Adair Spring Monument

Main Plaque

• Location : City of Washington, Washington County, Utah
• Inscription:

In early 1857 Brigham Young called a group of Southerners on a cotton mission to southern Utah to raise cotton. Samuel Newton Adair (this is a mistake; should be Samuel Jefferson Adair), the leader of ten families, arrived at this spot Apr. 15, 1857, after leaving Payson, Utah on Mar. 3. They camped here a short time and then moved down near the Virgin River on what became known as the "Sand Plot." Apostle Amasa M. Lyman who was passing through the area recommended that they move back to the spring area which they did. Robert Dockery Covington arrived here May 5 or 6, 1857, with 28 more southern families. They left the Salt Lake area shortly after the L.D.S. Spring Conference held around Apr. 6. On May 6 or 7 a two day meeting was held at this sight under direction of Isaac C. Haight, President of the Parowan Stake. They sang, prayed and selected Robert D. Covington to be President of the L D S branch, and Harrison Pearce and James B. Regan as assistants. Wm. R. Slade and James D. McCullough were appointed Justices of the Peace, John Hawley and James Matthews as constables, G.R. Coley was stray pound keeper and Wm R. Slade, Geo Hawley and G. W. Spencer as school trustees. They named their city Washington. It was too late to plant wheat, so they prepared the ground for corn and went right to work making dams and ditches to water their crops. Their first homes were their wagon boxes, willow and mud huts and dugouts dug in the bank east of this monument. Their new home soon was called "Dixie." Those who came in the spring of 1857 were:

Adair, George W. Adair, John M. Adair, Joseph Adair, Newton (L.N.) Adair, Samuel Adair, Thomas Clark, John W. Coley, Gabriel Reynolds Couch, John Jr. Couch, John Sr. Covington, Robert D.

Crawford, William H. Dameron, William Dodge, Enoch Duggins, William (Dugas) Fream, William Freeman, John W. Hatfield, Joseph (Hadfield) Hawley, George Hawley, John Hawley, William Holden, J.

Johnson, Alfred Lloyd, Robert Mangum, John Mangum, William Matheny, Sims B. Mathew, James Nichols McCullough, James D. Pearce, Harrison Price, John Reagan, James B. Rencher, Upsted

Rickey, James Slade, William R. Smith, Joseph Smith, Thomas W. Spencer, George W. Sprouse, Balus (Spouse) Thomas, Preston Tyler, Oscar Wilkins, James B. Young, William J. and others.

Erected 1996 by Citizens of Washington City and the Washington City Historical Society.

Correction Plaque

CORRECTION: It is recorded in the "John Mangum American Revolutionary War Soldier and Descendants" book that Samuel Jefferson Adair was the leader of the Adair Group. It was not Samuel Newton Adair who was the son of Samuel Jefferson Adair. Apparently the father was known only as Samuel Adair since the property he owned was recorded as Samuel Adair. The names of Samuel Adair and Samuel N. Adair were erroneously assumed to be the same person and the initial "N" omitted at various times. They both were in the original ten families that arrived here on 15 April 1857 but only the name Samuel Adair is listed as one of the originial (sic) 1857 pioneers. This plaque is to correct the information as shown on the large plaque. Samuel Newton Adair did become a prominent person in Washington but was not the leader of the Adair Company it was Samuel Jefferson Adair, his father, listed only as Samuel Adair, who led the Adair Company.

History of the Cotton Mission

In 1854, Jacob Hamblin (1819-1886), founded the headquarters of the "Indian Mission" in Santa Clara, Utah. Besides preaching to the local native Americans, some major experiments were done in growing a variety of agricultural products in the Virgin River valley, including cotton, flax, hemp, grapes, figs, sweet potatoes, fruits and more.

The success in growing cotton and an eye on Joseph Smith's 1832 prophecy of impending civil war most likely contributed to the church leader, Brigham Young (1801-1877) calling 38 Southern families to organize a "Cotton Mission" to the area in early 1857. They arrived at spot a called Adair Springs"", that was later renamed Washington, Utah. First ten families led by Samuel J Adair arrived on 15-Apr-1857 and another 28 families led by Robert D. Covington arrived a the same spot on 05-May-1857.

Very shortly after their arrival, they held a two day meeting with Isaac Haight, president of the Cedar City Stake. They assigned every needful position to operate their new city including fence viewers and stray pound keepers. But primarily all of these families had either direct experience or indirect familiarity with growing southern cotton.

In 1858, they planted400 acres of cotton, because of difficulties with soil mineral cotton and poor irrigation, only 130 acres grew a crop, yielding about 70,000 pounds of ginned cotton. This was when the the southerners first began to call the area "Dixie" after their ancestral home.

In 1861, another 309 families were called as the St. George Pioneers of 1861-62 to settle St. George, Utah and further augment the "Cotton Mission".

Research Notes

The Cotton Mill in Washington County.

1. On this historical marker Samuel Newton Adair (1839-1924) is listed as Newton Adair (L.N.) and as group leader, which was actually led by his father Samuel Jefferson Adair (1806-1889).
2. James Richey (1821-1890) is listed as James Rickey. He is a cousin of the Adairs, married to Lucinda Mangum (1826-1903), a sister of the Mangum men.
3. Gabriel Reynolds Coley (1821-1864), (married into the Mangum Family) would later goto fight for the Confederate Army in the American Civil War where he died.
4. Many names are cross referenced on the Washington County, Utah/1860 U.S. Census.
5. The Whole Cotton Picken' Story - Washington County Historical Society.

See Also

• Adair Family
• Adair in Washington County, Utah
• Covington in Washington County, Utah
• Mangum in Washington County, Utah
• Hawley in Washington County, Utah
• St. George Pioneers of 1861-62
• Adair Spring - The Historical Marker Database #59321
• This profile prepared courtesy of Utah Scouting, helping to preserve our shared heritage.