Alvin Adams (1804-1877): Owner of the Adams Express Company
by Matthew Powers
Alvin Adams (1804-1877): Owner of the Adams Express Company
A wood framed hotel dominated the corner of Central and Elm Street (current site of Bentley’s/Dr. Coburn’s Tonic) in the Village of Woodstock. Elisha Taylor built this hotel in 1796 named it the Village Hotel. After a couple of ownership changes, this hotel came to Robert Barker in 1819. Barker was originally a stagecoach driver and United States Postal Service mail carrier, who had a stop at the Village Hotel so that passengers could have breakfast, and he could change horses. He married the hotel’s owners daughter, inherited the business, and ran it until 1835.
Barker’s Hotel. An important stop on the stage line.
Lithograph. Collection of the Woodstock History Center.
In November 1820, Barker was approached by a 16-year-old Alvin Adams for a job. Supposedly Barker told Adams that “I have no place for you at this time.” Adams explained that he was an orphan and Barker, who had had time to verify his background, hired him for four years.
Alvin then moved on to Boston where he found work at the Marlboro House. “This was a major hotel [Marlboro House] and staging point at the time. Others tell about his way with horses and how he fancied he would like to be a stage driver, perhaps even to own a stage line.
Envelop with the image of the Marlboro Hotel. Collection of Historic New England.
The association with horses lasted throughout his life and a trademark of Adams express wagon was its well-chosen team of horses. A friendly, outgoing man with sparkling grey eyes, a singularly pleasant face and frank, manly air, Adams spent his leisure time talking with stage drivers and trying to decide his future. He was advised to seek a career in a mercantile profession.” After several years in the grocery and provisions trade and ultimately failing in the produce business, Adams founded Adams & Co. which was comprised of “two men, a boy and one wheelbarrow.” In four years, Adams would have grown the company which would become one of the largest express companies in the United States. “When Adams Express was incorporated in 1854, it digested Adams & Co. plus eight other express companies then serving the East Coast corridor and extending to Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio in one direction and to coastal southern states in another.” The company also extended service to Europe. The company continued to grow and followed the westward migration via the Gold Rush to California and serviced both the North and South during the Civil War. Adams Express Company would go on to become one the of principal express companies in the United States.
“By 1877 the company employed a workforce of 15,000 people and was valued at approximately $27 million. On September 1 of that year, Adams Express lost its founder when Alvin Adams passed away at the age of 73.” However, the company continued on, changing with the times. The Adams Express Company still exists today, but as an investment company, called Adams Funds.
Perhaps it could be said that Robert Barker, Woodstock’s hotel owner who took the orphan under his wing, had a lasting impact on Alvin Adams and the way we received mail.
Alvin Adams. c. 1850.
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6936128
The New York Times. September 5, 1877.
The Adams Express Company: 150 Years. https://www.adamsfunds.com/wp-content/uploads/adams_history.pdf
www.encyclopedia.com
“Alvin Adams, The Expressman; The Business Success That Made Him and His Two Associates Millionaires". The New York Times. September 5, 1877.