| Notes |
- RESEARCH_NOTES:
1. In 2024, Shawn Henry Potter and his wife Lois Carol Potter published their book "The Family of Indian Trader and Author James Adair," which concludes that James and Joseph, the two oldest Adairs of our line in Laurens County, SC were brothers. James was known in Cherokee records as an "Irishman." Additionally, using a variety of sources, they also conclude that the same James was the Indian trader and author, and husband of two Native American wives. With scientific Y-DNA and haplogroup testing of male descendants with the Adair surname in upstate South Carolina, they also provide a genetic roadmap of the earliest generations and relationships. Using a limited data set 17 Adair-surnamed males, they concluded on pages 164-70 that there were three related branches and one unrelated branch as follows.
A. Branch 1 (our branch): James and Joseph Adair, who were brothers living in Duncan Creek.
B. James had at least two sons named James Jr. and Joseph. James Jr. had a son James Adair III, who had sons Edmond and Robert. Joseph had a son Thomas, who had sons Samuel and Thomas.
C. Joseph had sons Joseph Jr., James, and Benjamin. Joseph Jr. had sons Elisha and Robert.
D. Branch 2: Two other contemporaries, brothers Edward and John Adair of Cane Creek, were great-grandchildren of the same man who was the grandfather of James and Joseph on a separate line. The intervening generations and the common link are all unknown Adairs. John had sons Walter and Edward. Edward had sons Walter and Edward (the latter having a son Calvin, with Calvin having sons Ephraim and George). Descendants of this line became later leaders in the Cherokee Nation. John's wife, Jane Kilgore, was a neighbor of James Adair in Duncan Creek.
E. Branch 3: Another contemporary William Adair of Fishing Creek, was a cousin whose grandfather was the brother to the grandfather of James and Joseph. His father and grandfather's names are unknown. William had two sons John and William Jr.
F. There was potentially a fourth branch for another contemporary known as Alexander Adair, who lived in Laurens County and had two sons. However, a comparison of haplogroups show that they did not share a common direct male-line ancestor with the other three branches within the past 4,000 years.
2. The following is somewhat outdated considering the 2024 note above:
The following genealogical summary of the family of James Adair was provided to me from Shawn Potter Aug 2015. Shawn and his wife Lois are the authors of a book to be published sometime in the future entitiled "Chickasaw Wife and Family of James Adair, Author of the History of the American Indians." The book uses extensive historical documentation and modern DNA analysis to assemble the following family. I provide only a summary of the family and the book should be consulted for the footnotes, more detail, and evidence which all support the following conclusions. (If you are a descendent of this family, Shawn would appreciate your contacting him if you are willing to submit your DNA test results as part of the study upon which the book will be based.) The summary:
"James Adair was born probably in Ireland say about 1714. He immigrated to America before 1735. James married Eleanor of the Chickasaw Nation in about 1744. Eleanor was born in the Chickasaw Nation say about 1726. She was a member of the Panther clan. James died probably in Laurens County, South Carolina, after 25 Feb 1784 and before 12 Feb 1796. Eleanor died probably in Laurens County after 3 Jan 1803. James and Eleanor were the parents of the following children:
1. James Adair, Jr., was born in the Chickasaw Nation say about 1748. He married Hannah probably in Laurens County say about 1772. Hannah was born probably in Laurens County on 28 Sep 1750. James died in Laurens County on 18 Aug 1818. Hannah died in Laurens County on 10 Nov 1826.
2. Joseph Adair was born in the Chickasaw Nation say about 1750. He married Sarah probably in Laurens County say about 1776. Joseph died perhaps in Laurens County after 5 Feb 1804.
3. John Adair was born in the Chickasaw Nation say about 1754. He married first Ga-Ho-Ga of the Cherokee Nation probably in Laurens County say about 1780. Ga-Ho-Ga was born in the Cherokee Nation say about 1760. Ga-Ho-Ga died perhaps in Laurens County after 7 Feb 1789. John married second Jane Kilgore probably in Laurens County say about 1790. Jane was born probably in Laurens County say about 1773. John died in present-day Oconee County, South Carolina, after 4 Nov 1815 and before 4 Dec 1815. Jane died perhaps in present-day Oconee County after 4 Dec 1815.
4. Edward Adair was born in the Chickasaw Nation say about 1756. He married first Margaret in Philadelphia on 7 Apr 1784. Edward married second Elizabeth Martin of the Cherokee Nation probably in the Cherokee Nation say about 1789. Elizabeth was born probably in the Cherokee Nation say about 1769. Edward died probably in present-day Oconee County after 3 Nov 1800. Elizabeth died probably in the Cherokee Nation after 13 Jul 1816.
N.B. James and Eleanor had "children" in 1748; and a daughter lived in Georgia between 1788 and 1791."
3. Typescript "Early Adairs of Laurens County, South Carolina." Compiled by Mildred Brownlee; Source Records: Wills; Intestate Estates; Deeds; Court Records; Cemetery Inscriptions. Some dates of birth and death obtained from Lineage Charts. Dates of birth and death subject tocorrection. Spelling of names subject to correction. [Note that bracketed comments, if any, are later additions by other reviewers including myself - Kerry Petersen.]:
"Also in Anderson County was another Adair family. John Adair died there in 1815 leaving a widow, Jane, and 15 children. His actual birth date is not known but he was born before 1755. He was a merchant and large land-owner near Pendleton. His will states that he was due money from the Cherokees. Research shows that this John Adair was son of the Indian trader, James Adair, and a Cherokee woman. A number of John Adair's children migrated into the Cherokee country of north Georgia and later into Okla. John Adair had a brother, Edward, who also lived in Pendleton District before moving into north GA. These Adairs established or aided in the establishment of New Echota, the national capital of the Eastern Cherokees in 1825."
MARRIAGE:
1. From Shawn Potter 6 Sep 2015 -- I asked him the source of the maiden name Elizabeth Walker. He responded with the following:
Source 1: "Annie Walker Burns, "Military and Genealogical Records of the Famous Indian Woman: Nancy Ward," (Washington, D.C.: Published by the Author, P.O. Box 6183, Apex Station, 1957), 1-40. Edward Adair married a maternal-line granddaughter of ᎾᏅᏰᎯ (A-Gi-Gau) Nancy Ward (c. 1722-1822), Beloved Woman of the Cherokee Nation. Nancy's mother was a sister of Attakullakulla (c.1708-1778), First Beloved Man - Principal Chief - of the Cherokee Nation from about 1761 to 1777. When Nancy's first husband, Kingfisher, was killed in battle at Taliwa in 1755, she picked up his weapon and fought in his place. The Cherokee named her Beloved Woman in recognition of her courage and devotion to her people. After her husband's death, Nancy married Irish deerskin trader Bryan Ward. Their daughter, ᎪᏌᎢᏍᎦ (Go-Sa-I-S-Ga) Betty Ward, married Irish deerskin trader Joseph Martin. Their daughter, Elizabeth Martin, married Edward Adair."
Source 2: "Emmett Starr, "History of the Cherokee Indians," (Oklahoma City, OK: Warden Co., 1922), 419. Elizabeth previously married James Vann, William Sparingston, and John Shepherd.
Shawn comments on these two sources as follows:
"Starr is consider to be a reliable source, but not as complete as one would like sometimes. From memory, I don't think Starr lists Elizabeth's parents, for example. But it seems to be accepted among Cherokee historians that Elizabeth was descended from Nancy Ward. Burns lists Elizabeth's descent from Nancy Ward. Burns is not so well known, so I can't speak about her reliability for certain, but her information seems to make sense.
In regards to her later surname of Scott, Shawn responds as follows:
"Edward was administrator of Walter Scott's estate. So some have speculated that Elizabeth either was Walter's daughter or widow. After Edward's death, Elizabeth applied for the pension of her son James Adair, who was killed in the war of 1812. She called herself in that pension Elizabeth Scott. This is all very confusing. Since we know Edward was married to Margaret during the time frame when Walter Scott Adair, son of Elizabeth, was born, we suspect Edward didn't divorce Margaret and did not marry Elizabeth in a church wedding. If Elizabeth had yet another husband, Walter Scott, and she kept his surname, at least after Edward died, this all makes sense. But we are not sure about Elizabeth's other marriages before or after Edward.
2. Unsourced quote from the Internet: "The town of Adairsville, Georgia where Major Ridge first homesteaded, was named after John Adair who was married to the Cherokee woman Ga-ho-ga (aka Nancy Lightfoot) and also an Indian trader. He supposedly was born in 1753 to a James Adair who may have been born in 1709 in Ireland. One site, <http://www.tngenweb.org/cherokee_by_blood/migrate.htm> indicates that one of this John's son, Edward Adair, married Martha Ritchie."
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Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy
Abt 1756 - Aft 1800 (> 44 years)
