Editing Ada Township, Michigan (section)

==History==
At the turn of the 19th century, the land that would become Ada was a village of the [[Grand River (Michigan)|Grand River]] Band of [[Odawa|Ottawa]], led by Nebawnaygezhick.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=McClurken|first=James|title=People, Our Journey: The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians|publisher=Michigan State University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-87-013856-0|location=East Lansing, MI|pages=12}}</ref><ref name=":12">{{Cite book|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b728095&view=1up&seq=13&skin=2021|title=Collections and Researches Made by the Michigan Pioneer and Historical Society|publisher=Thorp & Godfrey|year=1887|volume=11|location=Lansing, MI|pages=193}}</ref>

During the early colonial settlement of Michigan, [[Rix Robinson]], the first permanent colonial settler of Kent County, married Sebequay ("River Woman"), the sister of Nebawnaygezhick, at Ada.<ref name=":12" /> In 1821, Robinson purchased a former [[French-Canadian]] trading post at the junction of the [[Grand River (Michigan)|Grand]] and Thornapple rivers from [[Madeline La Framboise]], on behalf of [[John Jacob Astor]]'s [[American Fur Company]]. Land north of the Grand River was not available for purchase by European-American settlers until after the United States signed the 1836 [[Treaty of Washington (1836)|Treaty of Washington]] with regional tribes. Following the treaty, Robinson purchased hundreds of acres around the mouth of the Thornapple for the Ottawa to continue living on.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=McClurken|first=James M.|title=Our People, Our Journey: The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians|publisher=Michigan State University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-87-013856-0|location=East Lansing, MI|pages=38}}</ref>

[[Lucius Lyon]], an early settler, first visited Robinson's settlement in 1826. Convinced that the land would become valuable, Lyon purchased large tracts from early settlers. He oversaw development of the land, including the construction of a saw mill. Both Lyon and Robinson are considered the founders of Ada.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Ellison |first=Garrett |date=2013-05-19 |title=How Ada became a 'snug little place' instead of the major city in West Michigan |url=https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2013/05/how_ada_became_snug_little_pla.html |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=[[mlive]] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="ROMIG2">{{cite book |last1=Romig |first1=Walter |title=Michigan Place Names: The History of the Founding and the Naming of More Than Five Thousand Past and Present Michigan Communities |date=October 1, 1986 |publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]] |isbn=0-8143-1838-X |series=Great Lakes Books Series |location=Detroit, Michigan |pages=134, 166, 215–216 |type=Paperback |orig-year=1973}}</ref>

There are conflicting reports concerning when the township was organized. Information provided by the township website indicates that Robinson was elected as the township's first supervisor. However, other sources indicate it was organized on April 2, 1838, and that Sydney Smith was elected the first supervisor and that Robinson was the second, elected in 1841 and again in 1844.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} The village was named after Sydney Smith's daughter, Ada Smith, who was the first non-Native American child born in the village.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="ROMIG2"/>

The [[Ada Covered Bridge]] was constructed across the [[Thornapple River|Thornapple]] in 1867. Listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], it is one of the few covered bridges that remain standing in the state.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holst |first=Jan |date=2017-04-26 |title=Ada Covered Bridge celebrates 150 years |url=https://www.mlive.com/ada-cascade/2017/04/ada_covered_bridge_celebrates.html |access-date=2024-06-17 |website=mlive |language=en}}</ref>