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Russell Dean Adams, second son of Lewis and Mary Adams, was born June 16, 1856, in the log house on his father's farm near Fitchburg, Dane County, Wisconsin. He was named for his maternal grandfather, Russell Dean "R. D." Salisbury and like his grandfather, he was always called "R.D.". R. D. Adams grew up with his brothers and sisters on his father's farm, living at home until 1883 when he followed his brother, Lewis Lewellyn, Jr., to Iowa. There R. D. leased a farm in O'Brien County, near Primghar, Iowa. One of his near neighbors was the William Oliver family.
Arminta "Mattie" Oliver, eldest daughter of William and Martha Oliver, was born on June 25, 1866 in Howard Lake, Minnesota. In 1872 the Olivers moved to Indiana, staying there only one year. They came west again, locating near Primghar, in O'Brien Co., Iowa. Here Mattie grew up on the farm, attending rural school with her sisters and brothers. Later she attended Normal School to secure a certificate to teach school.
R.D. and Mattie were married on March 19, 1885 in Primghar, Iowa, and had eleven children:
| Mae Adams | Born November 4, 1877. |
| Russell Dean Adams | Born September 22, 1889. |
| Chester Arthur Adams | Born May 12, 1891. |
| Grace Clemintine Adams | Born April 12, 1893. |
| Lewis Lewellyn Adams | Born April 14, 1895. |
| Mary Anne Adams | Born December 26, 1896. |
| Ruth Arminta Adams | Born July 13, 1898. |
| William Oliver Adams | Born January 4, 1900. |
| Maude Letitia Adams | Born May 3, 1901. |
| Vernon Adams | Born August 26, 1902. |
| Darlene Adams | Died as an infant shortly after birth in 1903. |
In 1905, the family having outgrown the O'Brian County farm, R.D. bought a 320-acre farmin the Clear Creek Valley, on the west side of Sherman County. On the farm was a modest frame house, which served as the family home for 14 years.
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In 1919, R.D. built a new frame house on the Sherman County farm.
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The boys left home to go to high-school and college, but they all returned and became successful farmers, with farm homes of their own. For much more detail on the lives of R.D. and Mattie, see the section on R. D. Adams, Sr. in the memoirs of his daughter-in-law Ruth VanDyke.
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