Thomas K. Adams was born around 1837 in Indiana to Patrick Adams. His father earned a living as a farmer. He grew up in Marion County, Indiana, and his mother died around 1853. By the early 1860s, he was helping care for his elderly father; he reportedly “paid the rent and furnished his father with food [and] clothing.”

 

 He enlisted in the Union army on July 30, 1862, and he mustered in as a corporal in Company I of the 63^rd Indiana Infantry several days later. He was eventually reduced to the ranks. He fell ill in the winter of 1863-64. According to his commanding officer, his “sickness was a general cold and camp diarrhea,” which was “greatly aggravated by the extreme cold weather.” In June 1864, Adams reported that his “health is yet very poor.” He died on September 29, 1864, in Indianapolis, Indiana, either from consumption or chronic diarrhea.

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