biography

Quoted from the Georgetown University Special Collections Research Center:

Lester Adams was born on November 10, 1884 in Bangor, Maine, the son of Charles H. Adams who was employed in the lumber industry. In June 1903, Adams was admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he studied until February, 1905. Adams attended Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, from which he obtained an A.B. in Pre-Medicine in 1907. He then attended Johns Hopkins University, from which he received an M.D. in 1911. Dr. Adams interned at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and later did his residency at Baltimore City Hospital.

From 1915 to 1917 he was a pathologist at Eastern Maine General Hospital in Bangor. In June, 1917 he was commissioned captain in the U.S. Army Medical Reserve Corps, and in August of that year he was sent to duty at the Medical Officers' Training Camp at Fort Harrison, Indiana. In December 1917, Adams was sent to duty in the Panama Canal Zone as Post Surgeon until May 1918, and then to Camp Upton, Yaphank, New York as Battalion Surgeon of the 152nd Depot Battalion. While in Panama or New York, Adams became stricken with tuberculosis and spent more than a year as a patient in U.S. General Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, from August 1918 to September 1919. His young wife of a year and a half, Margaret M. Prentiss, died in March of 1919, possibly of TB. Adams was discharged from the Army in September 1919.

Dr. Adams went on to become a noted leader in the fight to control tuberculosis and respiratory ailments. He received tuberculosis training at the Army School for Tuberculosis and was resident at Trudeau Sanitorium for two years. He was superintendent of the Belle Air (Pa.) Sanitorium, and in 1923 he became superintendent of Western Maine Sanatorium at Greenwood Mountain. He retired from that position in 1955 and continued as an honorary member of the staff of Central Maine General Hospital in Lewiston.

In August 1926, Adams married Violet L. Mills, and they had two children, Mary Susan and Sarah Frances Adams. Lester Adams died in Thomaston, Maine on December 14, 1971.^[10]

1. ↑ Bangor Town and vital records 1819-1891, in Maine, United States. Maine Births and Christenings, 1739-1900. (FamilySearch Record Search)
   Indexing Project (Batch) Number: I02168-3, System Origin: Maine-EASy, GS Film number: 10583 [1].

   Name: Lester Adams
   Gender: Male
   Birth Date: 10 Nov 1884
   Father's Name: Chas. H. Adams
   Mother's Name: Sarah L.

2. ↑ Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index: Death Master File, database. (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service)
   [2].

   Given Name: Lester
   Surname: Adams
   Birth Date: 10 November 1884
   Social Security Number: 004-46-0958
   State: Maine
   Last Place of Residence: Thomaston, Knox, Maine
   Previous Residence Postal Code: 04861
   Event Date: 15 December 1971
   Age: 87

3. ↑ Lester Adams, in Find A Grave
   Find A Grave: Mount Hope Cemetery.

   Birth: unknown
   Death: Dec. 14, 1971
   Maine, USA

4. ↑ Penobscot, Maine, United States. 1910 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (Washington, DC: United States Census Bureau)
   p. 11B, household 147, ED 148, NARA publication M1283, roll 544 [3].

   Address: 18 Forest Avenue
   Houshold:
   Adams Charles H. Head. Age 51. Married 26 yrs. Treaure, Lumbering Assn.
   Adams Sarah L. Wife. Age 50. Married 26 yrs. Mother of 2 children, 1 living.
   Adams Lester. Son. Age 25. Single.
   All born in Maine.

5. ↑ Penobscot, Maine, United States. 1920 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   p. 4B, household 59, ED 72, NARA publication T625, reel 645 [4].

   Household:
   Adams, Charles H. Head. Age 61. Secretary, Building Co.
   Adams, Sarah L. Wife. Age 60.
   Adams, Lester. Son. Age 35. Phy, At home.
   All born in Maine.

6. ↑ Oxford, Maine, United States. 1930 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   p. 1A, household 1. ED 22, NARA publication T626, roll 835 [5].

   Institution: Western Maine Sanatorium
   Household:
   Adams, Lester. Superintendent. Age 45. 32 yrs-old at 1st marriage. Superintendent Physician, Sanatorium.
   Adams, Violet M. Wife of Employee. Age 30. 26 yrs-old at 1st marriage.
   Adams, Mary S. Daughter of Employee. Age 2.
   All born in Maine.

7. ↑ Oxford, Maine, United States. 1940 U.S. Census Population Schedule
   p. 1B, family 2, ED 9-24, NARA publication T627, roll 1484 [6].

   Institution: Western Maine Sanatorium
   Household:
   Adams, Lester. Head. Age 55. Medical Doctor, Sanatorium.
   Adams, Violet M. Wife. Age 40.
   Adams, Mary S. Daughter. Age 12.
   Adams, Sarah F. Daughter. Age 9.
   All born in Maine. All living in the same place in 1935.

8. ↑ Maine, World War I Card Index to Soldiers by Town, 1917-1919 , in Maine, United States. Maine State Archive Collections, 1718-1957
   Digital Folder Number: 004369165, Image Number: 00945 [7].

   Name: Adams, Lester, b. Bangor Nov 10 1884
   Residence: Bangor, 18 Forest Ave
   Organization: Medical Corps
   Entered Service: Called into active srv Aug 6, 1917 fr ORC
   Left Service: Hon dis Sep 1 1919

9. ↑ Lewiston Evening Journal - May 7, 1955
   [8].

   HEBRON (AP) -- Dr. Lester Adams, who will retire Tuesday after 32 years as superintendent of the Western Maine Sanitorium will be honored Sunday by more than 500 co-workers and former patients.
   Dr. and Mrs. Adams will make their home at Thomaston. Dr. Adams is president of the Maine Trudeau Society, the medical group of the Maine Tuberculosis Assn. He is a native of Bangor.

10. ↑ Lester Adams Papers: Georgetown University Manuscripts, Georgetown University Special Collections Research Center
    [9].
11.   Link to photograph Dr. Lester Adams, Western Maine Sanatorium, 1928.

    Title: Dr. Lester Adams, Western Maine Sanatorium, 1928
    Creator: Wadleigh, Merle G.
    Creation Date: 1928
    Subject Date: 1928
    Local Name: Greenwood Mountain
    Town: Hebron
    County: Oxford
    State: ME
    Media: Photograph
    Dimensions (cm): 10.6 x 6.2
    Local Code: Coll. 2111, Vol. 2
    Object Type: Image