Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 3.djvu/369

 D. M. Valentine *   and Abram Ruth, and six miles south of the center of the county. In 1856 by act of the Legislature the name was changed to Fontanelle.

The first house in Summerset was a double log cabin built in June, 1855, by James C. Gibbs for a tavern and post-office. Mr. Gibbs was the first postmaster in the town and county. A store was opened in 1856 by Calvin Ballard.

At the time the county was organized the population was about one hundred fifty. The town of Greenfield, laid out in September, 1856, by Milton C. Munger is about six miles northeast of Fontanelle and in 1875 became the county-seat. Matthew Clark built the first house the same year which was used as a store by A. D. Littleton as well as a station of the Western Stage Company. The first school in the county was taught by Miss Huldah Lee in 1857 in the court-house at Fontanelle. The Congregationalists organized the first church in 1856 at the same place.

The Chicago and Rock Island Railroad was built through the extreme northern limits of the county in 1868 upon which the towns of Adair and Casey were laid out. The first newspaper was established by James C. Gibbs in 1863 and named the Adair County Register. After a long and bitter contest extending from 1865 to 1875 the county-seat was removed from Fontanelle to Greenfield. ADAMS COUNTY is the third east of the Missouri State line. It contains twelve Congressional townships, embracing within its limits four hundred thirty-two square miles. The county was created in 1851 from territory formerly within Des Moines County and was named for John Adams, second President of the United States.

The county-seat was located by commissioners a little north of the center of the county and named Quincy, for

* D. M. Valentine moved to Kansas in 1859 where he has been a member of both branches of the Legislature, District Judge and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.