By Barb Lockhard
Leland Crouse is the go-to guy for all things Ada. The retired Ford plant employee and self-professed history buff began tracing his family’s genealogy in the 1990s. Since most of his relatives were from Ada, it led to an interest in the history of the village itself. Then a bequest from the local newspaper really ignited his passion for Ada’s past.
“I used to go to The Ada Herald and look through their obit files for genealogy research,” Crouse recalled. “When the newspaper shut down, they left me all the papers in their archives.” He is currently compiling a history of Ada using these papers, logging events in chronological order on his computer.
Crouse also on a weekly basis provides information to the Ada Icon. When a woman from South Carolina contacted Icon editor Fred Steiner with a mystery to solve, Steiner knew just the sleuth.
“The woman was getting ready for a garage sale, when she found a sword that had belonged to her late husband,” Crouse said. “Ada, Ohio” was inscribed on the sword’s leather sheath and “J.A. Jones” engraved on the blade.
After obtaining the sword, Crouse went to work to discover its origins. He first thought it was a Civil War dress sword and did come across a Jack Jones who had enlisted at age 20. Further research, however, revealed that the “real” J.A. Jones was a Shriner and the sword, known as a Knights Templar sword, was part of the regalia. The search proved so much fun that he continued researching Jones and his family.
“I discovered that he was on the board of the Kenton Savings Bank,” Crouse added. “He was also a big onion grower, so then I started researching local onion growers and came across a federal lawsuit against them for price fixing. It was really a lot of fun.”
The fledgling Ada Historical Society has purchased the sword and Crouse will present it at a meeting on April 22.
The Society is about one year old and meets monthly in the Ada Public Library. Crouse is hoping to get a room or even a display case in the library for historic artifacts.
Presently, there are about 20 members and anyone with an interest in local history is invited to join.
