Adamsville A.O.U.W. Cemetery

The Adamsville Cemetery is a historic cemetery, established by the Ancient Order of United Workmen (A.O.U.W.) in Adamsville, a ghost town in Pinal County, Arizona. The Pioneers' Cemetery Association (PCA) defines a "historic cemetery" as one which has been in existence for more than fifty years.[2]

Adamsville Cemetery
Map
Details
EstablishedMay 31, 1894
Location
Highway 79 and 287 on Adamsville Road, Pinal County, Arizona
CountryU.S.
Coordinates33°01′26″N 111°24′31″W / 33.02389°N 111.40861°W / 33.02389; -111.40861[1]
Owned byFlorence, Arizona
No. of graves54 identified
No. of interments66
Find a GraveAdamsville Cemetery

History

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Adamsville was one of the first two towns formed in Pinal County, Arizona. The town was located at an elevation is 1,450 feet, on the south bank of the Gila River, west of Florence, Arizona. It was named for its original settler in 1866, Fred A. Adams.[3] In 1900 the Gila River overflowed and wiped out most of the town. Those who survived the flood moved to the town of Florence.[4] The remaining Adamsville A.O.U.W. Cemetery (Ancient Order of United Workmen) was deeded on May 31, 1894, to Florence. It is among the few original remains of the town of Adamsville.

In 1996, V. Phil Hawkins, cleaned, repaired, and identified graves in the cemetery as part of his Eagle Scout Service Project. Hawkins was able to identify the graves of 54 of those who are interred in the cemetery.[5]

Notable burials

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Grandville Henderson Oury

Among those interred in the cemetery and whose graves are pictured are:[6][7][8]

  • Fred A. Adams – Founder of Adamsville.[9]
  • Felix Grunde and his wife Martha Angeline Hardwick – Family known as the Hardwick pioneers. On December 23, 1883, Felix received $500 from the Arizona Territorial Legislature for the first bale of commercial cotton raised in Arizona. The bale was exhibited at the New Orleans Fair of 1884.[10]
  • Capt. Granville Henderson Oury – Judge: District court of New Mexico. Delegate to Confederate Congress. Arizona Mounted Volunteers CSA, Territorial legislator to U. S Congress, Pioneer-Soldier-Statesman.
  • The Stevens family – Olnorah Nora Stevens, first wife of Daniel C. Stevens; Carmen Sarah Stevens, daughter of Daniel C. & Ollie (Olnorah) N. Stevens and Taylor Stevens, infant son of Daniel C. and Mary E. Stevens. Daniel C. Stevens had served as Clerk of the United States District Court of the second judicial district of Arizona and Secretary of the Arizona Consolidated Stage & Livery Company.[11]
  • Judge H. B. Summers – Summers had also served as a Pinal County District Attorney.
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See also

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References

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  1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Adamsville Cemetery
  2. ^ Pioneers' Cemetery Association
  3. ^ Adamsville
  4. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Adamsville
  5. ^ Club Runner
  6. ^ Arizona Gravestones
  7. ^ Moulton, Heather L.; Tatterson, Susan (2020). "Adamsville Cemetery and Butte View Cemetery – Established Late 1800s". Graveyards of the Wild West – Arizona. America Through Time (Fonthill Media). pp. 100–113. ISBN 978-1634992275.
  8. ^ "Andersonville Cemetery and Butte View Cemetery". The Exasperated Historian. December 20, 2020.
  9. ^ Arizona Ghost towns
  10. ^ Will Croft Barnes, Arizona Place Names, University of Arizona Press, ISBN 978-0816507290. OCLC 1099579111 p. 154
  11. ^ Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona, 1901, Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, p. 531, OCLC 247520194