William Penn Adair

Adair, William P.

• BATTLE UNIT NAME:
• 2nd Regiment, Cherokee Mounted Volunteers, CSA
• SIDE:
• Confederacy
• COMPANY:
• F&S
• SOLDIER'S RANK IN:
• Colonel
• SOLDIER'S RANK OUT:
• Colonel
• ALTERNATE NAME:
• FILM NUMBER:
• M818 ROLL 1
• PLAQUE NUMBER:
• NOTES:
• Battle Unit Note - (2 Reg't. Cherokee Mtd. Rifles or Riflemen) https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search-soldiers-detail.htm?soldierId=4...

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3/8 Cherokee #6 on Mt Tabor Indian Roll

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https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Adair-2246

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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5178118/william-penn-adair

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William Penn Adair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Penn_Adair

William Penn Adair was a Cherokee leader and Confederate colonel.

William Penn Adair was born on April 15, 1830 in the old Cherokee Nation in New Echota, Georgia. His parents were George Washington Adair and Martha Adair. He attended Cherokee schools in Indian Territory, studying law. He was a Freemason,[1] belonging to the Vinita Lodge No. 5, which was chartered in 1875.[2] He was described as being "six foot and two inches in height, magnetic, logical and frankly agreeable, the ablest and most brilliant of all Cherokees.[3]

Adair's first wife was Sarah Ann McNair. His second was Susannah "Sue" McIntosh Drew.[4] He lived on the Grand River in what is now Adair, Oklahoma.[1]

Military service

During the civil war he served in the Confederate States Army,[1] first in the First Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Volunteers, under General Stand Watie.[5] Adair rose in rank to colonel and organized the Second Cherokee Mounted Volunteers.[6]

Tribal leadership

Adair served the Cherokee Nation in many capacities. He was a senator, a justice of the Cherokee Supreme Court, delegate to Washington, DC, and assistant principal chief.[1] He served as the Senator from the Flint District from 1855-1860[7] and Senator from the Saline District from 1869-1874.[8] In 1879, he was elected as Assistant Chief.[3] Throughout the 1860s and 1870s, Adair served as a delegate to Washington.[9]

He was a vocal advocate for the rights of the Texas Cherokees. In 1873, he and Clement Neely Vann co-authored the book, History of the Claim of the Texas Cherokees, in which they wrote on behalf of "the Texas Cherokees and Affiliated Bands."[10]

Cherokees sought compensation from Texas for lands lost in 1839 and sent Adair to Washington to petition Congress to allow him to sue the state to return lands in Texas once belonging to Cherokee people. In 1839, Republic of Texas President Mirabeau Lamar had forcibly driven Texas Cherokees into Indian Territory and seized their Texan lands. The tribe wanted 1,500,000 acres (6,100 km2) in East Texas returned to them. The state offered lands in the Texas Panhandle, but the tribe refused to accept that offer.[11]

Death and legacy

While in Washington, DC, Adair died on October 23, 1880.[3] Several Cherokee men were named after him in the late 19th century, including the celebrated Cherokee humorist William Penn Adair Rogers (better known as Will Rogers).[12] Adair, Oklahoma was named for William Penn Adair and his brother, Dr. Walter Thompson Adair.[5]

Notes

1. ^ a b c d Littlefield and Parins, 165
2. ^ Starr, 185
3. ^ a b c Starr, 264
4. ^ Starr, 328
5. ^ a b Thomas, Betty Lou Harper. "Adair." Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. (retrieved 24 March 2010)
6. ^ Starr, 148
7. ^ Starr, 272
8. ^ Starr, 267
9. ^ Starr, 296
10. ^ Adair and Vann, 1
11. ^ "Cherokee Indians." Handbook of Texas Online. (retrieved 24 March 2010)
12. ^ Rogers et al, 83

References

• Adair, William Penn and C. N. Vann. History of the Claim of the Texas Cherokees. New York: Morgan, Comes, and Lawrence, 1873.
• Littlefield, Daniel F., Jr. and James W. Parins. A Biobibliography of Native American Writers, 1772-1924: A Supplement. 1985. ISBN 0-8108-1802-7.
• Rogers, Will, Arthur Frank Wertheim, and Barbara Bair. The Papers of Will Rogers: From Vaudeville to Broadway: September 1908–August 1915. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-8061-3315-7.
• Starr, Emmett. History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folklore. Oklahoma City: Warden Company, 1921.

External links

"William Penn Adair," article in the Chronicles of Oklahoma by Cherrie Adair Moore, Spring 1951.

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Colonel William Penn Adair was the son of George Washington Adair and Martha "Patsy" Martin. Martha Martin was the daughter of Judge John Martin and a sister of Annie Martin-Thompson, wife of Benjamin Franklin Thompson. George Washington Adair was the son of Walter "Black Watt" Adair and Rachel Thompson the sister of Benjamin Franklin Thompson and second cousins of Henry Butt Thompson. William Adair rose to prominence during the Civil War as one of the primary officers of the Cherokee Mounted Rifles under Confederate General Stand Watie. After the death of Watie in 1871, Adair took over as the primary leader of the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands, including the Mount Tabor Community along with Clement Neely Vann the son of David Vann. In 1871, Adair and Vann began a serious of lawsuits aimed at getting the 1.5 million acres guaranteed to the Cherokees and Choctaws by the Treaty of 1836 with the Republic of Texas. These suits eventually went before the United States Supreme Court in 1920, and the Indian Claims Commission in 1948. The State of Texas offered 15 million acres of Texas panhandle land to settle the suit, but Adair declined as his eyes were always on the Texas Cherokee lands in the Piney Woods. William Penn Adair died in Washington, D.C. on October 21, 1880 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery http://www.redeaglejw.net/oldchahtaorg/thompsonchoctawphoto.htm

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1851 Drennan roll Unknown Saline,179 Notes for WILLIAM PENN Adair, CHIEF, COL: Cherokee Advocate, Book Three, Mar 10, 1880 - Jun 15, 1883; "Indians Weeping -- Vinita Honoring The Departed Chieftain -- A meeting was held in the Union Church on the evening of October 24 for the purpose of expressing their grief upon the death of Col. W. P. Adair. Col. Adair died in Washington City yesterday morning. H. D. Reese, J. M. Duncan, S. S. Stephens, Gus Ivey, Frank Howard, paid glowing tributes to the deceased chieftain. More About WILLIAM PENN Adair, CHIEF, COL: 1851 Drennan roll: Saline, 179 1880 Census [CN]: Cooweescoowee, 27 as Col W P Adair Burial: National Cemetery Occupation: LawyerColonel William Penn Adair was the son of George Washington Adair and Martha "Patsy" Martin. Martha Martin was the daughter of Judge John Martin and a sister of Annie Martin-Thompson, wife of Benjamin Franklin Thompson. George Washington Adair was the son of Walter "Black Watt" Adair and Rachel Thompson the sister of Benjamin Franklin Thompson and second cousins of Henry Butt Thompson. William Adair rose to prominence during the Civil War as one of the primary officers of the Cherokee Mounted Rifles under Confederate General Stand Watie. After the death of Watie in 1871, Adair took over as the primary leader of the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands, including the Mount Tabor Community along with Clement Neely Vann the son of David Vann. In 1871, Adair and Vann began a serious of lawsuits aimed at getting the 1.5 million acres guaranteed to the Cherokees and Choctaws by the Treaty of 1836 with the Republic of Texas. These suits eventually went before the United States Supreme Court in 1920, and the Indian Claims Commission in 1948. The State of Texas offered 15 million acres of Texas panhandle land to settle the suit, but Adair declined as his eyes were always on the Texas Cherokee lands in the Piney Woods. William Penn Adair died in Washington, D.C. on October 21, 1880 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery http://www.redeaglejw.net/oldchahtaorg/thompsonchoctawphoto.htm

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1851 Drennan roll Unknown Saline,179 Notes for WILLIAM PENN Adair, CHIEF, COL: Cherokee Advocate, Book Three, Mar 10, 1880 - Jun 15, 1883; "Indians Weeping -- Vinita Honoring The Departed Chieftain -- A meeting was held in the Union Church on the evening of October 24 for the purpose of expressing their grief upon the death of Col. W. P. Adair. Col. Adair died in Washington City yesterday morning. H. D. Reese, J. M. Duncan, S. S. Stephens, Gus Ivey, Frank Howard, paid glowing tributes to the deceased chieftain. More About WILLIAM PENN Adair, CHIEF, COL: 1851 Drennan roll: Saline, 179 1880 Census [CN]: Cooweescoowee, 27 as Col W P Adair Burial: National Cemetery Occupation: Lawyer

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William Penn Adair was a great leader , Diplomat and Lawyer in Cherokee History.He was an Assistant Chief of the Cherokee Nation.A Colonel in the Civil war,he was an Officer under General Stand Watie,s Cherokee Mounted Volunteer Regiment Command, captured at the Battle of Pea Ridge, was soon released and continued to fight for the CSA. Part of a Delegation to Washington, seeking to establish Cherokees and Allied Tribes connected to the Southern cause, to be allowed to remove from Indian Territory to Texas.

Established the Texas Cherokees and Associate Bands in 1871 to pursue the aforementioned cause as well as to seek redress regarding the Treaty of Bowles Village in 1836 between the Cherokee and Twelve Associated Tibes and the Republic of Texas.

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