|
Adams
County
Adams
County was established as a county by an act of
the State Legislature approved February 16,
1867. The boundries as fixed by the act were
as follows: "From the point where the
east line
of range 9, west, crosses the Platte; thence
up the river channel to the intersection of the
river with the west line of range 12; thence south
to the southwest corner of township 5, range
12; thence east to the southeast corner of township
5, range 9; thence north to place of beginning.
The location in the foregoing description
is the same as the present boundary lines except
upon the north. Instead of the Platte River
being the boundary, that line is now the north
line of township 8, north.
The
field notes of the surveyors, which are preserved
in the office of the county surveyor, show
that the county was surveyed before there were any
settlers. The surveyors were Charles
W. Pierce and Nathan P. Cooke. These two surveryors,
however, established the township
lines only; that is, they established the lines that
divided the county into sixteen squares,
the sides of each square being six miles in length.
It was not the business of the surveryors
as they worked to locate a particular county. They
established the lines with which
counties might be disignated as they were formed
by acts of Legislature. The field notes
show that the township lines of Adams County were
surveyed beginning July 16, 1859, and
were completed September 10, 1860.
Surveyors
obtained contracts from the National Government
to survey certain districts, and their
work was under the supervision of the surveyor-general.
The contracts for surveying the
territory in which Adams County lies were obtained
by Pierce and Cooke on April 20, 1860,
and were numbers 270 and 280.
The
surveying into sections were not done at the time
that the township lines were laid. Sectionizing
was a separate survey, although in Adams County
it was done at about the same
time that the township lines were established. This
work was let by contract and the
field notes show that several had contracts to work
in Adams County. The greater part of
the section were laid in 1860. Those in Denver
Township, in which Hastings was located,
were surveyed in 1860, the work being done between
September 27th and October
3rd. Henry James was the name of the surveyor.
The laying of section lines in Cottonwood
Township was not completed until 1867. In
this township William Hardin established
the section lines. The surveyors lived in
camps, camp being established at some spot
that would be central to the work for a while. Their
appearance was the beginning of
the county life that we know.
|