Background
James Adair was born about 1709 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, the son of Thomas Benjamin Adair and Margaret Henart.
(A trader who lived and worked for four decades among Nati...)
A trader who lived and worked for four decades among Native Americans and became a keen observer of their languages, customs and politics, James Adair (fl.1735-75) studied the Catawba, Cherokee, Muscogee, Chickasaw and Choctaw, compiling extensive ethnographic information. Upon publication in 1775, this work was unique in its treatment of these peoples as well as their interaction with white traders and colonists. The book also propounds a theory, popular at the time, that the ancestors of Native Americans were the lost tribes of Israel; as such it remains a valuable source for the history of this idea. In part autobiographical, the work reflects Adair's involvement in trading, local politics and warfare with the British and French. His observations remain of great interest to scholars of American history and ethnography.
https://www.amazon.com/History-American-Indians-Particularly-Mississippi/dp/1108060188?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1108060188
(James Adair's superb accounts of the Native Americans are...)
James Adair's superb accounts of the Native Americans are derived from his personal experiences meeting and interacting with the various tribes during the 18th century colonial era. James Adair was a passionate chronicler, explorer and trader who ventured through North America in an effort to discover new lands and exchange goods with the native peoples. He spent decades traversing what is now the Deep South of the United States, and was among the first white men to discover certain tribes, distinguishing between their behaviors and customs with a depth no historian had managed. Although an amateur scholar, Adair meticulously recorded his observations. As a result, this book contains both mundane and profound facts - the sum combining to form an evocative picture of peoples now lost to time. The joys of community and traditions such as dancing and ceremonies are tempered by the inter-tribal conflicts, murder and blood feuds, incipient alcoholism and increasing threat of European settlers. Close to half of this book is dedicated to the notion that the Native American tribes are descended from the 'lost tribes of Israel'. Now discredited after anthropologists determined the original migration routes, it is thought Adair inserted these analyses in part to cater for popular demand at the time. From the mid-17th to the early-19th century, the notion that the Native Americans were directly descended from the Israelites of ancient times was a popular phenomena. Many scholars postulate that the Book of Mormon was partly inspired by Adair's history. The rest of Adair's work however contains insights that can never be rediscovered or elaborated upon. The wars and gradual conquest of the Native American tribes by white settlers left precious little of their culture available for scrutiny by subsequent generations of historian. As such, this book remains one of the most valuable and cited primary sources on the subject.
https://www.amazon.com/History-American-Indians-James-Adair/dp/154312724X?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=154312724X
(From DJ flap - Published in London in 1775 and printed in...)
From DJ flap - Published in London in 1775 and printed in the U.S. in 1930, this is a detailed and fascinating account of the principal tribes of the Indians of the Southeast and of their countries. It is regarded by ethnologists and historians as reliable authority on Southern history. Author lived with the Indians as a friend and brother. (Description by http-mart, Roy Schoenbeck)
https://www.amazon.com/Adairs-History-American-Indians-James/dp/0883940639?SubscriptionId=AKIAJRRWTH346WSPOAFQ&tag=prabook-20&linkCode=sp1&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0883940639
James Adair was born about 1709 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, the son of Thomas Benjamin Adair and Margaret Henart.
It is certain that Adair was highly educated.
By 1735 Adair had come to America, probably entering at the port of Charleston, South Carolina. In that year he engaged in trade with the Catawbas and Cherokees, continuing with them until 1744.
He then established himself among the Chickasaws, whose villages were on the headwaters of the Yazoo, in Mississippi, where he remained for about six years. During the latter part of this period he frequently visited the Choctaws, in an effort to counteract the influence of the French and to win them to an alliance with the English. The effort was successful, but it involved him in difficulties with other traders and with James Glen, royal governor of South Carolina from 1743 to 1756, which resulted, he asserts, in his financial ruin.
In 1751 he moved to District Ninety-six (the present Laurens County), South Carolina, and resumed trade with the Cherokees, remaining there until about the end of 1759.
He was several times called in counsel by Gov. Glen, with whom he could never agree and whom he heartily detested.
Among the Indians he was a diplomat and a peace-maker, but he was also a fighter--"a valiant warrior, " says Logan; and when he could not compose their quarrels he not infrequently took sides in their wars.
At various times he was engaged in conflicts with the French.
In the Indian war of 1760-1761 he commanded a band of Chickasaws under a commission as captain.
From 1761 to 1768 he was again trading with the Chickasaws, receiving his supplies by way of Mobile.
In 1769 he visited New York City. Either then or a few years later he probably voyaged to London.
Adair is chiefly known through his history of the Indians. Primarily it is an argument that the Indians are the descendants of the ancient Jews. The theory was accepted by Elias Boudinot, one-time president of the Continental Congress, who gave it hearty support in his book, A Star in the West (1816). Adair's work has outlived its thesis. Its account of the various tribes, their manners, customs, and vocabularies, its depiction of scenes and its narration of incidents in his own eventful career, give it a permanent value. It is a record of close and intelligent observation, and its fidelity to fact has been generally acknowledged. The book must have required many years of toil. In his preface he says that it was written "among our old friendly Chickasaws" (doubtless during his second period of residence with them) and that the labor was attended by the greatest difficulties. Though some passages may subsequently have been added, it was probably finished by the end of 1768. The care with which the book is printed indicates that he gave it personal supervision through the press.
He is said to had died in North Carolina shortly after the close of the Revolution.
(James Adair's superb accounts of the Native Americans are...)
(A trader who lived and worked for four decades among Nati...)
(From DJ flap - Published in London in 1775 and printed in...)
From various references it is certain that Adair was highly respected by those who knew him. Logan credits him with the quick penetration of the Indian, audacity, cool self-possession, and great powers of endurance, and Volwiler says that he was one of the few men of ability who personally embarked in the Indian trade.
Adair was married to Clark Hobson. They had three children.
