Adamsville A.O.U.W. Cemetery Explained

Adamsville Cemetery
Established:	May 31, 1894
Country:	U.S.
Location:	Highway 79 and 287 on Adamsville Road, Pinal County, Arizona
Coordinates:	33.0239°N -111.4086°W
Owner:	Florence, Arizona
Graves:	54 identified
Findagraveid:	56960
Interments:	66

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.^[1]

History

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.^[2] In 1900 the Gila River overflowed and wiped out most of the town. Those who survived the flood moved to the town of Florence. 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.^[3]

Notable burials

Among those interred in the cemetery and whose graves are pictured are:^{[4] [5] [6]}

• Fred A. Adams – Founder of Adamsville.^[7]
• 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.^[8]
• 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.^[9]
• Judge H. B. Summers – Summers had also served as a Pinal County District Attorney.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Pinal County, Arizona

Notes and References

1. http://www.azhistcemeteries.org/our-cemeteries.html Pioneers' Cemetery Association
2. http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/adamsville.html Adamsville
3. http://www.clubrunner.ca/Data/5500%5C3232%5CHTML%5C38700%5CAdamsville%20Cemetery.pdf Club Runner
4. https://arizonagravestones.org/cemetery.php?cemID=56: Arizona Gravestones
5. Book: Moulton, Heather L. . Tatterson, Susan . Graveyards of the Wild West – Arizona. Adamsville Cemetery and Butte View Cemetery – Established Late 1800s . 2020 . America Through Time (Fonthill Media). 978-1634992275 . 100–113.
6. Web site: Andersonville Cemetery and Butte View Cemetery . The Exasperated Historian . December 20, 2020.
7. http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/adamsville.html Arizona Ghost towns
8. Will Croft Barnes, Arizona Place Names, University of Arizona Press, . p. 154
9. Portrait and Biographical Record of Arizona, 1901, Chapman Publishing Company, Chicago, p. 531,