His great grandson, Mr. Larry Don Adair and I met innocently enough at Harwell Elementary school, where I was teaching. Officer Adair, a Lubbock policeman, had visited the school to present a drug prevention seminar to the students. First, I spotted his badge, and then noticed he markedly resembled my cousin, Jim Adair. "Mr. Adair, your surname is the same as my grandmother's maiden name." One conversation led to another, as we realized we were distantly related. He agreed to bring his genealogy material the following week and we would compare our records.
The following week arrived; I had my few pages of information and much to my surprise, in walks Officer Adair carrying an arm load of Adair Family History. A humbling event was to unfold.
As we began to sort through the material and make the family connection—he stated his great-grandfather, A. G. Adair, was insane. He died in an insane asylum in San Antonio. It is rumored that he became enraged and took an axe to one of his brothers. At that moment, I paused took a deep breath and said ... "It was my great-grandfather, Doctor Sharp Adair, that A. G. Adair struck in the head with an axe." We have photographs of D.S. Adair with the axe indention clearly visible on his head. To this day, I wonder how my great grandfather survived such an injury.
The Texas Death Certificate was obtained from FamilySearch.org Pilot Program. Many thanks to the wonderful volunteers out there.
1 comment:
The full name of this A.G. Adair, who was the grandfather of my late husband AG Adair, was Albert Gibson Adair. His oldest son Austin Wade Adair loved and honored his father but never liked the names Albert or Gibson and so named his first son with only the initials AG. This AG Adair was a greatly lauded and respected man whose own history should not be confused with the article shown here. The death certificate should have shown the full name of Albert Gibson Adair, but many other names were also abreviated on it, making for sloppy record keeping. I would appreciate the title of this article being changed to the full name for Albert Gibson Adair. Thank you, Mary Elizabeth Adair, Monahans, Texas in Ward County. Today's date: November 12, 2015.
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