History: The Adams Hotel (History of Abbotsford) 
 

Poster: Marla Zwakman 
 

Email: dzwakman@msn.com 
 

Surnames: Wing, Kuentz, Scharf, Crocker, Weideman, Mueller, Pillon, Kennedy, Wilson, Wood, Schultz, Schwierske 
 

----Source: Abbotsford Tribune (Abbotsford, Clark County, Wis.) 06/10/1954 
 

History of Abbotsford – The Adams Hotel By F. B. Wing 
 

The Adams Hotel, the only three story structure that Abbotsford can boast of, lives in memory only. It was built soon after the railroad division moved here, for Adam Kuentz, a successful hardware merchant of Colby. Mr. Kuentz was born April 2, 1844, in Hesse, Darmstadt, Germany, came to America in 1846 with his parents, who settled near Sheboygan. Adam became a cheese maker and worked near Sheboygan until 1870. He then traveled to Colby and purchased 120 acres of land. In 1880 he built a hardware store in Colby, which he conducted for 19 years selling the business to Zillman Bros., in 1889, Adam was an expert marksman and was a member of the Wisconsin Sharp Shooters’ Union and attended many tournaments, winning many trophies. 
 

He built the Adams Hotel, also rebuilt and bricked the Abbotsford Hardware building, which at that time, was a dry goods and notions store, conducted by Jake Scharf. It has been said of Adams’ method, of conducting his business, at times, may have been the forerunner of the modern self service stores, where the customer waits on himself and pays the clerk. There was a reason for this, as Adam experienced trouble with his limbs and at times operated his business while seated near the cash register and directing his customers to the location of the articles they wished to buy. 
 

W. L. Crocker, a building contractor, who built and owned several houses in Abbotsford, one being the house where Mrs. August Weideman now lives, another where Clarence Mueller lives. He was engaged by Mr. Kuentz to oversee the building of the Adams Hotel. This hotel had a double entrance, one to the saloon, the other to the hotel office. The first proprietor of the hotel was Tom Pillon, who previously was in business across the street, in what was known as the Erion building. 
 

The next tenants of the Adams were Mr. and Mrs. William Kennedy, Mr. and Mrs. Andy Wilson, Mrs. Ezra Wood. Mr. and Mrs. William Schultz were the last tenants of the hotel. 
 

The hotel enjoyed a fine business for several years. Some time after the division moved, the whole town received a set back, and the hotel no longer a good rental property. Mr. Kuentz turned the handling of the property over to his son-in-law, Fred U. Schwierske, he not being able to dispose of the property, at any where near its real value had to *** Note: The rest of the article was cut off and was not available at the time of transcription.