Adam Cartwright
Biographical information
Full Name	Adam Cartwright
Occupation	Rancher
Gender	Male
Race	American
Hair color	Black
Eye color	Brown
Born	1830
Died
Personal
Family	Abel Stoddard† (grandfather) Ben Cartwright (father) Elizabeth Cartwright† (mother) Inger Cartwright† (step-mother) Marie Cartwright† (step-mother) Hoss Cartwright (half-brother) Little Joe Cartwright (half-brother) John Cartwright† (uncle) Will Cartwright (cousin) Adam Cartwright, Jr. (son)
Spouse
Romances	Lotta Crabtree Laura Dayton (former fiance)
Children	A. J. Cartwright
Profile
First Episode	A Rose for Lotta (Bonanza) Pilot: Part 1 (Ponderosa)
Last Episode	Patchwork Man (Bonanza) Fugitive (Ponderosa)
Portrayed by	Pernell Roberts Matt Carmody

Adam Cartwright was born in 1830, the first son of Ben Cartwright and Elizabeth Stoddard in New England. He is good with a gun, mature and responsible, and generally looked upon for decision making during crisis by his two younger brothers Hoss and Little Joe in the absence of his father.

Early lifeEdit

The firstborn son of Ben Cartwright and his first wife, Elizabeth Stoddard, in New England, Elizabeth died within hours of Adam's birth. Ben took his infant son and headed West to fulfill a promise he had made to his late wife. They traveled through Ohio, Illinois, (where Ben met and married his second wife, Inger Cartwright when Adam was five) Missouri, Nebraska (where Hoss Cartwright was born and Inger died) California, and onto Nevada, where Ben began to build the Ponderosa for himself, Adam, and Hoss. Ben would meet and marry Marie Cartwright on a trip to New Orleans before he brought her back to his ranch to be a step-mother to his boys. Joseph Cartwright was born on the Ponderosa when Adam was probably the age of twelve. Marie died when Joe was five, and Adam possibly seventeen. Adam went back to Boston for college at the age of eighteen, where he studied engineering and architecture, which enabled him to help design and build the Ponderosa house. He was the only Cartwright son to have that kind of education.

Later lifeEdit

Adam left the Ponderosa to live on his own, though no one really knows where he went. Some say he became a sailor like his father and grandfather before him, while others say he went to Europe, because Joe once said he got a letter saying "Adam was having a nice, cold winter in Paris".

FamilyEdit

Adam married an unknown woman and would later have a son named A.C.

AppearancesEdit

Appearances by Adam Cartwright

GalleryEdit

Gallery of Adam Cartwright