Adam Willis Wagnalls
Adam Willis Wagnalls (1843 - 1924) was an American publisher. He was the co-founder and co-eponym of the Funk & Wagnalls Company in 1877.
He was born in Lithopolis, Ohio, but moved away at age 5. He married Hester Anna Willis, also a native of Lithopolis. They had one child, Mabel.
He attended Wittenberg College (now Wittenberg University) in Springfield, Ohio with Isaac Kaufmann Funk.
The family maintained ties with family and friends in Lithopolis and visited frequently. Anna's wish was to "do something for the little village which had never had anything done for it." Upon Anna's death in 1914, Mabel established and gifted to Lithopolis and Bloom Township the Wagnalls Memorial Library, and a few years later established the The Wagnalls Foundation.
The Wagnalls Memorial Library is constructed of native free stone in the Tudor-Gothic Style.
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