George Matthew Adams was born in this modest Baptist parsonage in a bustling rural village in 1878. His column "Today's Talk" appeared in newspapers across the country. It was influenced by his religious upbringing, and its inspirational tone appealed to the average American. Adams' father was a Baptist minister, and his parents raised their five children to have strong morals.

"It was a quiet day and I was by myself in the Adams House doing some cooking in the kitchen. I heard the sound of someone running up the sidewalk to the front of the house and their loud heavy footsteps on the wooden front porch. They came inside the house and ran right up the stairs to the second floor really quickly. The second floor is not open to the public and someone must have left the rope down that crossed the steps which is supposed to hinder anyone from going up. I ran from the kitchen to tell them to come down. As fast as I heard those footsteps run into the house and up the stairs, there was no way they could have stopped to unhook the rope. When I came around to the stairs, the rope was still hooked and there was no one upstairs."