Start your family tree. We'll start searching. It's FREE. - Enter a few simple facts about recent generations of your family. We'll use what you enter to try and find more about your family in the world's largest online collection of historical records and family trees.

Adams County History and Information

Adams County was created on March 1, 1836 and was formed from Adams New Purchase. The Adams New Purchase: Begun in 1827, Adams was the new name for the Delaware New Purchase. The Adams Purchase existed until 1844, when it became the counties of Adams, Clinton, Grant, Huntington, Jay, and Wells, and portions of the counties of Boone, Carroll, Tipton, and Wabash. The County was named for U.S. President John Quincy Adams, Sixth President of the United States.

Decatur is the County Seat. Samuel Johnson offered as an inducement to have the county seat located on his land, the sum of $3,100, four church lots, half an acre for a public square, one acre for a seminary and two acres for a cemetery. He further agreed to pay the expenses of the locating commissioners, and furnish a house to hold court in until suitable buildings could be erected. The county commissioners promptly accepted the offer "and proceeded to the aforesaid town site, and marked a white oak tree with blazes on four sides, on each of which they individually inscribed their names." Decatur was probably named in honor of Commodore Stephen Decatur and in 1849 it had seventy houses (three of which were brick, twenty-one frame and the remainder of logs) with a population of about 400. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Adams County are Allen County (north), Van Wert County, Ohio (northeast), Mercer County, Ohio (southeast), Jay County (south), Wells County (west).

Adams County is divided into 12 Civil Townships as follows: Blue Creek, French, Hartford, Jefferson, Kirkland, Monroe, Preble, Root, St. Marys, Union, Wabash and Washington. Cities, Towns and Communities include Berne, Coppess Corner, Decatur, Elm Tree Crossroads, Geneva, Honduras, Linn Grove, Magley, Monmouth, Monroe, Perryville, Peterson, Pleasant Mills, Preble, Rivare, and Salem.

The Adams County Official Government Website
Adams County Township Map
Indiana Newspaper Holdings for Adams County: The county newspaper holdings are under regular revision, as new microfilm holdings are added. These files are not up to date; there are continuous updates and corrections.
Official County Historians
Adams County, Indiana History Books at Amazon.com
Search Historical Newspapers from Indiana (1817 - 1930) - Quickly find names and keywords in over 125 million articles, obituaries, marriage notices, birth announcements and other items published in more than 500,000 issues of over 2,500 historical U.S. newspapers. New content added monthly!
Family History Library - The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.
Stories, Memories & Histories - Stories and histories compiled by others researching a person or area can be an amazing source of information about your ancestors. Not only do they generally contain dates and places of vital events like birth, marriage, and death, but they often relate stories and memories that help you really get to know the character of your ancestors.

County Courthouse

County Vital Records

County Census Records

County Maps & Atlases

County Military Records

County Tax Records

County Genealogical Addresses

County Church & Cemeteries

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Adams County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Adams County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

Search for Local Indiana Researchers or Earn Money by becoming a Local Indiana Researcher!
Search 60 Years Of Everton Data : For the first time ever you can get access to more than 150,000 pedigree files and family group sheets from Evertons. Learn More
Sites on USGenweb: [ Adams County ] [ Indiana ] [ Main Page ]
Search the Family Tree DNA Project- Use DNA testing to break through your genealogical barriers!
The Indiana Family Group Sheet Project
Adams County INGenWeb Archives
[GenForum Message Boards] [Rootsweb Message Boards]
Genealogy Encyclopedia: General Abbreviations, Early Illnesses, Nickname Meanings, Worldwide Epidemics, Early Occupations, Common Terms, Censuses Explained, Free Genealogical Forms
Nichols and Related Families of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virgina.
Family Trees - Ancestry has thousands of family trees shared by other members. They can help you identify how ancestors are related and give you clues about birth, marriage, and death information. Family trees are an excellent resource for filling in gaps in your research or even to simply know where to begin.
Pictures - One of the more exciting discoveries in doing family history research is finding a photograph of your ancestors or their residence. Finding historic postcard photos and drawings of towns and important events throughout history can also give you a visual look into your ancestors lives.
Reference Materials & Finding Aids - Reference materials, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other how-to books, can be tremendously helpful in finding and interpreting historical documents. Many of these books can help you learn where to look for more information and how to use what you've already found to uncover more clues.
Adams County, Indiana Family Books at Amazon.com

Extended History

1849 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Gazetteer," published by E. Chamberlain

Adams County is bounded on the east by the State of Ohio, on the south by Jay County, on the west by Wells, and on the north by Allen County. It is twenty-four miles in length, from north to south, and fourteen in breadth, and contains 336 square miles. The population of Adams County, in 1840, was 2,284; at this time [1849] it is near 5,600. The face of the county is generally level. Near the St. Mary's and Wabash, it is undulating, but not hilly. There are no barrens in the county, and not exceeding ten sections of prairie, all wet, and twenty-five or thirty of river bottoms. The residue is upland, heavily timbered. The wet prairies form the sources of the creeks, and from several of them water runs into the St. Lawrence, and also the Mississippi. The most of them show traces of beaver dams. The soil is clay mixed with marl, and apparently becomes more fertile the longer it is cultivated. The timber is oak, hickory, buckeye, ash, beech, elm, lynn, walnut, sycamore, poplar and cotton wood. The surplus products consist of wheat, corn and hay, and horses, cattle and hogs, in considerable numbers, are raised for exportation. The county is divided into twelve townships, Preble, Root and Union in the north' next, St. Mary's Washington and Kirkland; then French, Monroe and Blue Creek; and in the south, Jefferson, Wabash and Hartford.

There are in Adams County, three Lawyers, five Physicians, six Ministers of the Gospel, five stores, three groceries, six warehouses, one merchant mill, one oil mill, one ashery, one tannery, two saddlers, ten shoemakers, seven blacksmiths, two tailors, five cabinet makers and twenty carpenters.

The principal streams are the St. Mary's and Wabash rivers, which are about equal in size, and their average width is about 160 feet. The former was frequently navigated with keel and flat boats; but navigation in now obstructed by mill dams. The public buildings in the county consist of a Courthouse and Jail, both of wood, fire-proof offices for the Clerk, Recorder, Auditor and Treasurer, and one Presbyterian, one Methodist and one Roman Catholic Church. The common school districts are generally organized and support schools from three to ten months in the year. The county of Adams, when properly improved, will be a first rate farming region.

Decatur, the County Seat of Adams County, on the west side of St. Mary's River, in Washington Township, was first settled in 1837, by Jacob Huffer, Samuel L. Rugg and John Reynolds. There are in Decatur [in 1849] seventy houses, of which three are brick, twenty-one frame, and the residue of logs, with a population of about 400. This town in twenty-four miles southeast from Fort Wayne, twenty-eight miles north of Portland, ten miles west of Willshire, Ohio, and 110 northeast of Indianapolis.

1938 Adams County Retrospect - Based on "Indiana Review," published by the State Legislature

click and zoom to Our Neighbors MapAdams County is located in the northeastern part of Indiana and is bounded on the east by the State of Ohio and on the north by Allen County. Its twelve townships cover an area of 337 square miles. It is supposed the county took its name in honor of John Quincy Adams, who was President within the decade prior to formal organization.

In the southern part of this county is the "Limberlost" region, immortalized by Gene Stratton Porter. Road 27, known as the Limberlost Trail, passes within sight of Limberlost Cabin, where Mrs. Porter wrote her first ten novels.

The total population in 1890 was 20,181; 1900, 22,232; 1910, 21,840; 1920, 29,503; and in 1930, 19,957. The incorporated city is Decatur, 5,156; towns: Bern, 1,883; Geneva, 895, and Monroe, 322.

Decatur is located twenty-two miles southeast of Fort Wayne and is served by three railroads. In 1937, there were some twenty-six industries, according to an unofficial report. Those industries included meat-packing, foundry operation, sugar refining and the manufacture of hoops, staves, brick, cement blocks, electric motors, ladders and egg case fillers.

On the Courthouse lawn in Decatur is a Soldiers Memorial Monument built of Bedford stone and a bronze tablet to Gene Stratton porter, dedicated by the county's school children. Outstanding among Decatur's buildings are the Elks' Home, of Georgian style architecture; the Public Library, of Greek classic style; several churches, and the Adams County Hospital. A monument to the memory of Samuel L. Rugg, pioneer settler, statesman, benefactor and educator, is located in the Decatur Cemetery. Memorial Park in the city is named in his honor. Among Decatur's notable residences is the C. A. Dugan house of Greek classic style. Other old homes are distinguished for their coverlets, pioneer needlework, and portraits by early artists. In one is a painting by Francisco Denoti, done in 1792.

Scattered throughout Adams County are many historical trails formerly used by the Indians. Chief among them are Harmar Trail, Godfrey Trail and the Old Wayne Trace. Sixteen hundred acres are covered by the Old Rivare Indian Reservation, which is more than one hundred years old and contains an Indian burial ground.

At Bern, in the southern part of the county, is a Mennonite Church regarded as an unusual example of architecture for a small community, and one of the largest Protestant churches in the state.

The flat land of Adams county is well adapted to agriculture. According to 1935 federal census figures the county had 2,150 farms averaging 95.4 acres each, with a total value of $11,745,466. A total of 68,395 head of livestock was reported.

There were thirty-three industrial establishments employing 1,280 wage earners on pay rolls of $966,956. The value of the products was $8,934,490.

The Adams County total tax valuation for 1936 was $22,955,127.

Courthouse History

In 1872 architect J.C. Johnson completed the third and present courthouse for Adams County. Johnson utilized the hallmark mansard roof and tower on his Second Empire style designs for courthouses in Adams and Randolph counties. Both buildings experienced maintenance problems involving their towers, and in the 1950s Randolph County completely removed its tower.

By the late nineteenth century the swaying of the damaged Adams County Courthouse tower caused the courtroom ceiling below to crack. In 1900, Adams County Commissioners hired Fort Wayne architects Wing and Mahurin to design a new tower and dismantle the original one. For added stability, the architects relocated the new tower above the building’s main entrance. Once workers demolished the old tower, they removed the damaged plaster and lowered the courtroom ceiling. All of the original ceiling murals were lost, excepting a small portion under a beam that supports the bell tower.

Decorative sandstone quoins, incised with an irregular honeycomb pattern, known as vermiculated work, offset the red brick body of the Adams County Courthouse. Patterned slate and dormer windows highlight the steep slope of the distinctive mansard roof. A 1970s renovation closed off all but two of the original doorways that graced each side of the building. In an attempt to create more space, the 1970s renovations also added asecond story loft to the clerk’s and recorder’s offices, lowered ceilings, and replaced the original front doors with double airlock doors.

In 1995 the county expanded its governmental space by converting the former Bellmont Junior High School into the Adams County Service Complex, thus saving the historic school from the wrecking ball and creating a circuit court courthouse annex.

In 2005 the clerk’s office in the old courthouse expanded into the area once housing the recorder. To create one large office, workers removed the 1970s loft addition and several brick dividing walls. Because of the load bearing function of the walls, their removal necessitated construction of a new support system for the courtroom located above.

The Adams County Courthouse is located on a Shelbyville Square plan ringed by commercial businesses. Unlike most courthouse squares decorated with war memorials, Adams County honors its battle heroes with a Peace Monument, designed by Charles Mulligan and dedicated in 1913. The large limestone monument features a stylized female figure symbolizing peace on the front, and on the back, a carved relief honoring battlefield nurses.

Map of Indiana Historical Markers

Adams County History and Information

County Courthouse

See Also Indiana Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

County Vital Records

See Also Vital Records in Indiana

County Census Records

See Also Research In Census Records & Statewide Records that exist for Indiana

County Maps & Atlases

See Also Research In State Map Collections

County Military Records

See Also Military Records in Indiana

County Tax Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Indiana Genealogical Addresses

County Church & Cemeteries

See Also Church & Cemetery Records in Indiana

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Extended History