DANIEL ADAMSON, house, sign, and ornamental and decorative painter, and dealer in paints, oils and wall paper, No. 73 Stephenson Street, stands at the head of that line of business in Freeport. He was born in Westport, Ireland, on the 23d of August, 1834, and reared in Manchester, England, in which country he was educated and grew to manhood. His parents were John and Margaret (Cousins) Adamson, who emigrated to America in 1856. In 1858 the father died, leaving a widow and six children. After the death of her husband, Mrs. Adamson and her family came West and settled in Stephenson County, in 1863. After remaining in this country several years she then moved to Waterloo, Iowa. At the time this sketch is written she is in the seventy-seventh year of her age, and owns a farm in Plymouth County, Iowa, and runs it herself.

Daniel Adamson was married in 1856 to Miss Elizabeth Preston, of Manchester, England, and they have had six children, four sons and two daughters: John E., Mary E., Lydia C., now the wife of L. Hughes; Daniel P., George T. and Charles F. Mr. Adamson has served his fellow-citizens of the First Ward as a member of the Board of Aldermen. He is a Mason of high standing, having reached the altitude of the thirty-second degree in that fraternity. He is also a member of the Winneshiek Lodge, I.O.O.F. ,P> Mr. Adamson was educated in his present business in England, principally under the auspices of the Government. He attended the School of Design for seven and one-half years, from which he graduated, and was awarded diplomas and medals for his proficiency in his profession. During this time he completely mastered the technique of the profession. He afterward engaged in teaching for several years. In 1857 he came to Toronto and was engaged in portrait painting there; then he went to New York, where he engaged in art and decorative painting. He came to Freeport in 1862, and established his present business in a small way, in a room only sixteen feet square, and from that small beginning he has built up his present extensive business, which extends from Chicago to Western Iowa. There are very few persons in the western country so thoroughly educated in their profession, and, we might say, wedded to it, as Mr. Adamson. In frescoing, art and decorative painting he excels, and the fine character of work done by him through Illinois and Iowa testifies to his taste and ability. He carries a large stock of all kinds of goods, and of the best quality in his line, and conducts the leading business in paints, oil, glass, and wall paper in this section of Illinois. He is a business man and citizen of whom Freeport is justly proud.

Contributed by Carol Parrish from Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. (1888), p. 266