Excerpt from Quincy and Adams County, Vol. 1: History and Representative MenThe geographical position of Adams County gave it historical prominence from the time of its first settlement, so forcibly was this evident that in not a few of the events and movements which have been of national import, Adams County and its stanch citizenship have wielded decisive influence. Quincy, its beautiful county seat, occupying a commanding site on the banks of the Mississippi, on the western confines of Central Illinois, which here juts into the border territory of the South, was early recognized as a community where disputants over Slavery, States Rights and Mormonism would be accorded justice and even uutrameled discussion. Although its leaders have never lacked positiveness and forceful expression of their opinions, Adams County earned a name for liberality and charity in its very infancy and has always maintained it. That statement applies to both its men and women, one of the pioneer organizations in the United States for the emancipation of the weaker sex having originated in Quincy and there developed, with the progress of the times, as a representative body of American womanhood.In politics, in social matters, in educational influence, in patriotic works and in industrial and commercial expansion, Quincy and Adams County have constituted a credit to the state and the nation. The Soldiers Home, the Chamber of Commerce, churches, farmers and their splendidly conserved interests, the factories and stores, and all the fine men and women, comprise subjects of interest and pride for the writers and compilers of this history. They do not pretend to have done any of such subjects full justice, but have been honest in their endeavor.In bringing these wonders to pass, no class or nationality has been pre-eminent. No section of Illinois or the nation has been more truly American than Adams County, and especially has this been made manifest in the acid and fiery test of these days of fearful stress and war. A considerable portion of this history, however, has been devoted to the influence of the German element upon the development of Quincy and the territory tributary to it, and the supervising editor, with his advisory associates, takes pleasure in spreading the record over many pages charged with interest and instruction. No citizen of Quincy could have been better prepared to undertake and complete this exposition than Henry Bornmann.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.