James Wallace Adams was born August 27, 1914, in Brawley, Imperial County, California, to Felix A. and Mary Roberta (Mittie) Adams. Adams’ maternal grandfather, Robert Levi Bates was one of the first Christians in Texas; he was also an able pioneer preacher. Batesville, Texas, got its name from Elijah Anderson Bates, James’ great-grandfather (Batesville, Arkansas is also named for members of the Bates family). Elijah was baptized by well-known Restoration preacher, Tolbert Fanning.1 James spent his childhood years in California, Arizona, and New Mexico. In these early years, Felix Adams worked as a “call boy” for the Southern Pacific Railroad. While living in Lordsburg, New Mexico, James delivered his first speech in a Christian Church. He was four years old! When the Panic of 1920-1921 forced the Adams family out of New Mexico, James’ father moved the family to Douglas, Arizona, where he bought a grocery business. James started school in Douglas. When the three copper smelters in Douglas closed, the local economy floundered, forcing the family back to Texas. James began attending the common schools of Texas. He graduated from La Pryor High School in 1931, earning distinction as Class Valedictorian, Declamation Champion, and as a debater.2 
The Depression years found young Adams traveling with his father on selling trips, especially during the summer months. Father and son often rode the rails throughout West Texas pedaling their wares. Felix sold high dollar men’s clothing, first taking orders and then having the clothes sent from Chicago. Ranchers and townspeople alike were frequent customers. Many nights found young James setting up tent and a stove for cooking supper; father and son “lived off the land” as they traveled between towns such as Junction and Brady. At different times, Felix Adams continued his work as a signal maintenance man on the Southern Pacific Railroad.3
Early influences of the gospel came from the preaching of W. D. Bills. J. D. Jesse baptized Adams at La Pryor, Texas, in November, 1926. It was here, when James was nineteen, that he preached his first sermon on “By Faith We Walk With God.” His text was Hebrews 11:1-11. He was soon busy teaching Sunday Bible classes for the newly married. Brother Jesse and Walter W. Leamons were frequent encouragers of Adams’ early attempts to preach God’s word. Jesse frequently took the young preacher on Sunday appointments. Adams’ preaching expanded to the hill country towns of Menard, Quemado, Brady, Hext, London, Goldthwaite, Millersview, and Doole. Seeing great potential, Brother Leamons tapped the young preacher to “fill in” during the summer of 1935 at Junction, Texas, when the older man was away in gospel meetings. Coke Stevenson, well-known Texas politician was from Junction; it was common to see this “giant” of a man around town. James H. Childress, writing in the Firm Foundation, reported on Adams’ work in Junction during the summer of 1935, while the local preacher was away.Childress said Adams’ work “met the approval of brethren” and that the young preacher was a “very congenial fellow-laborer.” Adams' first article for public consumption was entitled “Home Sweet Home” and appeared in the Firm Foundation.4
Soon, though, Adams was hitchhiking to Vivian, Louisiana, where he arrived only with the recommendation of brother Leamons. On November 18, 1935, Adams began working with the church in Vivian. Here he found room and board with brother and sister L. Q. Butler. Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus Butler was the town’s most respected citizen. Butler’s excellent library gave the studious Adams an opportunity to “cut his teeth” on such works as T. W. Brent’s sermons, and J. W. Shepherd’s The Church, The Falling Away, and The Restoration. Those early studies in the literature of the American Restoration Movement, so-called, served Adams well in his later studies and writings on institutionalism. During Adams’ tenure at Vivian, well-known Texas preacher, J. D. Tant, came for a gospel meeting.
Nineteen thirty-five was an important year for other reasons. That summer, Gertrude Leamons, half-sister of Walter Leamons, traveled from Grapeland, Texas, to Junction to visit relatives. It was here that James and Gertrude met for the first time. A budding romance grew to great depths of love and mutual admiration. The two were married July 30, 1936. The ceremony took place in Houston, Texas, in the home of Woodrow O’Dowd, brother of well-known Texas preacher and debater, John O’Dowd.5 James preached in Vivian for two years; the second year was in the company of his new bride. In the fall of 1937 the young couple moved to Mt. Enterprise, Texas, for gospel work, staying until the summer of 1938. They found room and board at the Westfall Hotel, owned by one of the sisters in the congregation. Jimmie Nell Adams was born in 1938. During this time, James spent one Sunday each month preaching in Stanley, Louisiana, where he baptized a number of people and helped stabilize the church. The young couple moved next to Greggton, Texas, where they stayed in the home of preacher and debater, John Hedge, who was busy holding protracted meetings. In the summer of 1939 James and Gertrude moved to Granbury, Texas. The congregation in Granbury numbered two-hundred members. Adams remembers preaching a number of funerals during his stay there. Despite the fact that the congregation contained a wealthy rancher, a mail carrier, and a medical doctor, the young family almost “starved to death.”6 Near Christmas time in 1939 the young parents moved again, this time to San Benito, Texas, staying until 1941. While working with the San Benito congregation Adams had a close association with veteran gospel preacher J. D. Tant. When Tant died in June 1941, Adams and H. D. Jeffcoat preached the funeral service. Adams honored his old friend with remarks based on 2 Timothy 4:1-8.7
In 1941 at the older, mature age of twenty-seven, Adams attended Freed-Hardeman College, Henderson, Tennessee. John W. Akin, friend and benefactor to many preachers, made Adams’ college work possible. Akin lived on a farm located near Kilgore, Texas, between what is now Interstate 20 and Longview. When the oil boom hit in the early 1930s, Akin, along with thousands of others, became a wealthy man. Generous with his money, Akin became the benefactor of many preachers and churches.8 Even though Freed-Hardeman did not charge tuition for young men studying to be preachers, Adams said brother Akin sent fifty dollars to help with living expenses.9 During his school days at Freed-Hardeman, Adams preached in Paducah, Kentucky, for the Clement Street church.10 The summer of 1941 found Adams engaged in meeting work while sister Adams remained with her family in Grapeland “canning vegetables.”11 While at Freed-Hardeman, James taught classes in the New Testament when brother Briggance was sick. On December 7, 1941, James was preaching in Jackson, Tennessee. After the United States’ declaration of war, James (and other young men) left Freed-Hardeman. Even though, N. B. Hardeman, president of the college, wanted James to advance his education and return to teach at the college, Adams moved his family to Paducah for full-time preaching work.
In late spring of 1945, brother and sister Adams moved to Temple, Texas, to labor with the 7th and Avenue G congregation. While in Temple, Adams developed a close relationship with well-known gospel preacher, Foy E. Wallace, Jr. When not engaged in meeting work Wallace made his home in Temple, at least for a short time. During this time Wallace developed a “nervous stomach,” but was able to seek treatment at the famous Scott and White Hospital. Adams, in remembering the condition of the church in Temple, said Cled Wallace, Foy’s older brother, had “just about killed it (the church).” Attendance was down to “twenty-five” on Wednesday night. A new building was needed and the church was full of “worldly-minded members.”12 
In 1947 Gayle Oler, Sr., superintendent of Boles Orphan Home, located at Quinlan, Texas, influenced Adams to move to Terrell, Texas. Adams viewed Oler as “a good preacher, a hard hitter.” During Adams’ work in Terrell, a new meeting house was constructed.13 Preachers moved more often during this era. In 1949, after nearly two years in Terrell, the family moved to Longview, Texas, to work with the congregation meeting at 2nd and Whaley. A good work followed with this substantial congregation of nearly five-hundred members; nearly one-hundred worshipers overflowed to the basement during the Lord’s day assemblies. Adams’ only oral, public debate took place in Longview, when he met Baptist preacher, A. J. Wall. Standard propositions representing both sides were contested. During Adams’ stay in Longview, a new congregation, Mobberly Avenue, was formed, with Second and Whaley giving up nearly one-hundred members to the new work. A gospel meeting was conducted at Mobberly Avenue August 13 through 18, with Adams preaching at the Sunday morning service.14 Brother and sister Foy E. Wallace, Sr., lived in Longview during this time. In the fall of 1949, brother Wallace, Sr., became ill and soon passed from this life. Adams, along with C. R. Nichol and Boyd Fanning conducted the funeral service.15
In 1953 the Adams family moved to Beaumont, Texas, to work with the Central church of Christ. A longer work of nearly three years saw much numerical growth and the construction of a new church building. Here the Adams became good friends with the Tomblen family. In 1955 Adams was moving again, this time to San Antonio, Texas, to work with the West Avenue church. Staying only a short time, Adams characterized this move as perhaps the “worst mistake” he had made thus far. With influence from Adams, well-known debater and preacher, Roy E. Cogdill, moved to West Avenue as Adams left for Nacogdoches. During his stay in San Antonio, Adams became good friends with James and Mildred Yates. Yates said of his friend: “Much of my knowledge of God’s Word came from his splendid teaching abilities. . . .I had been a Christian for over eighteen years by 1955, but became a Christian with conviction after sitting at the feet of Roy Cogdill, Jim Adams, and Robert Turner. . . .”16
In 1957 the Adams family moved to Nacogdoches to work with the Mound and Starr congregation. The church in Nacogdoches dates back to 1923, when the Jim Hanna and K. B. Floyd families moved to Nacogdoches to enable their children to attend Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College. These Christians obtained property on Baker Street and formed the Baker Street church of Christ. The Austin Muckleroy family, the Roscoe Witt family, and the John Woods family were early members. Byrne and Lola Pearl Shofner were early members, as were their children, Sue and Vyrne. Brother Byrne Shofner also served the church as preacher. Edd Holt moved from Alabama to Nacogdoches in 1929 to attend college and to preach. His room and board were provided by the Foster Martin family; brother Holt would eventually marry the Martin’s daughter, Gladys. The Holts spent most of their adult lives in Alabama. Preachers who worked in Nacogdoches during these early years include John Brusch and W. F. Showers.17 Foy E. Wallace, Sr., well-known Texas preacher and father to Foy Jr., and Cled, also preached in Nacogdoches. Wallace reporting about the progress of the church in Nacogdoches in the pages of the Gospel Advocate, said: “R. L. Colley, of New London, has just closed with us a very profitable work in a meeting with the Nacogdoches Church. . . .The attendance was the largest and most interesting of any meetings heretofore. Large groups of members from several congregations, with their preachers, made the crowds the best. . . Five baptisms, several reclaimed, and a very fine spirit were the results of the meeting. Nacogdoches is an important field. It is a very beautiful city of some 10,000 people. The Stephen F. Austin State College is located here. . . .I believe a good church is in the making. . . .”18
In 1947 George T. Jones moved to Nacogdoches to preach for the Baker Street church. The congregation was active during this time. Brother Jones conducted a daily radio program; the church conducted at least two gospel meetings per year; and every year a “tent” was erected somewhere in the city with brother Jones doing the preaching. This was a time for much growth, numerically and spiritually. Other preachers during this time included Robert Waller and Earnest Finley.19
After several years on Baker Street the congregation purchased an attractive lot on the corner of Mound and Starr streets. A new building was planned, with Hal B. Tucker as the architect. Sam W. Gandy, Claude Sowell, J. D. Harkrider, Lester Singleton, T. T. Talmadge, and Joe Kinsey comprised the building committee. The new building of 10,000 square feet was finished in 1950. On Christmas Eve, December 1952, after a Sunday night service, a fire raged through the building, destroying everything except part of the west wing and the foundation. Church members quickly pulled together and the building was replaced. A loan of $35,000 was obtained from the M. D. Anderson Foundation; members subscribed the rest of the needed funds by taking out personal loans at the bank. When George Jones moved to Vernon, Texas, in April 1952, Roy Foutz moved to Nacogdoches to work with the church.20
A 1956 directory of the Mound and Starr church records the names of 243 members; additionally, there were six college students who worshiped with the church.21 The attendance of the congregation has remained constant, with 200-250 members; the number of college students worshiping with the church has varied from semester to semester. The number of students has been as low as six and as high as fifty. A church bulletin for December 1, 1957 reveals that 232 were present for morning worship; this was an increase of nearly twenty from the year before. Mid-week worship found 132 present. Other bulletins reflect roughly the same numbers.22 While Adams found his association with the Mound and Starr congregation pleasant, there were larger issues at work among churches of Christ. These issues would ultimately prove to be divisive and disruptive of brethren and churches throughout the land, including Mound and Starr.
By 1957 the issues over centralized control and oversight were growing in intensity and dominated the attention of most churches of Christ. In November 1957 a debate of gigantic proportions took place in Birmingham, Alabama. The disputants, Roy E. Cogdill and Guy N. Woods, were widely recognized as champions of their respective positions. Roy Edward Cogdill was born in 1907 in Oklahoma. At the tender age of fifteen he preached his first gospel sermon. After attending Abilene Christian College for a brief time, he was soon engaged in full-time meeting work. When constant preaching caused damage to his vocal cords, Cogdill was forced to seek other means to support his family. Moving to Dallas, he studied law and then entered private practice for six years. When his throat trouble was cured Cogdill resumed his active schedule of preaching.
Guy Napoleon Woods enjoyed a well-earned reputation as a debater. He participated in over 200 debates in his lifetime, taking his place along side Joe Warlick, J. D. Tant, and C. R. Nichol, well-known debaters among churches of Christ. Wood’s sharp repartee and vast Bible knowledge made him a formidable disputant.23 In 1957 James Adams was in his prime, mentally and physically. Adams served as moderator for his longtime friend, Roy E. Cogdill. The Cogdill-Woods Debate is a matter of public record and is easily obtained today. While Adams was widely used among the churches in gospel meetings, his work with the pen distinguished him as perhaps the ablest defender of the non-institutional positions being taken by many brethren. A perusal of The Gospel Guardian, 1949-1960, will attest to this statement.
Adams moved from Nacogdoches to Oklahoma City in 1958 to work with the 10th and Francis congregation, where he stayed for six years (the elders at 10th and Francis had “lobbied” Adams when attending the Birmingham debate.) Guy N. Woods claimed Adams was killing the 10th and Francis church in Oklahoma, City. In reviewing those charges, Adams said his record in local work revealed just the opposite. The congregation grew and flourished during the time Adams preached in Oklahoma City.24 Interestingly, Adams regarded Woods as the most able of the preachers taking the “institutional” side of the controversy.25 After six years in Oklahoma City, Adams moved back to East Texas, this time to Henderson. After one year there, he returned to Nacogdoches, to work again with the Mound and Starr church. During some of those these years Adams was associated with Fanning Yater Tant, who taught in the Bible Chair conducted by the Mound and Starr congregation.
Adam’s tenure in Nacogdoches ended when he and Sister Adams moved to Baytown, to work with the well-known Pruett and Lobit congregation. While here Adams continued his writing and preaching. In the early 1970s he wrote substantial reviews about a new unity movement that plagued non-institutional churches.26 After two years in Baytown, Adams moved back to East Texas, this time to San Augustine, where he and Sister Adams built a home, which was located close to their daughter, Jimmie Nell. Over the next few years there were shorter stints of local work in Center, Texas (Northside), Huntington (two times), and Beaumont (Central). For four years James edited the Gospel Guardian and operated The Gospel Guardian Bookstore (located in Lukfin, Texas). Texas preacher, Jesse Kelley, printed the paper during these years.
For nearly twenty five years Adams was associated with the Timberland Drive church in Lufkin. The influence of James W. Adams is incalculable. His writing and preaching on live issues affecting the Lord’s church, along with hundreds of pages of writings on pertinent Bible themes, can still help Bible students today. James W. Adams contributed to a legacy – a rich spiritual legacy appreciated by all who still cling to the Bible principles so clearly delineated in sermons, in debates, and in writings. Unknown to many, Adams was a prolific and proficient poet. His Words Fitly Spoken contains poignant pieces about friends and loved ones.
Richard Hughes in anticipating the future of the Lord’s church, said that “Churches of Christ would likely continue their almost two hundred year-old allegiance to the New Testament as their final court of appeal. If past history was any indicator, renewal would come only after serious engagement with scripture and only insofar as change could be justified by the biblical text. The fundamental question facing Churches of Christ as the twenty-first century dawned was this: What kind of book was the Bible, after all?”27 To those words James Wallace Adams would surely say “Amen.” Will you join him in doing the same?
 Endnotes
1   Personal interview, with James W. Adams, December 2006.
2   Personal interview, JWA, December 2006.
3   Personal interview, JWA,1999.
4   James H. Childress, “Getting Acquainted With Our Preaching Brethren,” Firm Foundation, Vol. 52, 1935.
5   This writer met John O’Dowd in April, 1997, in Houston, Texas. Brother O’Dowd and his wife operated a bookstore, dealing mainly in law books, with their customers coming from the Southwest School of Law and The University of Houston Law School. Margaret Edson O’Dowd, growing weary of her husband’s strident tone and tactics, abandoned principles of NT Christianity. Her views are reflected in her book on God’s grace.
6   Personal interview, JWA, May 2010.
7   Fanning Yater Tant, J. D. Tant Texas Preacher: A Biography (Athens: The C.E.I. Publishing Company, 2nd printing 1973), 477-8; Personal interview, JWA, 1999; Truman Smith, “John Hedge (1894-1989) As I Remember Him,” The Preceptor, June 2001, 24.
8   Personal interview with JWA; http://www.easttexasoilmuseum.com; it should be noted that while brother Akin provided funds, Adams later paid the money back. Adams told me that Brother Akin told him that James was the only preacher to pay back the money Akin provided; James paid back the loan “five” dollars at a time. In personal visits it became clear to this writer that James Adams could have benefited personally, in many ways, had he accepted the many offers of money from the Akin family. Each offer was politely turned down. The Akin Foundation “mess” remained a visually sore memory for JWA.
9   See footnote 8 for repayment of Akin money.
10  At this time, students at Freed-Hardeman attended classes Tuesday through Saturday. This enabled the “preacher boys” enough time to travel to their Sunday appointments and then return to Henderson on Monday.
11  Personal interview with JWA, 1999.
12  Personal interview with JWA, 1999; James W. Adams, “Foy E. Wallace, 1896-1979,” The Gospel Guardian 32:11 (February 1980), 34-6.
13  Personal interview with JWA, 1999.
14  James W. Adams, “New Congregation in Longview, Texas,” Gospel Advocate, 15 (year missing; probably 1950).
15  James W. Adams, “Foy E. Wallace, 1896-1979,” The Gospel Guardian 32:11 (February 1980), 34-6.
16  James D. Yates, “James W. Adams and The Akin Foundation,” Guardian of Truth, 31:23 (3 December 1987), 18.
17  J. T. Alders, “Mound and Starr Church of Christ,” Nacogdoches County Families: Texas Sesquicentennial. (Nacogdoches: Curtis Media Corporation, 1985), 45.
18  Foy E. Wallace, Sr., “An Interesting Meeting,” Gospel Advocate, 25 November 1937, Vol. 79, no page.
19  Personal interview with George T. Jones; J. T. Alders, “Mound and Starr Church of Christ,” 45; George T. Jones, “Harriet Lea Jones,” Faith and Facts, 27:3 (July 1999), 235-40.
20  Archie McDonald, “Not so long ago,” The Daily Sentinel, 30 July 2000, sec. 3C; J. T. Alders, “Mound and Starr Church of Christ,” 45; Personal interviews with J. D. Harkrider and Sam Gandy.
21  Mimeographed church directory, Mound and Starr church of Christ, November 1956.
22  Mimeographed church bulletins, Mound and Starr church of Christ, December 1, 1957, December 22, 1957, March 2, 1958, June 1, 1958, June 29, 1958, July 27, 1958, September 7, 1958.
23  Harrell Davidson, Over The Vast Horizon: Authorized Biography of Guy N. Woods (Obion: Harrell Davidson Publishing, 2003), 1-15, 66-104.
24  See The Gospel Visitor, local church bulletin for 10th and Francis, 1958-1964.
25  Interview with JWA, November 27, 2007.
26  These writings appear in Truth Magazine, 1972-1974. This new unity movement had ties to W. Carl Ketcherside and Leroy Garrett.
27  Hughes, Roberts, The Churches of Christ, 158.