Person:Thomas Adair (7)

(from an email, dated 1 Jan 06, from Judy Hinton)

Thomas Jefferson Adair born 25 Oct 1771 in South Carolina to (we think) was Joseph Adair and Sarah Low or Long and we think they were Cherokee Indians. We think his mother was a Low, but this will take more research to prove. He met and married Rebecca Brown, daughter of Roger Brown and Molly. The first three children were born in Laurens County, South Carolina. After having 11 children, he left his wife and children and was never heard from again, until 1856 when the family received word that he was in an asylum and mentally ill.

His wife and some of his children joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and eventually moved to the West. His wife went to what became the state of Utah, with some of her children and their families. She had had enough of the persecution they had experienced after joining the new church. They first moved to Nauvoo, Illinois where most of the saints were moving too. She made it to Winter Quarters, Iowa. There she passed away along with other relatives.

Their oldest daughter, Margaret, and Samuel, the oldest son, and their families moved to Nauvoo, Ill. Before going west. And also George Washington Adair, another son, went with them to what became the state of Utah. I do not know at this time if there were others who joined the church and went west also. Their son Thomas joined this church and had a hard time of it even before he left for Nauvoo. He had joined the Methodist Church and had been singing in their choir, he had an excellent voice and they did not want to lose him. So a large group of them came to tar and feather him. But he was known for his gun and his being and excellent shot. He sat near his front door with his rifle on his lap and told them to come ahead if they dared. They never did.

Their daughter Margaret and her family also had a hard time, see her history and William Richeys history.

George, who had married Miriam Billingsly, was over six foot tall when grown. They thought that moving to Nauvoo would stop the persecution and went to Nauvoo in 1845, but this did not change things for them. They were driven from the state of Illinois soon after they arrived. He was given the job of driving a team in the Ira Eldrige company on the way to Utah. They stopped one evening to camp with another company. There he met Miriam and they were married on the 6th of May 1846 in a wagon by an elder. They later over took Brigham's company at Mt. Pisgah, where they stopped to plant crops and build cabins for those that followed. In the spring of 1847, Lorenzo Snow, sent a company on west and George and Miriam joined that company. They arrived in Salt Lake Valley with Orivill Cox Company and had a very hard time of it that winter, they had to dig Sego Lilly bulbs and whatever they could find to sustain life. They were eventually asked to move to what became Provo in the state of Utah. This was not a permanent home either. They were soon asked to go to Dixie to help raise cotton. They moved to Minersville in 1862 and then to Beaver and finally to Orderville in 1875. George died there the 28 Aug 1897 and was buried there. The school children of Orderville in later years always made it a point to put flowers on George's grave. They never stopped to wonder why the tombstone had an Adair on it.

Thomas and Rebecca's tenth child Mary Ann and her husband also joined the church and had their problems. She was set apart to be nurse and midwife and helped to bring many babies into the world. They also spent little time in Salt Lake before being asked to help settle some place else. They were sent to Nephi and eventually asked to go to Dixie then to Kanab and then to Pipe Springs. Her husband passed away 23 May 1886 in Apache County, Arizona. Mary Ann went to live with some of her children after his death. She passed away in the spring of 1892. She is buried in the Georgetown Cemetery now an abandoned town in Kane County, Utah.

Samuel Jefferson Adair was born 28 Mar 1808 in Laurens County, South Carolina. He spent the first five years of his childhood in South Carolina and then his father moved his family to Pickens County, Alabama, where he took up a large tract of land and started another plantation. Samuel's father was quite prosperous for the day in which he lived. Samuel was taught to farm and raise cotton by working next to his father, as did all the boys in this family. Though they were well to do for that day, all the children were taught to work and were given chores to do. The girls were given work around the house. The Adair, Mangum, and Richey families all lived in this area. The children of these families all inter-married. Samuel married Jemima Mangun, who was born in Warren County Ohio. She was the daughter of John and Rebecca Mangum. Rebecca had married a Knowles first.

Samuel and Jemima took up farming in the same area as the relatives for about five years and had five children. Then Samuel and his father moved their families to Mississippi and took up even larger tracts of land. Some of the relatives also moved to Mississippi. Samuel and Jemima had four more children while living in Mississippi. They raised mostly cotton but they were unfamiliar with having to irrigate the crops, as there was sufficient rain to make the crops grow. There was no indication of how their lives were to change in the next year of two. In 1844, Elder James Richey, a nephew of Samuel's came to visit and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to them. They were God fearing people and had read the bible and knew it was the true religion as soon as they heard it. They requested baptism soon. Then desired to move to Nauvoo, Ill. Where the saints were gathering. Most of their relatives also joined this new church. They were all baptized and desired to go to Nauvoo. Those who could afford it traveled by steamer up the Mississippi River. Those who could not, traveled by land. It was a short stay for some. Samuel and Jemima had planned to make Nauvoo their home. They experienced the persecutions as did all the people of Nauvoo. It was not long before the mobs were harassing the saints and they with many others were forced to cross the Mississippi.

They traveled as far as Iowa, where Samuel stopped to let Jemima have the next baby, this was Jemima Catherine born 6 Apr 1846. When Jemima was feeling better, they settled temporarily at Mr. Pisgah, Iowa, where the church had set up a temporary resting place for the people.

By this time several members of the family were ill. On the 8 Sep 1846 Joseph Jasper Adair passed away and a month later their oldest son William passed away on 31 Oct 1846. They are buried there in Mt. Pisgah. There was much suffering and illness among the people. Many died and were buried there. Samuel and Jemima both lost their mothers there. On the second of Oct 1847 they lost Rufus C.B. at only four. He is also buried there. By the spring of 1848 Jemima was due to have another baby. He was born 5 Apr 1848 and died the same day. Jemima was not well and followed his death a few days later. They are all buried there in Mt. Pisgah, Iowa. Samuel gathered up what was left of his family and was going to head west. He did not know what to expect and decided to go and see before taking his children there. Jemima was only two years old. He left them with a Nancy Adair who lived in Pottowatamie Co., Iowa. I do not know how long he stayed in Utah. His children are listed in the 1850 census in Pottowatamie Co., Iowa. He picked up his children and possessions and prepared for the return trip.

They were soon joined by others. As they traveled across the plains they came upon a very disturbing scene. They saw something off in the distance and discovered it was three small children tied to a cow. Their parents had been killed and their wagon taken. The children and their parents had left Missouri for the gold fields of California. They had hired a man or men to guide them. The mem had turned on them and killed the parents and stolen the wagon. The children had begged for their lives and were spared. The children were Ann Catherine, Sarah, William Albert Chestnut, born 1844 to 1847 respectively. Samuel took them on to what became Utah with him as he did not know what else to do with them. When they got to the valley where the saints were the children recognized their wagon and began to shout that there was their wagon. Two men came over to Samuel and told him to shut those kids up or they would take care of them permanently. There was no law or any way to prosecute the men so there was nothing Samuel could do William Albert, when a young man, returned to the East to see if he could find any relatives. He was never heard from again as far as we know. Ann Catherine, married Samuel's son George Washington and died at the birth of her second child. Then George remarried. Sarah lived to marry and have a family.

Samuel first settled in Salt Lake Valley. He thought that would be his permanent home, but that was not the case. He was called to Payson, Utah and settle and help build it up. He was there a few years when he was asked to take a few families to the Southern end of the state to raise cotton. They left Payson in March and arrived in April. The town was set up near a place called Sam Adair spring.

Samuel remarried to two other women before he died. Ann Catherine Mattinson and Rachel Hunter. He was later asked to go to Northern Arizona to help settle that area. He died 6 July 1889 there, but they took his remains to St. John, Arizona for burial as that had been his home for many years.

Note: Samuel is listed in Journal History of Church as crossing the plains in lst division or Brigham Young's company arriving in Salt Lake 24 July 1847. If this is so he Must have left Jemima and his children in Winter Quarter while he went to the Rocky Mountains, then returned to find that Jemima and the baby had died.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ina Custer Iverson compiler

Eliza Ann Adair (daughter of John Milton Adair and Eliza Jane Richey)

Vernessa Jane Dobbins Custer (Granddaughter of John Milton & Eliza Jane Adair)

James Tilden Dobbins (Grandson of John Milton & Eliza Jane Adair)

Church Records (L.D.S.)

St. George Temple records

Journal of James Richie

Early ward records of Payson, Utah

1. ↑ (i)International Genealogical Index (IGI)(/i) (Salt Lake City: Family History Library) (2).