Farmers State Bank

Isma. p. and Elizabeth Mumford were amongst the first pioneers in Gage county. Isma P. Mumford was born in the state of Maryland, while Elizabeth Mallock, was born in Adams county, Ohio, in 1830. She was the granddaughter of a Revolutionary soldier and the daughter of a man who bore arms for his country in the war of 1812. When twenty-one years of age she became the wife of Isma P. Mumford. Shortly after their marriage, in 1853, they migrated from Ohio to the new state of Wisconsin, and in 1857 they came seeking a home in the new territory of Nebraska. On the way out they were joined at Plattsmouth by William and Nathan Blakely, and together these heroic pioneers of Gage county made their slow way across the unmarked, trackless prairies of southeastern Nebraska. Hearing that the Big Blue river valley olifered great advantages to settlers, on account of the abundant limber and rich bottom land which Hned its course, they traveled thither, and on the 17th day of July, almost by accident, stumbled upon the members of the Beatrice Townsite Company, who were' engaged in erecting a company house on their townsite, which building later became the property of Albert Towle and widely famous as "Pap's Cabin." They also found a cluster of covered wagons and tents, in the neighborhood of the Kees Manufacturing plant, a little above the junction of Indian creek and the Big Blue river. Learning that the representatives of the townsite company had founded a town and purposed to remain arid carry their enterprise to fulfillment, and pleased both with the prospect and company, the little party resolved to cast in its fortunes with that old guard which then and for many succeeding years held this remote outpost of civilization against all hardships, privations and discouragements.

Passage source: History of Gage County, Nebraska; a Narrative of the Past, with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time, published 1918.

As early as 1867 a postoffice was established in Adams township, called Laona. John Lyons was the first postmaster, the postoffice being at his home, a mile and one-half west of the present town of Adams. In 1873 the Atchison & Nebraska Railroad Company built its line of railway through Adams township from Atchison to Lincoln, and in May of that year John O. Adams, in conjunction with the railroad company, laid off the south half of the northeast quarter of section 27, into a townsite and it was named Adams. Village organization was deferred until March 10, 1892. The first board of village trustees comprised the following well known residents of that place, namely: Frank E. Whyman, Henry H. Norcross, W. C. Garrison, Nathaniel C. Shaw, and William C. Gray. They were duly qualified for office by James B. Shaw, justice of the peace. F. E. Whyman was elected first chairman of the village board, W. C. Gray the first secretary, and H. L. Watson was appointed the first marshal of Adams. One of the first ordinances passed prohibited "the sale, giving away, delivering or furnishing in any manner any spirituous, malt, vinous or intoxicating liquors within the village," an ordinance which has stood intact from the beginning. The open saloon never found a place to conduct business in Adams.

Passage source: History of Gage County, Nebraska; a Narrative of the Past, with Special Emphasis Upon the Pioneer Period of the County's History, Its Social, Commercial, Educational, Religious, and Civic Development from the Early Days to the Present Time, published 1918.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Adams Township - 9,774 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.