Curator Note: I’ve complied these comments from various sources hoping to write a bio that makes some sense chronologically but not necessarily fully documented, which is the purpose of the discussion, to get at facts.
James Hair was born in the early 1800's (abt. 1815 - 1820) in Cherokee Nation (East). He was listed on the 1835 Henderson Roll as James HARE and appeared on the same page as his father Conrad HAIR in the Candy Creek area of Tennessee.
Nellie’s father was a white man named John McGhee. Her mother was a half-blooded Cherokee named Elizabeth Ratley, who later married secondly William Robertson. Nellie was probably raised on the Long Savannah Creek, northeast of present-day Chattanooga. On Oct. 1, 1838, she married James Hair. SUSIE REECE (First wife) James's first marriage was to Susie Reece. From this marriage there were two children: Catherine and Nicholas. NELLY MCGHEE (Second wife)
Nelly's Civil war pension application made in 1865 indicated that this marriage occured on October 1, 1838 at Calhoun, McMinn County, Indian Territory East (Tennessee). This was probably just prior to their journey to Indian Territory West (Oklahoma), Goingsnake District District. From this marriage there were 8 children: Samuel, John, James, Elizabeth, Margaret, Ariminta, Jesse and Solomon.
According to family history Nellie and James took charge of the children of Elizabeth Ratley (after she was killed by soldier(s) -- Watie Robertson, Lucinda Robertson, Arch Ratley, Betsy Ratley and Nancy Robertson -- when they left in the Bushyhead detachment in October 1838.
EMMITT STARR indicates that James's wives were Sarah Davis, Susie Reece and Nellie Robertson.Sarah Davis was actually married to James's son who's name was also James (Dawes Roll #1090). Susie Reece was probably James's first wife and Nelly McGhee was his only other wife. The Civil War pension application submitted by Nelly Hair in 1865 and the Miller Roll application submitted by James's son James in 1906 supports that Nelly McGhee was the wife of James Hair. Nelly McGee could be the same person as Melvina McGee listed as the second wife of Conrad Hair (and therefore not the second wife of Conrad, it seems most improbable that James would marry one of his father's wives....).
“I think she (Nellie Hair) and Melvina were two different people.”
From Starr, Emmett. “History of the Cherokee Indians and Their Legends and Folklore.” Warden Company, 1922.
Conrad.
11 Onai. Hamilton Conrad.
11 Rattling-gourd Conrad. Mary Toney.
2 Hair Conrad. Ollie Candy and Melvina McGee.
3 Youngwolf Conrad. Jennie Taylor.
4 Quatie Conrad. Alexander Brown, Archibald Fields and John Benge.
(Children of Hair Conrad, note the dividing lines indicate children by three wives, 7-3-1, however Starr only identifies two by name, who was the third? Question: why does Starr list the children with the surname Hair when that name seems to be an anglicized given or nickname, his surname was Conrad? Hair Conrad aka De-Go-S-Ka ‘Hair’ Conrad.)
121 Elizabeth Hair. Daniel Hopkins.
2 Susie Hair. Charles Rattlinggourd.
3 Jefferson Hair. Chinosa O'Fields, Mary Tvner (Tyner?)nee Sanders and Eliza Ramsey nee Tyner.
4 Diana Hair. Wade Hampton Robertson.
5 John Hair. Lucy Robertson, Annie Sanders, Mary Butler and Lucy Justice.
6 Nannie Hair. *
7 Mary Hair. John Ramsey.
—————
8 James Hair. Sarah Davis, Susie Reese and Nellie Robertson.
9 Elizabeth Hair. Ashhopper.
10 Ollie Hair. Wallace Vann.
—————
11 Eliza Hair. Starr Deerinthewater, Johnson Blythe and George Roberts
Notice #8, Nellie Hair had married someone named Robertson and refer back to earlier paragraphs in this discussion. And from WikiTree; “According to the Eastern Cherokee application of Wallace Thornton, his mother Betsy Roberson was Melvina's half-sister.”
Geni does not seem to have a current and correct Wallace Thornton in profile so I’ve uploaded the entire 15 page Application #1962 to the media tab of Melvina here: Melvina Hair until a profile for Wallace is created.
Note that Betsy is frequently a nickname for Elizabeth so the reference could be for Elizabeth Rober(t)son
CHEROKEE SPLIT
James Hair and his brother Jefferson were suspected but not convicted of murdering Major Ridge who with his brother John Ridge and Stand Waite signed the treaty that resulted in the removal of Cherokees from their lands in the east. John Ridge was also murdered and an attempt was made on Stand Waite. Source: the Chronicles of Oklahoma, Vol. 34, p.169 (Senate document #347, pp. 16,30).
JAMES HICKS has in his Cherokee Lineages: Register Report of Amatoya Moytoy
Notes for JAMES HAIR, JR:
Note: In Starrs compilations on page 427, he lists James' father, James Sr, with three wives: Sarah Davis, Susie Reese and Nellie Robertson. On Dawes card# 1090 James Jr lists his current wife as Sarah E Davis (Non-Cherokee) and his parents as James & Malvina Hair. It appears that Starr has Sarah Davis as married to the wrong James Hair unless there were two of them and father and son each married one. Malvina is variously refered to as Malvina Hair/Robertson/McGhee. Starr lists James Sr's father, Hair Conrad, as having married Ollie Candy and Melvina McGee (he missed Aelie Crittenden & Catherine North. (Curator Note: no other sources identify Aelie Crittenden as wife of Hair Conrad, no idea where that came from!)). It's possable that he's off a generation here too with Melvina, and that Melvina McGee married James Sr and they were the parents of James Jr.
Notes about James Hair Jr.:
- Miller ap# 1964 (in John Leak Springston's handwriting) lists James Jr's wife was Sarah E Hair & mother was Nelly Hair McGhee.
- 1851 Drennan roll: Going Snake, 155
- 1880 Census [CN]: Sequoyah, 652
- 1890 Census [CN]: Illinois, 2646
- 1902-07 Dawes roll: card# 1090, roll# 2969 (I’ve uploaded a complete copy of the Dawes application to the media tab here: James Hair, Jr.
- 1906-09 Miller roll: Vian, OK, ap# 1964, roll# 12921
- Blood: 1/2 Cherokee
- Occupation: 1890, Farmer
- Starr's compilations depicting James Hair [Sr] as having married a Sarah Davis appear to be a generation off. James Hair [Jr] was married to a Sarah E Davis. In the Miller ap# 5319 for Abraham Sixkiller, he gives his parents as Soldier Sixkiller & Kati Hair (daughter of James [Sr]%29 and at first lists Kati's parents as unknown but later lists them as Jim Hair and Takie Hair. Starr also lists James [Sr] as having married a Nellie Robertson but the application for his son James [Jr] lists her maiden name as Nellie McGhee (McGhee may have been Nellies third marriage and not her maiden name, Hicks has her listed as
Hicks says of Hair Conrad He married (4) MELVINA MCGHEE Bef. 1843.She was born Abt. 1798, but identifies no parents for Melvina.
He also says of JAMES DA-LA-SI-NI HAIR, SR son of HAIR CONRAD and CATHERINE NORTH and He married (3) NELLIE MCGHEE October 1838 in Calhoun, CNW, daughter of _____ (John) MCGHEE (white) and ELIZABETH PATHKILLER. She was born 1820, and died October 19, 1882, (Curator note; by virtue of the surname Nellie McGhee was related to Melvina “Nellie” McGhee but we haven’t identified how? It seems likely/possible /probable that she was a niece and the marriage to James Hair Jr. was then of cousins or a half-sister.)
DRENNEN ROLL - 1851
James and his family were listed on the 1851 Drennen Roll. His family group is #155 from the Goingsnake District and the following individuals were listed in the family group:
James HAIR
Nelly HAIR(Melvina "Nelly" MCGEE)
…Samuel HAIR
…John HAIR
…James HAIR
…Betsey HAIR (Elizabeth)
…Peggy HAIR (Margaret)
…Ariminta HAIR
Archy RATCLIFF
Nancy ROBBERSON (Robertson?)
(Curator Note: from WikiTree “According to the Eastern Cherokee application of Wallace Thornton, his mother Betsy Roberson was Melvina's half-sister.” So there is an obvious connection between Melvina McGhee and Ratliff/Robertson)
Absent were Catherine and Nicholas who were the first of James's children by his first wife Susie Reece and Jesse and Solomon who were not yet born. James Hair, the son of James and Nelly, reported in his Miller roll application that Archy Ratcliff (Ratley?) was his uncle.
INDIAN NATION COUNCILOR
James was a councilor from the Goingsnake District in 1853 and was a councilor from the Cooweescoowee District in 1859.
CIVIL WAR
James was enrolled and mustered into the Union military unit Company E, 2nd Regiment of the Indian Home Guards on November 11, 1862 at Camp Bowen. He was listed as absent without leave from December 22, 1862 until April 12, 1863. James was also absent without leave from Fort Gibson September 1, 1863 and considered to be a deserted. No further military record exists for James.
James's unit, the 2nd Regiment of the Indian Home Guard, was reorganized in Kansas in 1862 and moved into Indian Territory culminating in the capture of Fort Gibson on April 13, 1863, one day prior to when James rejoined the his unit.
James enrolled into the unit while it was still in Arkansas. The 2nd Regiment participated in the Battle of Honey Springs on July 17, 1893 while James was in service and played a significant role in the Union victory. This battle was called the Gettysburgh of the West. This battle also marked that last time that the Confederate forces were a significant threat in Indian Territory.
DEATH
James's wife Nelly reported that he died on December 1, 1863 while at home in the Illinois District of Indian Territory. His children later reported that he died of "winter fever casued by exposure". Nelly insisted that he was absent from his unit with leave but the army considered him absent without leave
WikiTree discussion from 2019
“James Hair was born in the Cherokee Nation (East) in 1808, the son of Hair Conrad and his wife Katie North. In this early era of Cherokee surnames children used the given name of their father as a surname. All of Hair Conrad's children went by the surname of "Hair." James and his family appear on the 1835 Cherokee Census living on Ooltewah Creek in Tennessee. The family was Removed to Indian Territory over the Trail of Tears in 1838, travelling in the Bushyhead detachment. James had three wives. The first was Susannah Reese, by whom he had one child, a daughter named Nancy. By his second wife he had two children, Catherine and Nicholas. His third wife was Nellie McGhee (named as Robertson in Starr). They were the parents of eight children, Samuel, John, Elizabeth, Margaret, Araminta, James, Jesse, and Solomon. The family appears on the 1851 Drennan Roll in Indian Territory, living in Going Snake District. James was a councilor from Going Snake district in 1853. He died December 1, 1863. “
“Yes, there is a James Conrad who is really James Hair… Melvina McGhee was one of the wives of Hair Conrad, not his son James. Nellie McGhee, James’ wife is a different woman.” (but from who as parents given her surname is also McGhee?). James Hair had one white great-grandfather, everyone else was Cherokee. He is documented on the Trail of Tears and living in Indian Territory for the rest of his life. He never lived in North Carolina.
(Curator note: there is a Conrad/Conard family of North Carolina that is often confused with the Hair Conrad family of Tennessee. On other sites (FaG), James Hair, who was Cherokee is often called, erroneously, James Conrad who was white, and who also apparently had a wife named Elizabeth. DO NOT CONFUSE, DO NOT MERGE).
CHEROKEE PHOENIX
Associate Editor will Chavez, who usually is accurate in my past experience, authored an article on April 6, 2026 on the ceremony honoring Melvina "Nellie" McGhee Hair as a survivor of the Trail of Tears. The ceremony was also acknowledged by the NPS in the Newsletter of the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail Partnership • May 2016 – Number 26. However the relationships put forward do not align with Emmett Starr. While Emmett Starr is the starting point for Cherokee genealogy he is not without error, and several other commonly used sources suggest a missing generation in this family. See: Trail of Tears survivor honored with ceremony @ https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/culture/trail-of-tears-survivor-hon...
Questions:
1. Is Melvina “Nellie” McGhee (Cherokee) the same person as Nelly McGhee and note that we have potentially mother and child with these names? (It appears they are not. It appears that Nellie was possibly a niece of Melvina whose father is unknown.)
2. Is it correct to say, does the evidence support, that Melvina McGhee married “Hair” Conrad and her niece Nellie McGhee married James Hair Jr.? Or is there a missing generation here and Melvina married son of Hair Conrad James Hair Sr. Who then had a son James Hair Jr.
3. Was James Hair a son of Hair Conrad? The DRENNEN roll says not, he was the son of James Hair and ‘Nellie’ who? (It would appear that the Nellie who married Hair Conrad and the Nellie who married James Hair were two different ladies.)
4. What does the ancestry of Wallace Thornton look like?
I think it more/most likely that we have a missing generation so to begin will add James Hair Sr. and move James Hair to Jr as a his son and work from there with the following to begin with
James Hair Jr. seems to have had three wives
m. (1) ELIZABETH HOLT; b. Abt. 1856;
m. (2) SARAH COX, Bef. 1890; b. 1850; d. Aft. 1890;
m. (3) SARAH E DAVIS, Bef. 1902; b. 1849; d. January 02, 1916.
While his father James Hair, Sr. also had three wives
He married (1) SUSANNAH REESE Bef. 1826, daughter of CHARLES REESE and NANCY TIMBERLAKE. She was born Abt. 1812 in Tennessee, and died Abt. 1867.
He married (2) DA-GI Bef. 1828. She was born Abt. 1810.
He married (3) NELLIE MCGHEE October 1838 in Calhoun, CNE, daughter of _____ (John) MCGHEE and ELIZABETH PATHKILLER. She was born 1820, and died October 19, 1882.
While his father Hair Conrad also had three wives
He married (1) CATHERINE NORTH Abt. 1808. She was born Abt. 1794.
He married (2) OLLIE CANDY Abt. 1812, daughter of SAMUEL CANDY and ELIZABETH WEST. She was born Abt. 1794, and died Abt. 1851.
(TBD) He married (?) AELIE CRITTENDEN, daughter of JAMES CRITTENDEN and SARAH GO-DA-GE-WI. She was born Abt. 1818, and died 1884.
He married (3) MELVINA MCGHEE Bef. 1843. She was born Abt. 1798.
As always, open to discussion.
