| Notes |
- BIOGRAPHY:
1. 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. "The exact date of death for the first wife of Joseph Adair, Sr., cooper, in not known. He married (2) sometime after 1767, Susannah. the widow of Daniel Long.
Long Family:
The pension petition of Robert Long, Revo. soldier, states that he was b. c1763 in County Antrim, Ireland. When he was a few months old, the family came to Pa. where they lived until c1765 or 1766, then came to SC. His father died when Robert Long was age 4 (sometime in 1767). Evidently the father Long did not live long enough after coming to SC to complete arrangements for his grant of land....no record of a grant has been located; however, on the plat for land granted in 1771 to one Jacob Jones near Duncan Creek Presbyterian Church, the adjoining land was shown as belonging to Daniel Long. Deed Bk. F, p. 510 shows sale of the Jones land in 1797 and the deed mentions that the adjoining land is "laid out for Daniel Long Dec'D.." (The Deed Abstracts by Miss Nash does not include mention of Daniel Long, but the original deed book does.) Robert Long further stated in his petition that he had a brother who died in 1776.
Daniel Long, b. Ireland. d. in SC c1767, married in Ireland, Susannah - - who died 9 Apr. 1800; age ?. Chn: Samuel Long, b. 1757, d. 1776, age 19. Bur. Duncan Creek.
Robert Long, b. 1763, d. 30 Jan. 1840, age 80(?). Bur. Duncan Creek; Revo. soldier; mar. Elizabeth, widow of John Finney. In his will, Joseph Adair, cooper, called Robert Long his "son-in-lawase, she would have to be Susannah. True, Joseph Adair refers to Mary Owens as his "daughter" ..simply neglecting to add "-in-law" meaning "step-daughter".
Previous work done on the family of Mary and John Owens reveals that Mary was born c1760-62...a number of years before the death of Daniel Long and before his widow, Susannah, married Joseph Adair. If, as indicated. Mary Owens is a daughter of Susannah, she could not possibly be a daughter of Joseph Adair.
John and Mary Owens named their first son "Daniel". Robert Long named his first son "Daniel". The families of John and Mary Owens and Robert Long were closely associated through the years ..witnessing wills and deeds for each other and in succeeding generations, becoming involved in guardianships, etc. Neither family seems to have been as closely associated with the Adairs.
The final, most decisive evidence that Mary Owens and Robert Long were siblings is this:
Deed Bk. J, p. 80 - Be it known to all whom it may concern that I, Thomas Murdough, for divers reasons do hereby impower and constitute as my agent to transact my temporal concerns, Robert Long Esq. and do hereby authorize him to sell all my moveable effects and rent my plantation and keep a Just account of my temporal concerns. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal the 16th day of October A.D. 1807.
test John B. Kennedy Thomas Murdough (Seal)
Thomas Beasley
NB: and at my death that there shall be an equal divide of whatever may be remaining of my property between and Robert Long and Mary Owens.
Oath of Thomas Beasley that he was present and saw said Thos. Murdough sign and seal the within writing for the within purpose mentioned and likewise acknowledge the three lines below as part of the same. 17th April 1809. (S) Thomas Beasley.
Recorded April 22nd 1809 by John Garlington, Register.
(This document as drawn up is the equivalent of a Last Will and Testament.)
Duncan Creek Presbyterian Church cemetery: In memory of Thomas MURDOUGH who died 15th August 1809, aged 81 years.
Thomas Murdough was born 1728. It is quite possible that he was a brother of Susannah Long Adair. There must have been kinship because of the fact that Thomas willed his property equally divided between the two living children of Susannah. Descendants of John and Mary Owens have a dim recollection of the name "Muldrow" in their background. The name could have easily been "Murdough"."
2. FHL book 975.731 H2b "A Laurens County Sketchbook," by Julian Stevenson Bolick [with my edited notes added in brackets]:
Pg. 1: "An early record showing an original grant from George III to an ancestor of the Putnams of Gray Court has Laurens District in Craven County. 'Wallace's History of South Carolina" verifies the fact that a vast tract of land to the south of Virginia had been granted in 1663 by Charles II to eight British lords. Craven County, an extensive region covering most of South Carolina and parts of North Carolina, was a part of this sprawling acreage. In 1719 the people threw off the rule of the lords Proprietors, at which time the rights of the government and seven-eighths of the soil were ceded to the king. A later territorial separation placed Laurens in the Ninety Six District. On March 12, 1785, Laurens was made a separate district by an Act of the General Assembly…
"Major Jonathan Downes, a colonial officer, headed a group of influential citizens commissioned to survey the territory. Gentleman Justices serving with Major Downes included James Montgomery [father of Rebecca Montgomery who married James Adair], Silvanus Walker, William Mitcherson and Charles Saxon. After the districting was made legal by the act of legislation, the justices were authorized 'to build and keep in good repair at the charge of the county one good and convenient courthouse with necessary jury rooms and one good and sufficient county gaol together with a pillory, whipping post and stocks…"
Pg. 3: "In 1790 the first government census taken after he adoption of the Constitution gave Laurens District 1,395 heads of families, with a total population of 9,337 including Negro freedmen and slaves. Laurens District, at that time, had a larger population than any other district above Newberry, the latter outnumbering Laurens by only a few hundred…"
Pg. 4: "The first permanent white settler to come to Upper Carolina is believed to have been John Duncan of Aberdeen, Scotland. He first stopped in Pennsylvania, but as early as 1753 he was known to have been in the Ninety Six District on land bordering a creek later named for him.
"On a return to Pennsylvania, Duncan influenced friends to come to Ninety Six and establish homesteads. He brought his own family and a pair of fine stud horses to pull the first wagon ever to roll over soil between the Broad and Saluda rivers. A lush growth of maiden cane bordering the creek had been the deciding factor for closing out his interests in Pennsylvania.
"Two of the settlers to accompany him were David and Charles Little, for whom a community was named later. [David Little, 1767-1812, married Charity Adair].
"Records show early land grants to Andrew McCrary (McCreary), Joseph Adair, Robert Hanna, Thomas Ewing, James Pollock, Thomas Logan and Thomas Craig - all in the group following Mr. Duncan to Carolina."
Pg. 5: "Still another friend of John Duncan was Joshua Palmer, a minister, who was so influential in the new community that when he moved to Indiana about 1828 he carried with him several families from his ecclesiastical society…
"Robert Long was brought to this country at the age of five months, and at the age of two years was moved from Pennsylvania to the South. Robert's father was a well known construction engineer, who by government contract in 1769 built Fort Charlotte on the Savannah River. [Robert Long, son of Daniel Long and Susannah Murdough; Susannah becomes Joseph Adair, Sr.'s second wife after Sarah Lafferty. Brownlee states Daniel died in 1767; is this a different Robert Long? On the other hand the British built the fort for the French and Indian War, which was 1756-1763 - so the 1769 date could be in error.]
"From North Carolina James Williams came, having been attracted to the fertile lands bordering Little River where he pursued farming and engaged in a mercantile business. His plantation was named Mount Pleasant..." [James Williams was the subject of the James Williams Petition that most early Adair men signed.]
Pg. 7: "After peace was secured by a vigorous and successful campaign against the Indians in 1761, the backwoodsmen of Carolina, as all people in the territory remote from Charles Town were called, gave their undivided time to replacing the temporary dwellings with more adequate homes. Many of the settlers had stopped in Virginia, but there it was made clear that only those who belonged to the Established Church were welcome; consequently, the ones believing strongly in freedom of worship came on into Carolina. They were principally Scotch-Irish and by no means adventurers…"
Pg. 17: "LITTLESVILLE: One of the first centers of population in Laurens County was Littlesville on Duncan's Creek. David and Charles Little, mentioned previously in this sketch, had come to this country from 'Doublin,' Ireland. David married Charity Adair, the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier. Members of these two families, the Littles and the Adairs, are buried in the old Duncan's Creek Church cemetery. One of the gravestones bears the inscription 'David Little, a native of Ireland.' It is not known which of the early Adairs was the father of Charity, but the Adairs were in this section, probably as early as were the Little brothers. [Charity was the daughter of Joseph, son of the original Joseph.] Joseph B. [Sr.] came from Ireland in 1711 and died in Laurens County in 1801; Joseph, Jr., [son of Joseph Sr.] was born in Pennsylvania (the state from which John Duncan recruited settlers) in 1733 and died in Laurens in 1812; and John B. was born in Duncan's Creek neighborhood in 1758 and died in Georgia [son of Joseph Jr. and brother to Charity]. Doctor W.S. Glenn of Spartanburg had in his possession in 1930 a map of a very early date which showed a community called Littlesville, about three miles from the historic Duncan's Creek Church. The site is no longer listed even in the crossroad category, the majority of the people from this creek bank settlement having moved to the thriving community of Clinton…
Pp. 42-43: "DUNCAN'S CREEK PRESBYTERIAN: One of the early utilitarian buildings was Duncan's Creek Presbyterian Church in the rural section of Jacks Township. Servants of the John Duncan family had erected a brush arbor about 1753, at which time John Duncan had come into the area. A more permanent building of fieldstones was put up in 1764, and that date is visible in a cornerstone of the presently used building erected in 1842. The date 1764 was retained for historic purposes. The original granite walls, two feet in thickness, and the straight-backed pews of oak attest to the strong faith of the era and of the congregations of that particular church. In recent years the small-outmoded reed organ from the fieldstone church was given to Thornwell Home for children in Clinton, where it is still used on occasions calling for a colonial atmosphere. During the Revolutionary War, the church building served as a place of protection for the people of that area. Often referred to as the mother of Presbyterian churches, it is the oldest church organization in the upper part of the state. Both Lisbon Presbyterian and Clinton First Presbyterian were started as mission extensions of the Duncan's Creek Church. The first minister was the Reverend Hezekiah Balch, year 1776. In the same year John B. Kennedy was ordained and continued as pastor intermittently for fifty years. In 1788 the Duncan's Creek Church became involved in serious difficulties. The majority of the members being canny old Scotchmen, theological discord was instituted over whether to use Rouse's or Watt's version of the Psalms. Sixty-three members seceded to form other churches. Although each plantation had its own burial ground, Duncan's Creek church offered burial plots in its churchyard in 1776. Some of the ancient mounds have lost their identity, but one bearing the marking 'Samuel Long, aged 19 years, November 15th, 1776, is still legible [brother of Robert Long and son of Daniel Long and Susannah Murdough]. Sixteen soldiers of the Revolution are buried in the churchyard. In October of 1964, Duncan's Creek Presbyterian Church observed with appropriate ceremony the two-hundredth anniversary of its founding…"
BURIAL:
1. Per http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/9708/dcem.html, there is a listing in the Duncan Creek Presbyterian Church cemetery that reads: "Long, Samuel, died Nov. 15, 1776, age 19."
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Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy
Abt 1757 - 1776 (~ 19 years)