Did You Know?
Adams County experienced an earthquake on January 4, 1843.
Jacob Futterer was a basket maker in Quincy in 1905.
Mrs. Florence A. Richardson was a manicurist in Quincy in 1905.
Augustine Tolton, the first black Catholic Priest in the United States is buried in Quincy.
The Maid Rite Sandwich Shop in Quincy opened for business in June 1928.
Oxen respond to verbal commands. “Gee” means turn right. “Haw” means turn left. “Whoa” means stop.
Railroad passengers paid 3-cents per mile to ride from place to place in Adams County in 1855.
The grindstones for the Emminga Mill at Golden were imported from France in 1854.
The first location of the Chestline Post Office was in Solomon Belmeyer’s kitchen.
Otis Gruber, great-grandchild of Franz Gruber was born and raised in Clayton, Illinois.
Andrew Hughes died August 26, 1833 in Camp Point Township.
The first Adams County jail was built in 1827 by Ephraim Green at a cost of $150.50.
William H. Govert, Henry C. Sprick, William H. Heidbreder, Walter A. Heidbreder and Harry J. Heidbreder were partners in the State Street Bank in 1918.’
May Devalcour was a foster child in the home of George W. Murphy of Quincy in May 1919.
John Meyer owned a wholesale liquor business in Adams County in the 1860s.
John sold Peter Bunyan a barrel of bourbon for $36.55 on August 10, 1863.
The barrel contained 43 gallons of bourbon.The Post Office Box Rental fee in 1868 was fifty-cents per quarter.
Joseph Lummis owned 240 acres of land in Gilmer Township in 1853. His tax bill for that year for State, County, Road and School Taxes was $2.08.
Thirty Civil War cannons were manufactured in Quincy for the Union Army. They cost $230.00 each and could shoot a 2-pound cannonball two miles.
During the Spanish American War 340 Adams County men enlisted to serve.
Adams County sent 5,713 men to serve in the Civil War.
The first election in Adams County took place July 2, 1825. A tin kettle was used for a ballot box.
In 1842 Quincy had 12 doctors, 12 carpenters, 3 barbers, 2 gunsmiths, 11 shoemakers, 1 dentist and 20 lawyers.
Charles C. Knight had a restaurant and saloon on the corner of Fifth and Maine in Quincy in 1866.
Andrew Flick of Plainville owned a Maxwell automobile in 1918.
Playwright and poet Charles Dazey was born in Lima, Illinois, in 1855.
Quincy University was founded in 1860 and was then known as St. Francis Solanus College.
A horse thief was lynched near Lima shortly after the Civil War.
John A. Whitsett had a Pop Corn Stand in Quincy in 1905.
The first newspaper published in Camp Point was the Camp Point Enterprise. It began publication in 1866 and was owned by W. R. Carr.
Henry Clay Work lived in Adams County prior to the Civil War and is credited with helping more than 4000 slaves escape to the North.
Major General George Edward Pickett of Civil War fame was often cast in feminine roles during his stint in Quincy’s dramatic club, The Thespian Society.
In October 1838, 300 Pottawatomie Indians attended Mass at St. Boniface Church in Quincy. They were passing thru the area on their way to Kansas.
In 1839 Quincy had the first fire engine in the state of Illinois. It was “Quincy No. 1, Rough and Ready.”
Adams County covers an area of 842 square miles.
A large number of Irish immigrants arrived in Adams County in 1839 to help in the construction of the Northern Cross Railroad.
In 1905 Adams County hog farmers could get a hog cholera cure from Clyde N. Ware.
In 1837 new burial grounds were available at Madison Square on the corner of 24th and Maine in Quincy. Lots cost $10.00 each.
The first Catholic Mass in Quincy took place in 1832 at the home of Adam Schmitt, a Quincy carpenter.
Adams County was an important part of the Underground Railway helping many slaves to escape to the north prior to the Civil War. Mendon and Quincy were actively involved in the Underground Railway.
Lieutenant William Shipley was the first Quincy soldier to die during the Civil War.
In 1897, Henry A. Gredell of Quincy patented a tobacco box opener.
President Teddy Roosevelt visited Quincy briefly on April 29, 1903.
Ira Pierce operated the first ferry across the Mississippi at Quincy. In 1826, he charged $1.00 for a pleasure wagon drawn by two horses or oxen to cross the river. The fee for a foot passenger was 50-cents.
Old time movie star Mary Astor was a Quincy native. She was known here as Lucille Langhanke, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Langhanke, born May 3, 1906.
In 1826, at Rufus Brown’s Tavern in Quincy, you could get a “Single meal of victuals” for 25-cents.
The first newspaper in Adams County was the Bounty Land Register published in 1834 by C. M. Woods and Dunbar Aldrich. Richard Young was the editor.
Cholera epidemics have broken out twice in Adams County. The first outbreak was in July 1833, when more than 30 people died of the disease. The second epidemic claimed more than 400 lives in 1849.
The first orchard of grafted apple trees was planted at Columbus in 1832 by George Johnson.
Honey Creek Township was the location for the first Poor Farm in Adams County. It was established in 1847.
The first hanging in Adams County occurred in December 1834 when Mr. Bennett was hung for murdering Mr. Baker.
The Quincy Humane Society was organized in 1880.
The St. Aloysius Orphan Home was set up in 1852 to care for youngsters whose parents had died in the 1849 cholera epidemic.
In 1918, the Ricker National Bank in Quincy was paying 3% interest on savings accounts.
In early times hundreds of Adams County men were employed during the winter months of the year to harvest ice from the Mississippi River.
President Bill Clinton visited Quincy January 28, 2000.
Wilson Land killed a three-hundred pound bear near Lima Lake in 1840.
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