Early Life
Edward J. "Eddie" Adams was born in 1887 on a farm in Hutchinson, Kansas as William Joseph Wallace. His father died when he was young and his mother remarried, setting the stage for a lifetime of psychological problems. Eddie had a strong disdain for his stepfather, as well as for physical labor. He learned the barber trade and moved to Wichita, Kansas in the early 20th century. There he met John Callahan and quickly became involved in bootlegging, petty robberies, and car theft.
Adams was a charismatic fellow who attracted a long line of criminal hangers-on and loose ladies. His wife left him after growing weary of his illegal activities and infidelities.
He soon formed his own gang and began committing bank and train robberies throughout Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa, eventually earning the reputation as the premier bandit in the Midwest by the early days of Prohibition.
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