Adair in Oklahoma

This page collects information about people with surname Adair who were known or believed to have lived in early Oklahoma.

The U.S. state of Oklahoma has 77 counties. It is ranked 20th in size and 17th in the number of counties, between Mississippi with 82 counties and Arkansas with 75 counties.

Oklahoma originally had seven counties (Logan, Cleveland, Oklahoma, Canadian, Kingfisher, Payne, and Beaver) when it was first organized as the Oklahoma Territory. These counties were designated numerically, first through seventh. New counties added after this were designated by letters of the alphabet. The first seven counties were later renamed. The Oklahoma Constitutional Convention named all of the counties that were formed when Oklahoma entered statehood in 1907. Only two counties have been formed since then. Upon statehood, all Oklahoma counties allowed civil townships within their counties. A few years after statehood, a constitutional amendment allowed them to be abolished on a county-by-county basis, and by the mid-1930s, all Oklahoma counties had voted to do so.

Notable Individuals

• See Also Adair Family

Adairs of Laurens County

• James Adair in the Ninety-Six District - Research Notes for this family

The family of Scotch-Irish Immigrant Thomas Adair (c1680-c1740) who arrived with 3 sons in the 1730s, landing first in Pennsylvania and then moving to South Carolina. Many American Adair's descend from this group. They also intermarried into several native American tribes and some became leaders in the Cherokee Tribe that settled into Oklahoma.

• Thomas Adair (c1680-c1740)/list of notable descendants,
• Adair in Laurens County, South Carolina
• Adair in Chester County, South Carolina
• Adair in Adair County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Washington County, Utah - Several descendants joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were leaders of the Cotton Mission to Southern Utah.
  • James Adair (1714-1796) immigrant, explorer and author
  • William Penn Adair (1830-1880) - second chief of the Cherokee nation, Colonel of Second Cherokee Mounted Volunteers, Confederate Army Cavalry, U.S. Civil War and the person for whom Will Rogers was named.

Notable Events

Trail of Tears

Trail of Tears painting by Robert Lindneux

The Trail of Tears was a series of forced relocations of Native American peoples from their ancestral homelands in the Southeastern United States, to areas to the west (usually west of the Mississippi River) that had been designated as Indian Territory. The forced relocations were carried out by government authorities following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830. The relocated peoples suffered from exposure, disease, and starvation while en route to their new designated reserve, and many died before reaching their destinations. The forced removals included members of the Cherokee, Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Ponca nations. The phrase "Trail of Tears" originates from a description of the removal of many Native American tribes, including the infamous Cherokee Nation relocation in 1838.

Between 1830 and 1850, the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee people (including mixed-race and black slaves who lived among them) were forcibly removed from their traditional lands in the Southeastern United States, and relocated farther west. Those Native Americans who were relocated were forced to march to their destinations by state and local militias. The Cherokee removal in 1838 (the last forced removal east of the Mississippi) was brought on by the discovery of gold near Dahlonega, Georgia in 1828, resulting in the Georgia Gold Rush. Approximately 2,000–8,000 of the 16,543 relocated Cherokee perished along the way.

Flight to Mount Tabor, Texas

Inside the Cherokee Nation, there was a lot of hatred towards those who were affiliated with the treaty signing party. Those that did not approve were called the John Ross Party and they outnumbered the Treaty party by 2-1. In 1839, several of the more prominent Cherokee leaders were assassinated, Major Ridge, his son John Ridge, and Elias Boudinot, all signers of this treaty, were all killed on the same day - 22 June 1839. In 1845, another leader, John Starr was killed. Many of their family members then fled to Texas for safety.

Several of these families ultimately removed to Rusk County, Texas where they settled about six miles south of the town of Kilgore. They included members of the Bean, Bell, Harnage, Mayfield, Miller, Starr and Thompson families. As a group, these families came to be known as the "Mount Tabor Indian Community." The appellation "Mount Tabor" was obtained from the name that John Adair Bell (1800-1860) selected for his new plantation in Rusk County, Texas.

Biographical sketches for eight of the families are provided elsewhere at this website. Many of these families buried their dead in what is now called the old Mount Taber Cemetery. Unfortunately, this cemetery was essentially destroyed during the East Texas oil exploration boom in the 1930's and 1940's.

Some of these old families owned slaves at the time they lived in Rusk County, and the slaves adopted their master’s name. Some of the Negro families living there now are descendents from these old slave families. There are several families by the name of Mayfield, Bell and Starr still living in this community, both white and black, but the name “Mt. Taber” is unknown to them.

American Civil War /2nd Cherokee Regt

2nd Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Volunteers was organized in Sept 1861 at Fort Gibson, Cherokee County, Oklahoma. A number of Adair men and their relatives served in this unit which mostly harassed Union forces in the Indian Territory.

• William Penn Adair (1830-1880) - colonel, commanding officer of 2nd Cherokee Regt
• Walter Thompson Adair (1838-1899) - (bro of Col Adair), Surgeon of 2nd Cherokee Regt
• Adair, John B. (Pvt, Co B)
• Adair, John (Pvt, Co B)
• Adair, E.M. (1st Lt, Co D)
• Adair, John R. (?, Co F)
• Adair, E.M. (Captain, Co K)
• Adair, George (Pvt, Co K)
• Adair, G.W. (Pvt, Co K)
• Adair, J.M. (Pvt, Co K)
• Adair, R.B. (Sgt, Co K)

Adair by County

Oklahoma has 77 Counties:

• Adair in Adair County, Oklahoma - origin: Cherokee lands named for William Penn Adair (1830-1880), Cherokee tribal leader and Confederate colonel in the American Civil War
• Adair in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Atoka County, Oklahoma - Choctaw tribal lands
• Adair in Beaver County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Beckham County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Blaine County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Bryan County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Caddo County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Canadian County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Carter County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Cherokee County, Oklahoma - Originally settled by Cherokee Indians following the Trail of Tears, Tribe of Cherokee Nation
• Adair in Choctaw County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Cimarron County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Coal County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Comanche County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Cotton County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Craig County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Creek County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Custer County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Delaware County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Dewey County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Ellis County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Garfield County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Garvin County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Grady County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Grant County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Greer County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Harmon County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Harper County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Haskell County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Hughes County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Jackson County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Jefferson County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Johnston County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Kay County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Kingfisher County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Kiowa County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Latimer County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Le Flore County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Lincoln County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Logan County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Love County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Major County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Marshall County, Oklahoma
• Adair In Mayes County, Oklahoma
• Adair in McClain County, Oklahoma
• Adair in McCurtain County, Oklahoma
• Adair in McIntosh County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Murray County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Muskogee County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Noble County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Nowata County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
• Adair in Okmulgee County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Osage County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Ottawa County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Pawnee County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Payne County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Rogers County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Seminole County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Sequoyah County, Oklahoma - Sequoyah District and part of Illinois District, Cherokee Nation, Sequoyah (George Guess), invented the Cherokee syllabary
• Adair in Stephens County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Stephens County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Texas County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Tillman County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Tulsa County, Oklahoma = Cherokee Nation and Creek Nation land. Derived from Tulsey Town, Alabama, an old Creek settlement.
• Adair in Wagoner County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Washington County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Washita County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Woods County, Oklahoma
• Adair in Woodward County, Oklahoma

See Also

• Adair Family
• Adair Family History
• Oklahoma