Among the large artefacts to be found around the museum/church building are a 1923 Franklin Touring Sedan, housed in a garage with one glassed side for viewing, a heritage homestead cabin, a stationary gasoline engine and a water pump in a small pavilion, a large stone cairn topped with a bell from a Canadian Pacific Railway engine and this Adams Leaning Wheel grader.
Either restored or just in good condition and recently painted, lettering on the side of the chassis brands this as an
Adams Leaning Wheel Grader, Model #8. Smaller lettering below identifies its birth place as Indianapolis, Indiana and
Adams as J.D. Adams and Co.
The era of the leaning wheel grader began with Adams' Model No. 7, following Models 1 to 6, all fixed wheel graders. Later model numbers went up as high as 31, that we know of. The leaning wheel feature is what made the Adams Company a leader in road grader manufacturing. The feature allowed the wheels to better counteract the side thrust of the blade and also made it a better machine for working on slopes such as road sides and ditches. Based on earlier findings, we would guess that his grader was likely manufactured sometime in the early 1930s.
J.D. Adams & Company
The origins of J.D. Adams & Company are rooted in 1885 when Joseph D. Adams designed a road grader. Although he had no degree or training in engineering his machine was a useful invention in the process of road creation and maintenance. By the 1890s he established his own production company to make graders and steel highway bridges, as well as other items. However, it was not until 1929 that the brothers, William and Roy Adams took over the business and formed J.D. Adams & Co., a corporation. Until 1940 the brothers ran it together, however in that year William Ray Adams died.
After 1940, Roy E. Adams continued to control the bulk of the business with the help of the board. On January 1, 1955, J.D. Adams & Company became a division of the LeTourneau-Westinghouse Company, at that time, J.D. Adams & Company stopped producing products and turned into an investment firm. Roy E. Adams continued the company’s leadership until his death in September of 1956, at which time family members of the original parent company ceased to be present in its management.
In 1958, the investment firm that J.D. Adams & Co. had become, merged with State Street Investment Corporation. It became a division of that corporation. As for the manufacturing that J.D. Adams & Co. originally took part in, it became part of another roadway equipment company and the graders that Joseph D. Adams had originally designed and inspired were continued in production by WABCO.
From the State of Indiana