John Adair

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John Adair : biography

January 9, 1757 – May 19, 1840

Charged with disloyalty

Convinced of his innocence, Henry Clay represented Burr, while Joseph Hamilton Daveiss acted as prosecutor.Harrison and Klotter, p. 8 Harry Innes presided over the trial, which commenced November 11. Daveiss had to ask for a postponement because Davis Floyd, one of his key witnesses, was then serving in the Indiana legislature and could not be present in court. The court next convened on December 2, and Daveiss again had to ask for a postponement, this time because Adair, another witness, was not present. Adair had traveled to Louisiana to inspect a tract of land he had recently purchased there. On his arrival in New Orleans, he was arrested on the order of his former commander, James Wilkinson, then serving as governor of the Louisiana Territory.

Clay had insisted that the trial proceed in Adair’s absence, and, the next day, Daveiss presented indictments against Burr for treason and against Adair as a co-conspirator. After hearing testimony, the grand jury rejected the indictment against Adair as "not a true bill" and similarly dismissed the charges against Burr two days later. After his vindication by the grand jury, Adair counter-sued Wilkinson in federal court.Bussey, p. 27 Although the legal battle between the two spanned several years, the court found that Wilkinson had no solid evidence against Adair and ordered Wilkinson to issue a public apology and pay Adair $2,500 in damages. Adair’s acquittal and successful countersuit came too late to prevent damage to his political career. Because of his association with Burr’s scheme, he lost the election for a full term in the Senate in November 1806. Rather than wait for his partial term to expire, he resigned on November 18, 1806.

Early life

John Adair was born January 9, 1757, in Chester County, South Carolina, a son of Scottish immigrants Baron William and Mary (Moore) Adair.Harrison in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, p. 1Smith, p. 168 He was educated at schools in Charlotte, North Carolina, and enlisted in the South Carolina militia at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War."Adair, John". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress He was assigned to the regiment of his friend, Edward Lacey, under the command of Colonel Thomas Sumter and participated in the failed colonial assault on a Loyalist outpost at Rocky Mount and the subsequent colonial victory at the Battle of Hanging Rock.Fredricksen, p. 2Scoggins, p. 150 During the British victory over the colonists at the August 16, 1780, Battle of Camden, Adair was taken as a prisoner of war.Hall, p. 1 He contracted smallpox and was treated harshly by his captors during his months-long imprisonment. Although he eventually escaped, Adair was unable to reach safety due to difficulties related to his smallpox infection and was recaptured by British Colonel Banastre Tarleton after only three days. Subsequently, he was released via a prisoner exchange. In 1781, he was commissioned as a lieutenant in the South Carolina militia, and fought in the drawn Battle of Eutaw Springs, the war’s last major battle in the Carolinas. Edward Lacey was elected sheriff of Chester County after the war, and Adair replaced him in his former capacity as the county’s justice of the peace. He was chosen as a delegate to the South Carolina convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1784, Adair married Katherine Palmer.Bussey, p. 26 They had twelve children, ten of them daughters. One married Thomas Bell Monroe, who later served as Adair’s Secretary of State and was appointed to a federal judgeship.Morton, p. 13 In 1786, the Adairs migrated westward to Kentucky, settling in Mercer County."John Adair". Dictionary of American Biography