1833-1903
Adoniram Judson Loomis
Attorney/Post Master NY/KS
The original notes on Adoniram Judson Loomis are reported here from FindAGrave.
Adoniram Judson Loomis was born 21 June 1833 in Geneseo, New York. He was the son of Jacob and Sarah M. Kimball Loomis. His first wife was Nancy Vradenburg who birthed two children in Michigan before her death in 1867. These two boys were Lewis Herbert Loomis and Elon Albert Loomis (1865-1870). His second wife was Louisa E. Loring, a native of Canada who birthed one son for A. J. Loomis.
Upon the death of his five-year-old son, Elon in 1870, Adoniram Judson Loomis moved from Michigan to Marshall County, Kansas, where he was one of the founders of the village of Blue Rapids. This village was platted where the Big Blue and Little Blue Rivers meet in northeastern Kansas. Adoniram Judson Loomis was a lawyer and post master for this young village that uniquely built a courthouse in a circular town square. Because of a commitment to education, the public library was opened in 1875 and remains today the oldest public library in Kansas. Adoniram Judson Loomis died 2 March 1903 at age 69 and is buried in the Fairmont Cemetery at Blue Rapids, Kansas.[1]
Further research revealed that Adoniram Judson Loomis migrated to Kansas in 1870 with a large group from Genesee, New York, the town where he was born. Grieving the loss of his second son, he joined the group of New Yorkers headed west after the Civil War. They were attracted to Kansas by the recently completed railroad plus the water power provided by Little Blue River.
The Blue Rapids Town Company was formed, and the townsite was laid off on a beautiful slope extending from the railroad to the river…. Each town lot was sold or distributed on the fixed condition that it never hold the foundation for a grog shop or a gaming house. Ten years after Mr. Loomis died, on October 24, 1913, more than 3,000 fans watched the Chicago White Sox and New York Giants play a world tour exhibition game on the local ball field that is still in use today. Today, Blue Rapids claims to be the smallest town in the U. S. to have hosted a National League baseball game.[2]
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[1] Adoniram Judson Loomis, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/116566370/adoniram-judson-loomis
[2] https://legendsofkansas.com/blue-rapids-kansas/