Biography
Mary Adair Nixon McCalla was born 1754 in Chester, Chester County, South Carolina, United States to William Adair (c1718-1812) and Mary Moore (1729-1797) and died 16 November 1807 Chester County, South Carolina, United States of unspecified causes. She married John Nixon (1755-1780) 1774 in South Carolina. She married David McCalla (1752-1826) 1781 in Chester County, South Carolina.
State of SC Invoices due John Nixon, Killed by the Enemy, Payable to David McCalla, July 1783, Camden District, SC. "David McCalla has married the widow of John Nixon". Chester SC was a part of Camden District in 1783. Nixon, John, Account Audited (File No. 5538) Of Claims Growing Out Of The American Revolution. Date: 1776 C. or later. SCDAH archives online.
Mary McCalla was educated in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was the sister of John Adair (1757-1840), Rev. patriot and 8th Governor of Kentucky. She was also the foster sister of Col Edward Lacy. Mary, as well as her parents, and her 2 husbands are listed in the DAR Patriot Index. Mary's other brothers, William & James, also were soldiers of the Revolutionary War.
American Revolutionary War
Mary is remembered as a “heroine” of the Revolution because of her successful efforts, along with those of her sister-in-law Sarah McCalla, to rescue her brother John and Sarah’s husband Thomas, both ill with smallpox, from the imprisonment of British Colonel Francis Lord Rawdon. Mary died in 1807.
The Chester County, South Carolina chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) chapter is named after Mary. She is mentioned in Ellet's Women of the Revolution.
- Fishing Creek History - GenealogyTrails.com
Mary's sister Elizabeth Adair married James Moore and Mary had a brother Alexander, who died young and unmarried.
Marriage & Family
Mary was twice married.
1st Marriage: Lt Col John Nixon
Her first husband was Lt. Col John Nixon, Revolutionary War Patriot, who was killed by the Tories Nov 20, 1780 in Newberry Dist, SC. His burial place is unknown, however his name is included on a Memorial Plague to Rev Soldiers at Catholic Church. John Nixon and Mary Adair were married about 1774 and had 2 daughters:
- Margaret Nixon McKeown (5 OCT 1777 Chester Co, SC - 14 SEP 1860 Chester Co, SC) who married John McKeown and had no children, and
- Mary Nixon Hemphill
2nd Marriage: David McCalla
Mary Adair Nixon's 2nd husband was David McCalla, who had lived with her and John Nixon, as well as served with Nixon in the War. Mary married David in 1781, a year after Nixon died.
Mary and David McCalla had 2 sons and 4 daughters: William, James, Sarah, Isabella, Elizabeth, and Catherine.
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Mary Nixon (1779-1854) | |||
| Margaret Nixon (1780-) | |||
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| James McCalla (1783-1860) | |||
| Sarah McCalla (1784-1832) | |||
| Elizabeth McCalla (1786-1867) | |||
| Isabella McCalla (1789-1871) | |||
| William McCalla (1792-1827) | |||
| Katherine McCalla (1798-1879) | |||
Siblings
Residences
Ancestry
The Adair Family is of ancient roots in Ireland, Scotland and Italy. Her grandfather, Thomas Adair (c1680-c1740) and father William Adair (c1718-1812) immigrated to America in the early 1730s. One uncle, James Adair (1714-1796), became a noted indian trader and historian.
- See Also : Adair Family.
Vital Records
South Carolina Gravestone
- Location: Blackstock Catholic Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Chester County, South Carolina
- Mary Nixon McCalla at Find A Grave
References
See Also
- Mary Adair - disambiguation
- James Adair in the Ninety-Six District - Research Notes for this family
- Adair Family
- Adair Family Ancestry
- Adair in Chester County, South Carolina
- Nixon in Chester County, South Carolina
- McCalla in Chester County, South Carolina