Enid Eleanor Smith Adams was born October 27, 1909, in Denver, Colorado. She was the first child of Walker Conger Smith and Marie Beidel. Her father was a writer from Kensington, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Her mother was working in a Denver, Colorado department store as a fashion model when she and Walker first met.
She moved with her parents to Spokane, Washington in 1912 where on May 14th her sister Lois Carol was born. Soon after that the family moved to Seattle, Washington and on March 25, 1922 her sister Shirley Janet was born.
Enid had just completed her freshman year of high school in 1924 when she went to live with her aunt and uncle, Flora Warren Smith and George Steele Seymour, who had no children, in Chicago, Illinois. There she attended Hyde Park High School where she was an honor student and member of the editorial staff of the school's weekly newspaper. With her close friend Mary Alice Marshall she was an associate editor of the paper, writing a column called "Choosing a Career." During this time she was also the secretary of the Order of Bookfellows, a literary organization founded by her aunt. Enid was also a member of the Sigma Epsilon honor society.
In her senior year she entered a statewide Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest on the subject of "Wherein Lies the Greatness of the Constitution of the United States." As a winner along with winners from five other areas of Illinois she enjoyed a free week's tour of Washington, D.C. Her grandparents had been residents of Kensington, Maryland before settling in Colorado. While visiting Washington, D.C. Enid went to the door of the former Smith residence, explained to the lady of the house that her family had lived there, and the occupant very kindly volunteered to show Enid through the house. Later on she learned that her Grandfather Smith had built the house before his marriage.
She graduated from high school in February of 1927 and immediately entered Crane Junior College, to which she had been recommended for a scholarship in journalism or languages. She attended for only one semester, however, as her father became ill. It was while Enid was on a train headed for Seattle that she bought a Seattle newspaper at one of the train stops and experienced the trauma of learning, from the obituary section, that her father had died.
Enid's father had been editor of a trade journal known as the "Western Cleaner and Dyer," covering news of that industry for 13 western states. At the age of 17, Enid took on the editorial work, continuing until the depression of the 1930's forced discontinuance of the magazine. She then worked as a typist in a public accountant's office, where she worked until a year after her marriage — just long enough to buy a piano. At various times she took night school or University courses, in musical appreciation, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as a special private course in parliamentary law. She learned to play the piano, marimba, and accordion.
Enid enjoyed hiking and skiing in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains and was a member of the Washington Alpine Club from 1927 to 1938, editing the club's bulletin for much of that time. It was at one of the Alpine Club dances that she met Harold Lamont Adams, who was also a WAC member, and on June 22, 1935 they were married. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Mesa Arizona Temple on May 13, 1967. In doing genealogical research later, Enid discovered that some of her ancestors lived within 20 miles of some of Harold's ancestors in Germany.
Harold and Enid enjoyed skiing at Snoqualmie Pass, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker as well as hiking. On one occasion they made a back-packing trip on which they covered a round trip of 80 miles, sleeping on the ground in their sleeping bags. On one of these trips they had (they thought) settled for the night, when a grizzly bear decided to investigate this strange formation on the ground. There seemed to be no life in the sleeping bags (the occupants were not moving) so the bear gave up and went on his way while Enid and Harold relaxed and began to breathe normally again.
Enid had been interested in genealogy since her high school days, one of her columns in the Hyde Park Weekly having been on the subject of becoming a professional genealogist (perhaps an example of "coming events casting their shadows before"?). About 1938 her interest in family history increased and she began collecting data, at first on the immediate family and later doing research on earlier generations.
On November 20, 1939 Harold and Enid's first child, a daughter Nancy Jo was born. On October 2, 1943 a son Roger Harley was born 11 weeks prematurely and lived only one hour and 15 minutes. On December 7, 1944 a second daughter, Margaret Louise, always known as Peggy, was born. Harold's work for Boeing Airplane Company took the family to Wichita, Kansas for almost a year from May of 1950 to February of 1951. They visited Boulder Dam, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon, and Mesa Verde on the way there and Carlsbad Caverns, Juarez and Casa Grande on the way back.
Enid joined the Seattle Genealogical Society in 1951 and in April 1952 inaugurated the society's first printed bulletin with subscribers throughout the United States, doing both the editing and mimeographing until the summer of 1956. She did research on early Washington pioneers as well as various family histories with the thought of eventually publishing them, many of which she did publish. She edited the 242 page history of "The Maurer Family, Pennsylvania Pioneers" based on records gathered by the late Dr. George Dunkelberger, of Susquehanna University, who was a distant cousin of Harold's mother. Enid also cut the stencils for mimeographing and then along with her children collated the pages for binding by walking around and around and around the ping-pong table.
Enid had other interests as well. She was a member of the West Seattle Garden Club, Parent Teacher Association. She was also an active member of Tibbetts Methodist Church serving on the Board of Stewards, the finance commission, the records and history committee, the memorials and gifts committee and was editor of the church's monthly news-letter. She also enjoyed music, sewing, gardening and stamp collecting. Her favorite color was turquoise. Her dresses were turquoise. Her jewelry was turquoise. Her bedroom was turquoise. Her house was turquoise. Her casket is turquoise.
In November 1955 the Harold was transferred to the Melbourne, Florida area just south of Cape Canaveral where he was in charge of the Bomarc Missile fireings for Boeing. In August 1958 the eldest daughter, Nancy, married and she remained there when her father was transferred back to Seattle.
Harold and Enid became interested in Republican politics and served in various positions at local, county and state levels. In 1968 Enid was elected as an alternate to the national convention in Maimi, Florida.
In 1965, while attending a political meeting at the Adams' home, one of the area chairmen, who just happened to be one of the Seven Presidents of the Stake Seventies, asked to use the phone. He was directed to Enid's genealogy office. When he came out he told them that they were dry Mormons. He persisted and Harold eventually agreed to let the missionaries come and talk to them. Three weeks later Harold and Enid and Peggy were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
When Harold retired in the spring of 1969, he and Enid moved to Victor, Idaho and Enid went into genealogical research professionally. She edited histories of the Bundy family, the Gailey-Kelley family, and the Fawcette family. "Our Bateman Ancestry", for which she and Harold had done the research and also the printing, was entered in the Sumner A. Parker contest sponsored annually by the Maryland Historical Society. It tied for second place in the 1972 contest, as the best genealogical work on a Maryland family. In 1974 Enid and Harold published the 716 page book entitled "Ancestors and Descendants of Jeremiah Adams." Research on the ancestry of Harold's paternal grandmother, Margaret Morford Adams, led to Enid's becoming the Morford Family Historian, with a collection of records of more than 20,000 individuals of that surname and discovering more that 100 different spelling variations of it with as many as 3 variations being found in the same document. She also wrote numerous articles for various genealogical publications. Her work was always well documented and her research was very thorough. She had an engaging style of writing and always wove a lot of historical detail into the narratives which made them very interesting.
Enid was a member of the Institute of American Genealogy; the Connecticut Historical Society; the Seattle Genealogical Society; Descendants of Governor William Bradford; the Society of Mayflower Descendants; the Daughters of the American Revolution for whom she served as genealogical records chairman for the Chief Seattle Chapter as well as State Chairman of the Resolutions Committee for the 1969 State convention held in Vancouver, Washington. In 1972 after reviewing her work and qualifications the Board for Certification of Genealogists awarded their certificate #116 to Enid as a Certified Genealogist.
In the fall of 1977 Harold and Enid moved into their house on Stanton Road where they continued their genealogical work. That same year, Enid received word that the American Society of Genealogists had conferred on her its Donald Lines Jacobus Award for her excellent contribution to genealogy in the publication of the Jeremiah Adams book. This coveted award is granted infrequently, only when an outstanding genealogical work published.
In August of 1978 Enid received word that she had been elected a fellow of the American Society of Genealogists. The honorary lifetime position, based on "the volume and excellence of her published genealogical works, places her in the ranks of the top 50 genealogists in the United States and abroad," the ASG said. As genealogist, author and compiler, Mrs. Adams is now entitled to use the initials F.A.S.G. following her name.
On November 5, 1987 while in Denver, Colorado on a research trip Harold suffered a stroke and after three and a half weeks in a coma passed away. This was very hard for Enid and she never did get over losing Harold. In 1994, with Enid now suffering from senile dementia, her granddaughter Karina Marie Balmforth came to stay with her to help her. Then in the fall of 1996 Enid went to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Peggy and David Balmforth in their home in Woodville, Idaho. On Thursday, May 29, while asleep, Enid suffered a severe stroke which paralyzed her left side. She was in the hospital for three weeks but made no improvement. On Thursday, June 19th with the help of the Idaho Home Care Hospice staff, Dave and Peggy brought her back to their home where on Saturday, June 28, 1997 at 1:00 a.m. with her daughter holding her arm Enid passed on from this life.
She is survived by her daughters, Peggy (Mrs. David) Balmforth of Woodville, Idaho and Nancy (Mrs. Randy) Dale of Burnsville, Minnesota; two sisters, Lois (Mrs. Ben) Michel of Seattle, Washington and Shirley (Mrs. Wayne) Suttles of Friday Harbor, Washington; 6 grandsons, 2 granddaughters, and 2 great-grandsons.
Enid Eleanor Smith Adams was born October 27, 1909, in Denver, Colorado. She was the first child of Walker Conger Smith and Marie Beidel. Her father was a writer from Kensington, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. Her mother was working in a Denver, Colorado department store as a fashion model when she and Walker first met.
She moved with her parents to Spokane, Washington in 1912 where on May 14th her sister Lois Carol was born. Soon after that the family moved to Seattle, Washington and on March 25, 1922 her sister Shirley Janet was born.
Enid had just completed her freshman year of high school in 1924 when she went to live with her aunt and uncle, Flora Warren Smith and George Steele Seymour, who had no children, in Chicago, Illinois. There she attended Hyde Park High School where she was an honor student and member of the editorial staff of the school's weekly newspaper. With her close friend Mary Alice Marshall she was an associate editor of the paper, writing a column called "Choosing a Career." During this time she was also the secretary of the Order of Bookfellows, a literary organization founded by her aunt. Enid was also a member of the Sigma Epsilon honor society.
In her senior year she entered a statewide Daughters of the American Revolution essay contest on the subject of "Wherein Lies the Greatness of the Constitution of the United States." As a winner along with winners from five other areas of Illinois she enjoyed a free week's tour of Washington, D.C. Her grandparents had been residents of Kensington, Maryland before settling in Colorado. While visiting Washington, D.C. Enid went to the door of the former Smith residence, explained to the lady of the house that her family had lived there, and the occupant very kindly volunteered to show Enid through the house. Later on she learned that her Grandfather Smith had built the house before his marriage.
She graduated from high school in February of 1927 and immediately entered Crane Junior College, to which she had been recommended for a scholarship in journalism or languages. She attended for only one semester, however, as her father became ill. It was while Enid was on a train headed for Seattle that she bought a Seattle newspaper at one of the train stops and experienced the trauma of learning, from the obituary section, that her father had died.
Enid's father had been editor of a trade journal known as the "Western Cleaner and Dyer," covering news of that industry for 13 western states. At the age of 17, Enid took on the editorial work, continuing until the depression of the 1930's forced discontinuance of the magazine. She then worked as a typist in a public accountant's office, where she worked until a year after her marriage — just long enough to buy a piano. At various times she took night school or University courses, in musical appreciation, Spanish, and Portuguese, as well as a special private course in parliamentary law. She learned to play the piano, marimba, and accordion.
Enid enjoyed hiking and skiing in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains and was a member of the Washington Alpine Club from 1927 to 1938, editing the club's bulletin for much of that time. It was at one of the Alpine Club dances that she met Harold Lamont Adams, who was also a WAC member, and on June 22, 1935 they were married. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Mesa Arizona Temple on May 13, 1967. In doing genealogical research later, Enid discovered that some of her ancestors lived within 20 miles of some of Harold's ancestors in Germany.
Harold and Enid enjoyed skiing at Snoqualmie Pass, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker as well as hiking. On one occasion they made a back-packing trip on which they covered a round trip of 80 miles, sleeping on the ground in their sleeping bags. On one of these trips they had (they thought) settled for the night, when a grizzly bear decided to investigate this strange formation on the ground. There seemed to be no life in the sleeping bags (the occupants were not moving) so the bear gave up and went on his way while Enid and Harold relaxed and began to breathe normally again.
Enid had been interested in genealogy since her high school days, one of her columns in the Hyde Park Weekly having been on the subject of becoming a professional genealogist (perhaps an example of "coming events casting their shadows before"?). About 1938 her interest in family history increased and she began collecting data, at first on the immediate family and later doing research on earlier generations.
On November 20, 1939 Harold and Enid's first child, a daughter Nancy Jo was born. On October 2, 1943 a son Roger Harley was born 11 weeks prematurely and lived only one hour and 15 minutes. On December 7, 1944 a second daughter, Margaret Louise, always known as Peggy, was born. Harold's work for Boeing Airplane Company took the family to Wichita, Kansas for almost a year from May of 1950 to February of 1951. They visited Boulder Dam, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Grand Canyon, and Mesa Verde on the way there and Carlsbad Caverns, Juarez and Casa Grande on the way back.
Enid joined the Seattle Genealogical Society in 1951 and in April 1952 inaugurated the society's first printed bulletin with subscribers throughout the United States, doing both the editing and mimeographing until the summer of 1956. She did research on early Washington pioneers as well as various family histories with the thought of eventually publishing them, many of which she did publish. She edited the 242 page history of "The Maurer Family, Pennsylvania Pioneers" based on records gathered by the late Dr. George Dunkelberger, of Susquehanna University, who was a distant cousin of Harold's mother. Enid also cut the stencils for mimeographing and then along with her children collated the pages for binding by walking around and around and around the ping-pong table.
Enid had other interests as well. She was a member of the West Seattle Garden Club, Parent Teacher Association. She was also an active member of Tibbetts Methodist Church serving on the Board of Stewards, the finance commission, the records and history committee, the memorials and gifts committee and was editor of the church's monthly news-letter. She also enjoyed music, sewing, gardening and stamp collecting. Her favorite color was turquoise. Her dresses were turquoise. Her jewelry was turquoise. Her bedroom was turquoise. Her house was turquoise. Her casket is turquoise.
In November 1955 the Harold was transferred to the Melbourne, Florida area just south of Cape Canaveral where he was in charge of the Bomarc Missile fireings for Boeing. In August 1958 the eldest daughter, Nancy, married and she remained there when her father was transferred back to Seattle.
Harold and Enid became interested in Republican politics and served in various positions at local, county and state levels. In 1968 Enid was elected as an alternate to the national convention in Maimi, Florida.
In 1965, while attending a political meeting at the Adams' home, one of the area chairmen, who just happened to be one of the Seven Presidents of the Stake Seventies, asked to use the phone. He was directed to Enid's genealogy office. When he came out he told them that they were dry Mormons. He persisted and Harold eventually agreed to let the missionaries come and talk to them. Three weeks later Harold and Enid and Peggy were baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
When Harold retired in the spring of 1969, he and Enid moved to Victor, Idaho and Enid went into genealogical research professionally. She edited histories of the Bundy family, the Gailey-Kelley family, and the Fawcette family. "Our Bateman Ancestry", for which she and Harold had done the research and also the printing, was entered in the Sumner A. Parker contest sponsored annually by the Maryland Historical Society. It tied for second place in the 1972 contest, as the best genealogical work on a Maryland family. In 1974 Enid and Harold published the 716 page book entitled "Ancestors and Descendants of Jeremiah Adams." Research on the ancestry of Harold's paternal grandmother, Margaret Morford Adams, led to Enid's becoming the Morford Family Historian, with a collection of records of more than 20,000 individuals of that surname and discovering more that 100 different spelling variations of it with as many as 3 variations being found in the same document. She also wrote numerous articles for various genealogical publications. Her work was always well documented and her research was very thorough. She had an engaging style of writing and always wove a lot of historical detail into the narratives which made them very interesting.
Enid was a member of the Institute of American Genealogy; the Connecticut Historical Society; the Seattle Genealogical Society; Descendants of Governor William Bradford; the Society of Mayflower Descendants; the Daughters of the American Revolution for whom she served as genealogical records chairman for the Chief Seattle Chapter as well as State Chairman of the Resolutions Committee for the 1969 State convention held in Vancouver, Washington. In 1972 after reviewing her work and qualifications the Board for Certification of Genealogists awarded their certificate #116 to Enid as a Certified Genealogist.
In the fall of 1977 Harold and Enid moved into their house on Stanton Road where they continued their genealogical work. That same year, Enid received word that the American Society of Genealogists had conferred on her its Donald Lines Jacobus Award for her excellent contribution to genealogy in the publication of the Jeremiah Adams book. This coveted award is granted infrequently, only when an outstanding genealogical work published.
In August of 1978 Enid received word that she had been elected a fellow of the American Society of Genealogists. The honorary lifetime position, based on "the volume and excellence of her published genealogical works, places her in the ranks of the top 50 genealogists in the United States and abroad," the ASG said. As genealogist, author and compiler, Mrs. Adams is now entitled to use the initials F.A.S.G. following her name.
On November 5, 1987 while in Denver, Colorado on a research trip Harold suffered a stroke and after three and a half weeks in a coma passed away. This was very hard for Enid and she never did get over losing Harold. In 1994, with Enid now suffering from senile dementia, her granddaughter Karina Marie Balmforth came to stay with her to help her. Then in the fall of 1996 Enid went to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Peggy and David Balmforth in their home in Woodville, Idaho. On Thursday, May 29, while asleep, Enid suffered a severe stroke which paralyzed her left side. She was in the hospital for three weeks but made no improvement. On Thursday, June 19th with the help of the Idaho Home Care Hospice staff, Dave and Peggy brought her back to their home where on Saturday, June 28, 1997 at 1:00 a.m. with her daughter holding her arm Enid passed on from this life.
She is survived by her daughters, Peggy (Mrs. David) Balmforth of Woodville, Idaho and Nancy (Mrs. Randy) Dale of Burnsville, Minnesota; two sisters, Lois (Mrs. Ben) Michel of Seattle, Washington and Shirley (Mrs. Wayne) Suttles of Friday Harbor, Washington; 6 grandsons, 2 granddaughters, and 2 great-grandsons.
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