Clarence Adams (criminal)
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Cavendish, Vermont
Clarence Adams | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Vermont House of Representatives | |
| In office 1894 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 18, 1857 Cavendish, Vermont, U.S. |
| Died | February 26, 1904 (aged 46) |
| Resting place | Cavendish Village Cemetery Cavendish, Vermont |
| Party | Republican |
| Occupation |
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Clarence A. Adams (November 18, 1857 – February 26, 1904) was an American politician and serial burglar. He is believed to be responsible for a series of burglaries that took place in Chester, Vermont between 1886 and 1902 and pled guilty to eight of them. During the crime spree, Adams served on Chester's board of selectmen and represented the town in the Vermont House of Representatives. As a selectman, he took a leading role into the investigation of the burglaries he was later believed to have committed.
Adams was born in Cavendish, Vermont on November 18, 1857, to Washington Adams and Dene H. (Walker) Hagar.[1] His only sibling, Marcellus, died during infancy. In 1860, the family moved to a 270-acre farm in Chester, Vermont.[1][2] Adams remained on the farm into his adulthood and took it over after the death of his parents.[2]
Public service
In 1889 and 1892, Adams was a member of the Chester board of selectmen.[1][2] In 1894, he represented the town in the Vermont House of Representatives.[3] He also was deacon at the local church, a founding trustee of the Whiting Library, a village lister, and an incorporator of the Chester Savings Bank.[2]
Burglaries
In September 1886, the Adams and Davis Co. in Chester discovered a safe had been cracked. This began a series of burglaries in the town of seemingly random items, including a box of bow ties, a bag of doughnuts, roofing shingles, bicycle, and sacks of grain, stolen from various merchants. A gristmill owned by Adams' close friend Charles Waterman was burglarized at least 16 times, and the general store owned by James E. Pollard was burglarized six times. The burglaries later progressed to residences. In one instance, a couple awoke to a masked man in their home with a revolver who stole $1,500 and had killed their dog to avoid it barking. The thief threatened to have an accomplice shoot them dead if they left the house before daylight.[2]
Clarence Adams became selectman in 1892 and took an active and public interest in investigating the burglaries, which by this point were occurring weekly.[2][4] He had the board of selectmen hire a detective on the case and offered a $500 reward for the bandit's capture. Adams personally examined crime scenes, interviewed victims, and added an additional $100 of his own money to the reward. He advised businesses on heightened security practices, helping Pollard install a high-tech burglar alarm at his general store, convincing Waterman to hire a night watchman, and persuading druggist F. W. Pierce to sell revolvers at his store. However, none of the tactics were successful. The burglar entered the store through the only unarmed window, burglarized Waterman's mill on the watchman's night off, and stole the guns before Pierce could sell them.[2]