Adair Family
Submitted on 16 Aug 2003 by
Diantha Sarver
George and John Adair
were born in Ontario, Canada, to Alexander and Rozilla Soles Adair.
They were two of ten children born to this family. About 1870,
the family immigrated from Canada to Michigan and by 1880 they were
settled in Champaign Co, Illinois. George and John remained
there on the family farm until the early 1900's when George with his
bride, Alpha, and John moved to Crawford Co, MO.
According to
Crawford County and Cuba Missouri by James Ira Breuer,
"In 1904 the Adair
brothers, John and George, moved to the valley. Each of them
built a home and a barn. They came from Illinois and were
excellent farmers and livestock growers. At the time these
young men came to Scotia, a young lady named Eliza Jane "Lennie"
Harrison was teaching at the Scotia School which was only a few
hundred yards down the valley from the furnace works. Lennie
was the daughter of Benjamin Harrison and married John Adair."
George and Alpha Kemper
Adair had five children born while living at their Scotia ranch.
These children were: Ward - born 15 Aug 1904, Irene - born
about 1906, Clifford - born August 23, 1909, Anna - born 19 July
1912, and Thomas - born 2 July 1916.
John and Eliza Jane
Harrison Adair had either 5 or 6 children born there. These
children were Margaret, Harry, Edith, Ben, and a child who died
young.
These families lived
near Scotia until about 1930. Their children attended school
there. They seemed to be good friends with the Pinnell,
Walker, and Peetz families among others.
The story goes that they
had a very prosperous ranch that was debt free. They had
plenty of money in the bank. When the banks closed during the
depression, they, like many others, lost their savings and were
unabale to pay their taxes. Their ranches were sold for
nonpayment of taxes. The two brothers then took their families
and left the area. John and his family moved to Washington
state and George and his family eventually settled in Peoria Co, IL.
I would love to hear
from anyone who remembers anything about this family.
