The Hon. John A. Atwood declared at a 1904 meeting of the Ogle County Old Settlers' Association that Adams' bravery was comparable to that of George Armstrong Custer at Little Big Horn. At least one writer, however, has asserted that Adams' death was at the hands of his own men as he tried to organize them for battle. Adams' wife died in 1871 and all eight of his children were dead by 1899.