| Notes |
- RESEARCH_NOTES:
1. The book "Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution," by Bobby Gilmer Moss, lists the following for probably this individual. I do not have the abbreviation list as to the sources he gives:
"Isaac Adair, m. Ruth ___. He served in Picken's brigade (one source says Marion's brigade) and was killed in April 1781. A.A. 20; S346; Annuitants Claims."
2. From the Internet: "Stub Indents are another important resource. When South Carolina paid claims for goods, services, or damages from the Revolutionary War, they were paid with certificates called indents. Rather like stub checkbooks, the certificates were in two parts: one part was issued to the claimant as compensation; the other part was a stub on which pertinent information, such as the claimant's name, the nature of the claim, and the amount paid was recorded. The state retained the stub of the indents, and they are found at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History in Office of the Commissioners of the Treasury, Stub Indents and Indexes, 1779-1791, 22 vols."
The following indents are for various Adairs and are from "Accounts Audited of Revolutionary Claims Against South Carolina," ed. by A.S. Salley, The Historical Commission of South Carolina, 1935, copy at FHL:
a. Vol. 1, #20: No. 347 S; Alexander Adair; addressed to Charleston from Laurens Co. 3 Aug 1786. Alexander gives Robert Scott the power to receive the indent; subscribing witness was James Montgomery; rec'd. 14 Jun 1785. Based on militia duty as a private "before and since the reduction of Charlestown"; mentions Col. Anderson's return.
b. Vol. 1, #21: No. 348 S; Benjamin Adair; dated 24 Mar 1785; subscribing witness was John Magee, received 14 Jun 1785; based on "a horse lost in public service in 1779"; no locality shown for Benjamin; mentions Col. Robert Anderson's return.
c. Vol. 1, #22: No. 346 S; Isaac Adair; addressed 5 May 1785 from "Ninety Six District"; empowered Capt. James Dillard to receive payment; subscribing witness was James Montgomery; rec'd 14 Jun 1785; based on militia duty as a private "before and since the reduction of Charlestown"; mentions Col. Anderson's return.
d. Vol. 1, #23: No. 350 S; James Adair; addressed 18 Sep 1785 from "Ninety Six District, Laurens Co."; empowered John Hunter, Esq. to receive payment; subscribing witness was James Montgomery; rec'd 14 Jun 1785; based on militia duty as a private "before and since the reduction of Charlestown" and as wagon master for Col. Ja's Williams from 29th Mar 1780 to 20 May for 52 day; mentions Col. Rob't Anderson's return.
e. Vol. 1, #24: No. 340 W; James Adair, Junr; addressed 7 Sep 1783; received 8 Aug 1785; for "flour supplied the militia in 1783 also for recovery of Horses lost in 1779"; also mentions "flour for the use of the widows and distressed families in Col. Casey's Reg't"; also mentions "horses lost at Augusty [Augusta] under the Command of General Williamson 11 of may 1779"; subscribing witness was Robert Hanna.
f. Vol. 1, #25: No. 1522 Y; James Adare, addressed 27 Jun 1787; based on "120 days Militia duty in Gen'l: Marion's Brigade in 1781, also for a Gun impressed; mentions Lt. Col. Hugh Horry.
g. Vol. 1, #26: No. 349 S; John Adair; addressed 15 Sep 1785 from "96 District"; empowered John Hunter to receive payment; subscribing witness was James "Adear"; rec'd 14 Jun 1785; based on militia duty as a private "before and since the reduction of Charlestown"; mentions Col. Anderson's return.
h. Vol. 1, #27: 1955 X; Joseph Adair; addressed 20 May 1785; empowered John Hunter to receive payment; subscribing witnesses included Robert Anderson, J.P., Col. Levi Casey, and Charles Saxon; based on "Joseph Addairs Commissary Commencing 20th of August 1781 and ending the 1sd of March 1782" including sundries, flour, Indian corn, fodder, "Rations and Necessarys for 2 Wounded Men belonging To Gen'l Greens Army 49 days," "1 Gun & Accoutements lost at Savannah," "Corn & Fodder for Col. Jones of Georgia," "Rations for 9 Horses of Capd. Mac bee Comp'y," "Oats for Col. Washington's Men," work with wagon and team.
i. Vol. 1, #28: No. 106 I; William Adair; addressed 27 Jul 1783; several different men received endorsements in 1786 and 1787 including John Adair, Philip Hart, and John Lewis Gervais; based on service as adjutant for Col. Lacey's Regt. for 60 days June 18, 1780, and 30 days Feb. 12, 1781; subscribing witness was Joseph Palmer, J.P.
Note also that John Adair shows up empowered to collect in behalf of William Kay and John Edward Auston. He also shows up as "John Adair, J.P." the subscribing witness of Ambros Ball.
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 to correction. Spelling of names subject to correction. [Note that bracketed comments are later additions by other reviewers including myself - Kerry Petersen.]
A. "There was a William Adair who evidently died single sometime between 1780 and 1784 (Abbey. Wills, p. 10-11) and also an Isaac Adair who was killed in the Revolution in 1781. (Annuity Claim). His widow Ruth (Greer?), had moved to Ga. by 1799. (Deed Bk, F, p. 471). Both these men were of the Duncan Creek area; both signed the Williams Petition in 1780 and both would have been born c1764 or before."
B. "Isaac Adair of Duncan Creek area signed the Williams petition in 1780; was killed in the Revo. War for which his widow, Ruth Adair was paid an annuity from the State.
"Deed Bk. B, p. 416 - 22 Aug. 1788, John Greer, Sr. to Ruth Adair, 150 a. on Duncan Creek, part of a 300 a. tract where said John Greer now lives, adj. land laid out to Joseph Greer and Bazel Prather. Wit: John Owins, Josiah Greer, John Robinson.
"Deed Bk. F, p. 471 - 17 Aug. 1799, James Adair, planter, by Power of Attorney for Ruth Adair of the State of Ga., to Bazel Prather, blacksmith, 150 a. on Duncan Cr. being half of a tract containing 300 ac on the northernmost side of Duncan Creek, bound to the SE on sd. creek & then vacant on all other sides when granted to John Greer, 17 Mar. 1756 (?? Land grant map shows 1774). Wit: John Daniel Kern, Obidiah Roberts, Samuel Bishop, Jr.
"Nothing is known as to parents of Isaac Adair and names of his children, if any, are not known."
C. "Compensation for Revolutionary Service.. South Carolina House of Representatives-Annuities, Claims, and Pension Reports.
178[6] Feb. 10 pd. Ruth Adair, one years annuity[, 8.15.]
178[5] Sept. 21 pd. Ruth Adair, widow of Isaac, killed in Apr'l '81, [8.15.]"
[Note: Brownlee had the years wrong showing the Feb. annuity in 1785 and Sept.'s in 1786; it should be reversed as I have corrected it above. I also added the amount. Source: "The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research," vol. 1, pp. 69, 156, which also prefaces the list with the following comment: "Compensation for Revolutionary Service. The Following records are preserved in their original form at the South Carolina Archives. They are entitled 'House of Representatives / Annuities, Claims, and Pension Reports,' and although they are unsigned, they evidently were transmitted by the State Treasurer to the House of Representatives."]
4. American Revolutionary War Stories involving Mangum and Adair Families in Laurens County Area of South Carolina:
In John Mangum the Patriot's application for his American Rev. War pension, he mentions serving with several of the following commanders. He specifically states he was with Col. Joseph Hayes when he was killed and that he received a wound under the hands of the Tory leader William Cunningham aka "Bloody Bill." The following accounts help understand John's and the Adair family's patriotic commitment and puts some flesh to names. See separate notes in the Adair family notes for John Mangum's Adair family comrades in arms who signed the James Williams Petition which would mean that the Adair and Mangum families probably first came in contact both knowing and serving under James Williams. Both modern Laurens and adjoining Newberry Counties were in the old District Ninety Six of South Carolina.
"A Laurens County Sketchbook," by Julian Stevenson Bolick, FHL book 975.731-H2b, p. 9, in speaking of the American Revolutionary War: "The people, cut off as they were from the coast and seat of government [KP note: at Charles Town or Charleston as it was later known], were not aware of the many grievances of the colonists toward the mother country. Naturally, in the months to follow, many of the Up Country people remained loyal to England, and particularly those who had been given large grants by the king. These people became known as Tories, and a gentleman's agreement was reached among some of the colonists whereby the Tories in the Carolina "Back Country" should remain in a state of neutrality. Since this agreement was made without the knowledge of Robert Cunningham, a man of high esteem and immense influence among his neighbors in Ninety Six District, he did not feel bound by the agreement. Thus, he continued to urge opposition to the revolutionary movement to the point of being apprehended on an occasion by a group of men dressed as Indians. Learning of Robert's proposed confinement in Charles Town, his brother Patrick gathered a body of friends and set out in pursuit of the group. The pursuers failed to overtake the first group, but Patrick and his men learned of, and captured, 1000 pounds of powder being sent as a present to the Cherokee Indians by the governor. Because of the proximity of the Cherokees, it was customary to make gifts from time to time to the Cherokee Nation to encourage friendship. An amount of gunpowder, included with cloth and trinkets, was intended to be only enough to meet the Indians' needs for hunting, and not a sufficient quantity to incite them to attack the settlers...
"Unbiased recounting of history must include here the distasteful authority and influence exerted by two Tory leaders over their followers in dealing with their enemies, the Whigs [KP note: pre-Revolution ]. The two 'Bloody Bills', William Bates and William Cunningham, headed the list of atrocities ... Cunningham ... belonged to one of the best families in the province. A cousin of Robert and Patrick Cunningham, Bill was the only member of the family to depart from its high standard of chivalry and honor ... William was a Whig at the beginning of the struggle ... William was ordered to the Low Country, was whipped for some minor offense and was placed in chains. His work of pillage and murder apparently was a retributive vengeance on those who had wronged him, especially his former commander in arms.
"So, the good citizens and the bad citizens were divided in their partisanship. Before the end of hostilities, the great plantations where hospitality had been dispensed in generous and gracious manner were closed to friendship because of divided loyalties and sympathies. These homes included White Hall, home of Andrew Williamson; Rosemont and Peach Hill, Cunningham seats and Mount Pleasant, owned by James Williams. In many cases, animosity continued. In the election of 1778, Colonel Williams and Cunningham engaged in gentlemanly fisticuffs, in which the wife of the Colonel seized Cunningham by his queue before friends could come between them. The fact that Cunningham was elected to office was evidence of the strong Tory influence in the district. It will be recollected here that Robert Cunningham had been arrested by Colonel James Williams in 1775 and sent to Charles Town, where he refused to recognize the authority of the Provincial Congress. His arrest created indignation in the "Back Country", and three years later his friends gave full support to his candidacy.
"Logan's History of the 'Upper Country of South Carolina' characterizes this area as 'the classic ground of the American Revolution,' but it is difficult to locate exact spots of skirmishes occurring with the confines of the present county of Laurens. Meager records show that one encounter took place on the banks of Rabun Creek. While the armed forces on the coast had been occupied with the defense of Fort Moultrie, the western frontier of the state had become ablaze with Indians on the warpath [KP note: the neutrality of the Indians was broken when the British and their allies could use strong persuasion]. Inhabitants along the Saluda River had taken refuge in an old fort known as Lyndley's, located on Rabun Creek. Early morning of July 15, 1776, 88 Indians and 102 white men attacked the safety station. Major Jonathan Downes with 150 men had arrived at the station the evening before. The latter were on a mission to join forces with Major Williamson in an effort to suppress the Indians who erroneously had been told that their gift of gunpowder and lead captured so recently would be used by the Whigs to kill them. The attack on the fort was repulsed and thirteen prisoners, all whites dressed as Indians, were sent to Ninety Six for confinement.
"On another occasion, Major Downes, commanding a small force of Whigs, happened to come upon an armed aggregation of Indians in the Scuffletown area. Tradition says that the Major overcame the Indian chief in a hand-to-hand fight, and that he took off his suspenders, tied the Indian's hands behind his back and left the fighting field with the captured chieftain astride Downes' horse.
"In August of 1780, the Battle of Musgrove's Mill was fought about twelve miles north of the present city of Laurens on the Enoree River. Major Downes again served gallantly; in this encounter was, also, Colonel Joseph Hayes, who was among those massacred at Hayes Station the following year. In the home of Major Edward Musgrove a garrison of 500 British troops maintained headquarters. They were regimented soldiers retrained by platoons. The Major, too old for active duty, remained neutral in his sympathies; but his family took a very active part with sons fighting on both sides. On that August day the Whigs took up position within one mile of the mill and were in the process of planning an attack when a skirmish between a British patrol and a Whig reconnaissance group brought the entire British garrison to the scene. Young Captain Shadrack Inman asked permission to take 25 men and act as a decoy to draw the Tories into a three-pronged trap formed by force commanded by Colonel Isaac Shelby on the right, Colonel Elijah Clarke on the left and Colonel James Williams in the center. Shadrack Inman was shot seven times following the retreating British. A simple stone marks the
spot where he fell.
"The battle is said to have been one of the hardest ever fought in the county with small arms alone '...the smoke so thick as to hide a man at a distance of twenty rods. With the aid of Tories, the British had hoped for a quick victory in the South; instead they suffered heavy losses and their strength in South Carolina's Up Country had been badly shaken.
"November, 1781, will be remembered as a month of terror for the Whigs and their families in the Ninety Six District at the hands of William Cunningham, who had left Charles Town in August for the purpose of inflicting punishment on the Whigs. Crossing Saluda River, 'Bloody Bill' and his band of 300 ruthless followers attacked Hayes Inn, a station which before had been known as Edge Hill, on the stagecoach route through this part of the Up Country. The exact date of this attack is not known, but McCrady in his 'History of South Carolina in the Revolution' traces the movements of the group of Tories. On November 7, 1781 thirty Whigs had taken refuge in an unfinished log house without door or windows on a small stream called Cloud's Creek in Edgefield County. Two of the thirty escaped, the rest being slaughtered after they had surrendered. Mr. McCrady states 'it was a fine morning after the massacre at Cloud's Creek, when at ten o'clock a party led by John Hood rode up to the station (Edge Hill) at full gallop...' Hayes Inn was burned by shooting out of a musket a ramrod tipped with flax, saturated in tar and set afire. The flaming roof caused suffocation and terror among those inside. "Captain Daniel Williams, with a group of patriots, had rested overnight at the inn. The Captain, only eighteen years of age, and Colonel Joseph Hayes, owner and operator of the inn, were promptly hanged from a pole of the fodder stack. The pole broke; and Cunningham, continuing the cruelty with gave him the name 'Bloody Bill,' cut the half strangled men to pieces with his sword. The encounter is recorded as 'Hayes Station Massacre,' a terrifying experience related by the one survivor...
"It was such odious treatment of human beings that prompted General Nathanael Greene of the Whig side to make the following declaration: 'The inhabitants hunt one another like wild beasts. If a stop cannot be put to these massacres, the country will be depopulated in a few more months, as neither Whig nor Tory can live." In the District of Ninety Six alone, there were 1400 hundred widows and orphans as a result of the war."
5. James Williams Petition listing the Adair family Patriots. Note that Thomas Adair's parents are the ones listed as number 4 (Joseph and Sarah) and his grandparents are number 3 (James and Eleanor). Most of the other Adairs were brothers or cousins. The petition has come to me from Mildred Brownlee's manuscript "Early Adairs of Laurens County, South Carolina" and also from the "South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research," vol. 15, p. 32. James Williams was one of the most renown Patriots of the Laurens area and this listing of signers of the petition of the area gives us a good source of patriots also associated with him. Col. James Williams and Capt. Josiah Greer were also military leaders of many of these same individuals during the 1778 American invasion of British East Florida per the source of Doctor George Ross' medical reimbursement papers quoted in this database under Rebecca Montgomery's notes. This petition typescript is item #5767, Manuscript Dept., Wm. M. Perkins Library at Duke University, Durham NC. Submitted by Mrs. Mary Ann McCrary and published with permission of the Manuscript Dept. This petition pre-dates the Battle of Kings Mountain (7 Oct 1780), as Col. James Williams was killed at that time. [NB: a second version of the petition was located in the South Carolina Library in 1999 and the gaps in the Duke University petition were filled in as indicated by brackets.] {Any notes or comments added by me are in these brackets.}
"To his Excellen[cy John Rutledge, E]sq. Governor & Commander in Chief in & [over th]e state of South Carolina, the Honourable the privy Counsel, the Honourable the Senate & House of Representatives in General Assembly.
Whereas we (the zealous friends to our country, and to all who love and distinguish themselves in her cause) do understand & are exceeding sorry to hear that there are false & [evilly designing] Accusations either lying on or about to shortly be laid against James Williams, our present Colonel in & over Little River Regiment, and designed (as we believe) by the private Enemies of our country to deprive us of so worthy a friend of his Country in general a good officer to us in particular & thereby do a very singular Piece of Service to the common enemies of America. We do briefly & anxiously remonstrate this: that we experimentally know Colo. James Williams to have been a zealous Patriot from the commencement of the America contest with Briten; and to have always stood foremost in every occasion when called upon to the defence of his country. We do further declare that we have never known said Colo. [Jas.].Williams to distress any individuals in the Regiment who voluntarily & judiciously, when legally called upon and commanded to the field, have turned out in the Defence if their Native Rights & Privileges together with that of their Country; & we do avow it from our knowledge, that whensoever Colo. Jas. Williams either directly or indirectly executed any distressing things, it was upon the stubborn & refractory, whose practices of obstinacy declare them inimical to their country: & and that this he did, as being last promissing Effort to reduce them to the dutiful obedience of loyal & fellow citizens. Without delaying you; we your humble Petitioners do earnestly beg that you will hear this our faithful Remonstrance & proceed with our respected Colo. James Williams & all such unjust & disaffected Clamours as may come before you against him, as your superior Judgements may direct: only begging leave to conclude with this one Remark, that doubtless you know that such clamours are frequently the necessary Effect of Disaffection to the Country.
[Signed:] Robt. McCrery Lt. Colo.; George Davis, Capt.; Matthew McCrar[e]y, Lt.; George Young; Matthew Cunningham; Andrew McCrary; James Greer; [James Dillard]; [John Owens]; [Samuel Ewing]; [William Davis]; [Absolom Filby]; [John McCrary Sener]; [John McCrary Juner]; [Robert Long]; [Matthew McCrary]; [William Bean]; [John Williams J.P {note J.P. is crossed out}]; [Wm. Arthur Capt.]; Josiah Greer; Joseph Ramage; John Robinson; John Bourland; John Greer Juner; Isaac Adair; Jms. Adair; [Thos McCrery J.P.]; [James Ones]; [Andrew Ones]; [John Watson]; [Hughes Manford (?)]; [David Watson]; [Isaac Greer]; [James Ralley]; [John Ramage]; [John Glenn]; [John Jones (M L. (?)]; Henry Atwood; James Adair, Sr.; Joseph Adair Jr.; Joseph Adair; Benjamin Adair; Joseph Adair Sr.; James Adair Jr., son of James; [William Adair]; [John Finney]; [John Adair]; [John Adair Sener]; [James Craige]; [William Craig]; [James Howerton]; [Phillip Whitten]; [John Gray]; [John Greer]; [James Montgomery]; Thomas Ewing; William Blake; James Gamble; [Edward Stapleton]; [John Gamble]; [William Huddleston]; [James Huddleston]; [Alexander Adair]; [Benjamin Willson]; [Benja. Goodman]; [Daniel Williams]
Suggested identification of the Adairs who signed this petition:
1. Isaac Adair - Killed in Apr. 1781, left widow, Ruth.
2. Jms. Adair - b. 1747, son of' Joseph Adair, Sr.; mar. Rebecca Montgomery.
3. James Adair, Sr. - died before 1796; wife, Eleanor.
4. Joseph Adair, Jr. - Son of above James & Eleanor; wife Sarah.
5. Joseph Adair - died 1812; son of Joseph Adair, Sr.
6. Benjamin Adair - died 1823; son of Joseph Adair, Sr.; wife Nancy.
7. Joseph Adair, Sr. - died 1789-90; wife: Susannah.
8. James Adair, Jr., son of James - son of James Adair & wife Eleanor; died 1818, wife Hannah.
9. William Adair - died 1780-84. Estate administered 1784, Abbe. Wills, p. 10.
10. John Adair - died 1813 in Ga., wife Jane; son of Joseph Adair; grandson of Joseph Adair, Sr.
11. John Adair, Sr. - Killed in 1782, wife Sarah. Abbe. Wills, p. 10. Probable son of Joseph Adair, Sr. {Kerry's note: or maybe James Adair, Sr.}
12. Alexander Adair - Scotch-Irish immigrant in 1767? See Protestant Immigrants to SC - Janie Revill, p. 74.
{Note the above suggestions are as provided by Mildred Brownlee. I make the following additions of individuals related to the Adairs:
13. James Gamble - father of William Gamble who marries Martha Adair, daughter of James Adair who was son of James Adair, Sr., the original settler and cooper.
14. Robert Long - Son of Susannah Murdough from her first marriage before she married Joseph Adair the cooper.
15. John Owens - Husband of Mary Long. Mary was the sister of Robert Long and a daughter of Susannah Murdough from her first marriage before Joseph Adair.
16. John Ramage - Husband to Jean or Jane Adair, the daughter of Joseph Adair the cooper and his first wife Sarah Laferty.
17. George Davis - Died 1781- 1783. First husband to Elizabeth Adair, daughter of Joseph Adair, Jr. and Elizabeth ___.
18. James Montgomery - Father to Rebecca who married James Adair, the saddler and son of Joseph Adair the cooper. James' other daughter Isabella married Dr. George Ross who was a physician with many of the above in their East Florida expedition in the early days of the Rev. War.
19. John Jones - There were two John Jones in the area at the time. One was the husband of Hannah Adair, daughter of James and Eleanor Adair. Unsure which John Jones this may be. Our John Jones died before Sep 1788."
6. "The South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research," vol. 11, pp. 183-184: "Ninety Six District Militia in the American Revolution," contributed by Robert S. Davis, Jr., Jasper, GA: "The following account of medicines provided South Carolina soldiers during the 1778 American invasion of British East Florida was found in the Lyman C. Draper Collection of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Volume 1, series VV, fo. 28, and is reproduced here with the permission of State Historical Society of Wisconsin. It was located through Josephine L. Harper, 'Guide to the Draper Manuscripts,' (Madison: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1983). The Draper Collection is available on microfilm at the South Carolina Archives, the University of Georgia, Emory University and elsewhere." The doctor was George Ross who was the brother-in-law to Rebecca Montgomery (he married Isabella Montgomery):
"1778. The publick of South Carolina... to George Ross... Dr: To medicines adminstered to the Men, who went out in the Expedition to Florida under the command of Colonel Williamson, By Order of Colonel James Williams.
August 9th
:8= Vomit 32 s/6-purging Ingredts: with Rheubard 50s/3 for Jon: Adair Junr: in Capt: Josiah Greers compy. 4₤2S6P.
9th= Vomit 3s/6 for 2 papers of purgg. Ingredients ₤ 4+ 6 anadyne powders ₤ 3: for Robt: Long in Ct: Greers Co: 8 12 6..."
17th= Vomit 32s/6 Febrifuge Ingredients ₤3..5s for Jon. Ramage … Capt: Greers Co. 4 17 6.
15th= Febrifuge Ingredients for Jon. Romage ... Capt. Greers Compy. 3 5 0.
16th= visit 4 miles 40s/6 cooling powders ₤3 for Jon: Ramage ... Capt. Greers Co. 5 0 0.
3 1/2 ozs saline mixture ₤5 for Jon: Ramage ... Capt. Greers Compy. 5 0 0.
Vomit 32s/6 ... for Isaac Adair ... Capt. Greer's Company. 1 12 6.
ninety six District
July 31st 79
Personally appeared before me one of the States Justices of the peace Wm Boss... and made oath that the above acct: is Just and true ... /S/ J.S. Hayes JP; For Doctr: George Ross /S/ Wm Ross.
Augst. 4 1779
I Dow hear by sertifi that the above Serves Was Don by My orders this from under my Hand this day a bove wrten /S/ Coll Jas Williams."
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Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy
Bef 1764 - 1781 (> 17 years)