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The Fronk-Adams Family History |
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The parents of Zella Dea Fronk were William Darwin Fronk (1853 - 1951) and Harriet Ann Adams (1858 - 1958). William Fronk was born in Centerville, Pennsylvania, and Harriet Adams was born in Centerville, Iowa. The Fronks had five children: Zella Dea, Albert Leo, Eleanor Margaret, Cyrus Arthur, and William. William was known as 'Little Willie'; he was born on December 9, 1893 and died June 28, 1902 at the age of 9, of typhoid fever. He is buried in LaHarpe Cemetery, in LaHarpe, Kansas. His mother cried about his death even when she was an old woman. Harriet Ann Adams Fronk, mother of Zella, was one of 13 children born to James Achilles Adams (1821 - 1886) and Harriet Ann Welch (1829 - 1913). James Adams was born in Cynthiana, Harrison County, Kentucky, and married Harriet Ann Welch in Parkersburg, Indiana in 1846. Harriet Ann Welch was born in Greencastle, Putnam County, Indiana. (see the Adams-Welch family Chart) The family moved to Parkersburg, Indiana, Danville, Indiana, Crawfordsville, Indiana, Centerville, Iowa, Lawrence, Kansas, and Iola, Kansas. James and Harriet Adams and family were followers of Captain (?) Lane, a speaker against slavery who travelled the country encouraging people to move to Lawrence, Kansas, to make it a stronghold of abolitionists. James and Harriet moved their family to Lawrence Kansas between 1858 and 1860, and were among the survivors of the Quantrell Raiders, who sacked the town of Lawrence. Zella Fronk's mother, Harriet Ann Adams, wrote about her memory of the Quantrell Raid as a small child. James and Harriet Adams children were: James Noble, Mary Evelyn, Aletha Florence, John William, Charles Nelson, Harriet Ann, Abraham Lincoln, Eleanor Margaret (Nell), Lydia Ann, Alice, Delmont, Dorothy Varden (Dollie) and Lutecia (Lutie). Mary Evelyn died in infancy, and Alice died at 11 years old in 1878. |