By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
The French Quinn grave site restoration project has been completed, the Adams County Historical Society has announced.
French Quinn was a notable figure in Decatur history. He was an inspiring influence in every gathering and in every worthy cause during his lifetime, the historical society announcement said.
In addition to being a historian, author, and community organizer, he was a veteran of the Spanish American War.
But with no living immediate family to take care of his grave site, the historical society and Adams Health Network (AHM) partnered to restore the site in the Decatur Cemetery.
Rebecca Webb and Larry Macklin were coordinators for the project, which Adams Health Network selected for its 100th community project, marking its 100th year.
In addition to thanking the coordinators and AHN, the society issued its appreciation to “the Decatur Cemetery Association and Liby Monuments for all the hard work in cleaning, repairing and restoring the gravestones, bench and urn,” and to “Heller Nursery for their landscaping and planting shade grass around the Quinn site.”
Thanks was also given to all the donors who helped make the project successful.
KEY FIGURE: A historian, author and lecturer, Quinn was born in 1872 and died in 1948.A historian, author and lecturer,
His obituary notice said he was “an inspiring influence in every gathering and in every worthy cause and contributed beyond measure to the development of his home town. He had an inspiring influence in every gathering and in every worthy cause and contributed beyond measure to the development of his home town.”
Some of his efforts as a community activist are listed by the historical society as follows:
* He spearheaded a street tree program which accounts for the large trees lining Second Street today.
* He directed the Elephant Rock project, bringing a 50-ton glacial boulder that laid upstream in the St. Mary’s River, to the Adams County Courthouse square as a tribute to Gene Stratton Porter.
* He led the huge effort to establish and build the Peace Monument on the Courthouse Square. It is believed to be the first monument dedicated to Peace in the United States.
* In order to preserve some of the wilderness and old growth timber which was rapidly being destroyed by the growth of the community, Quinn worked with the family of Oliver Hanna and his wife Mary Nuttman Hanna, who eventually deeded to the city the more than 45 acres known today as Hanna-Nuttman Park. That land has a deed restriction to remain as a park and preserve the old growth timber stands.
* As an economic development project in 1919, Quinn and others reached an agreement with General Electric to establish a small motor plant in Decatur. The plant closed in 1987.
* Quinn was the author of a history of Adams County, a “Short, Short Story of Adams County.” It was a compilation of many stories, facts and memories, and is a sought-after book today.
* He was the first president of the Decatur Chamber of Commerce.
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