When Gottlieb Adolf was born on 24 December 1866, in Chervono-Glinskoye, Bessarabia, Russian Empire, his father, Karl Ludwig Adolf, was 43 and his mother, Eva Kuch, was 40. He married Katharina Sprecher on 20 October 1889. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Morton, North Dakota, United States in 1900 and Wapi, Blaine, Idaho, United States in 1910. He died on 20 February 1946, at the age of 79, and was buried in Lodi, San Joaquin, California, United States.