Adam Stump Yoakum was born on March 18, 1814, in Virginia. He moved to Barry County, Missouri, by the 1830s, and he married Martha Ventioner there on January 13, 1839. They had at least three children: Isaac, born around 1842; James, born around 1837; and George, born around 1850. They lived in Smith, Missouri, until the 1840s, when they moved to Fannin County, Texas. He worked as a farmer, and by 1850, he owned $1,200 of real estate. Two decades later, he owned $2,500 of real estate and $1,250 of personal property. His wife died on November 30, 1870, and he remarried sometime before 1880. He died on March 4, 1889.