Christian Adam(s), born circa 1812 in Prussia, arrived in New York City from LeHavre, France, aboard the Pactolus on October 12, 1846, and was listed as a farmer on the passenger manifest. Petronella Keller Adam(s), born June 15, 1815, in Rhine, Prussia, apparently married Christian circa 1837 in Prussia, where their first two children, Margaretha and John, were born. By 1850 the family was living in Theresa, Dodge County, Wisconsin, where children Francis and Anton were born. On July 6, 1855, Christian bought 36 acres along the north bank of the Cottonwood River from the Chicago Land Company for $300, intending to build a flour and grinding mill powered by a dam across the river. Their fifth and last child, Anna Mary, was born there. In the spring of 1856, Christian and his teamsters arrived on the south bank of the river with five teams of horses transporting machinery from Wisconsin and provisions from St. Paul, but as they ferried the last load late in the day, including a barrel of whiskey, the boat capsized and Christian drowned while his wife and children witnessed the accident. He is recorded as Probate Case No. 1, the first settler to die in Brown County. Petronella remarried on March 17, 1857, in a ceremony performed by Justice of the Peace, 2nd Precinct, Wilhelm Pfaender, recorded as marriage No. 1 in Brown County. Petronella died December 22, 1896, and was buried in the Catholic Cemetery in Springfield, Minnesota.