Who Was Remus H. Adams?

Remus Adams was a free African American blacksmith in mid 19th century Catonsville. His blacksmith shop was located on 615 Frederick Road at the site of what was once the Catonsville Elementary School. He was one of the founders of the Greenwood Electric Park,  a Black-owned amusement park that catered to Blacks during the Jim Crow era. He was also one of the trustees of the Freedmen's Bureau School in Catonsville, an institution that eventually became the Catonsville Colored School.  Adams was on contract with the Glenn Family at the Hilton Estate and interacted regularly with young Willie Glenn. He was one of the few African American business and property owners in Catonsville during the period.

Records indicate that he was not a first generation free African American blacksmith, rather his father John Remus is believed to have owned the business beforehand. After his father's death, Adams and his brothers took over the business, however his brothers eventually moved on, leaving him to run the store. In addition to running the blacksmith shop, he also trained other free blacks in the trade.  Blacksmithing, the shaping of iron into useful and needed implements, was an essential occupation in the 1800s. Just about every home - both Black and White - required the services of a blacksmith for tools, hinges, kitchen implements and of course, horseshoes and wagon parts. Remus H. Adams died on January 5, 1898.