GEORGE WASHINGTON ADAIR
Written by his son, William Wallas Adair, April 1940.
(written by Calvin Andrus and contributed by Ben Parkinson)
A pioneer of 1847, George Washington Adair was born March 18, 1818
at West Carthage, Lincoln County, Tennessee. His father, Thomas Jefferson
Adair, was born 25 October 1771 in North Charleston, Lawrence County, South
Carolina. His Mother was Rebecca Brown born 3 November 1776, Nashville,
Davidson Co., Tennessee.
George's family moved considerable during his childhood as they lived
in Indiana, Tennessee and Alabama during the next seventeen years.
During his early life in Alabama he was an overseer on a plantation for
some time. This was during the slavery days. During this time
he, with other men, would go from place to place to cradle grain.
He was a great man with a grain cradle as grandfather was both tall and
strong. Several men would go into a grain patch to cut it down, one
man would stand several yards ahead, then the rest would follow.
Each would cut a swath and so on and thus the grain was cut with other
men behind to bind the grain. If a man could catch up and crowd the
first man out then he would have to step back. They would all try
to see who could crowd the other out. Grandfather took head swath
on many occasions, as he was one of the best cradlers. A cradle is
a frame attached to a scythe for laying grain evenly as it was cut.
All the grain had to be cut that way.
George moved to Nauvoo after the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph
Smith (June 27, 1844) but before the saints left that city. The great
body of the saints left Nauvoo in February and April 1846. George
was in General McIntosh's company as guard to the city of Nauvoo.
General McIntosh was not a member of the church.
He married Miriam Billingsly 6 May 1846. Came to Salt Lake
in October 1847 and lived in Sugarhouse.
They later moved to Minersville, Utah and then about 1864 he moved
to Beaver, Utah. While at Beaver he did a great deal of farming.
He had a piece of land on the North Creek and raised beautiful wheat.
Then the black crickets came and we fought them for several days with every
chick of us big enough to wield a brush had to help. Ditches were
dug and water run into them and the crickets were herded into the ditches,
thrashing out with all our strength. Most of the wheat was saved.
George was an excellent woodchopper and rail-splitter, he split rails
in the south and did lots of wood chopping of cordwood and saw logs.
He cut lots of cordwood for soldiers' camps and mining camps to run the
smelters.
Cove Fort was built while they lived in Beaver and George worked
on the Fort. He sent his oldest son to work on the St. George Temple.
Their move to Orderville, Kane County, Utah started in July 1878, arriving
on July 20. The people persuaded them to remain until after the 24
of July celebration instead of going on to Arizona, where they had intended
to go, and they stayed on and joined the United Order, turning into the
Order all he had, cows, team and wagon, household belongings, etc. Edwin
and I drove the cows while moving.
The stock raising industry was where my father was placed in the
Order and each of us was placed where we would do the most good.
Father was also a good stonemason and could also make shoes.
Orderville is located in what was then called Long Valley, and is
four miles south of Glendale and two miles north of Mt. Carmel, Kane County,
Utah. Orderville was laid out on February 20, 1875 and building began.
They built lumber shanties in the form of a square fort with a large dining
hall in the center where every one ate together as one large family.
Their religious and social gatherings were also held here.
At first there were one hundred and eighty persons and they were
those who were willing and eager to enter this form of life. It was
not long before this group increased to five hundred and forty six persons
by 1877. The people in the Order fostered all kinds of industry thus
making the community self-supporting. They had farms, orchards, dairies,
stockyards, sheepherds, blacksmiths, carpenters, shoe shops, bakeries,
sawmill, gristmill, molasses mill, bucket factory, tannery, woolen factory
and a copper shop. My brother, Jedediah was a blacksmith.
Father and mother and their oldest daughter Emaline, and also Ruhamah
went to Salt Lake to the Jubilee in 1897. One day he was with some
of the pioneer men and since every thing was free to the pioneers, they
wanted to get a drink in a saloon. They each called for what they
wanted, some wine, some beer, but when it came to father he ordered a glass
of buttermilk. He was the only one that didn't drink on that occasion.
It was a busy time in the order and at one time when father was chopping
logs at the saw mill where the crowd was telling how they chopped logs.
One big fellow was telling how he and his companion would pitch in and
cut the tree down so fast then would sit on the log and rest. This
bothered father so he said, "By Gum, I chop a tree down and chop it up
before I sit down to rest." Father was a great hand to say "By Gum"
but that was the worst swear word he ever used, the crowd had a good laugh.
When I was sixteen years of age and father sent me to House Rock
(the other side of the forest near Grand Canyon) in charge of a herd of
sheep. Father, Isaac Losee and I moved the herd out there.
The frost would fall every day until noon while we were crossing the Kaibab
Mountain. Old settlers said it was the coldest winter they'd ever
known. We stayed through the winter and went home in the spring.
When father was seventy years old and I was twenty-six, we were chopping
logs at a sawmill. Father said to me, "Do you want to chop alone,
or do you want to chop with me?" I thought if I helped father a little
it would not be so hard for him and would not hurt me so I answered, "I
think I'll chop with you, if it is alright.
We went out and started on a big tree, he on one side and I on the
other side. It made me puff and blow just to keep up with him, let
alone get ahead of him. Before long he said, "Well my chips are in,"
and I was not near the center where it was considered "the chips are in."
Father helped guard against the Indians in the early days in Utah
and could have received a pension if a record of his time had been kept
and presented, but no record was kept.
Father was an alternate in the High Council in the Kanab Stake and
filled many positions in the church. He was a great lover of Brigham
Young.
The St. George Temple was dedicated in 1877 and that year father
and his brothers went there to do work for their dead and to have their
own sealings done. There was much misunderstanding by members regarding
this work in the early days of the church and many mistakes were made.
It seemed that they understood that they could not be sealed to their
own father because he had not been a member of the church. So while
I was on a mission in the St. George Temple in 1912 my sister Emaline sent
me the records and I had all of father's brothers and sisters sealed to
their own father and mother.
Father died from the effect of a fall. He was riding on a two-wheel
cart and fell backward striking his head. The stroke did not come
until one month after the accident. Death came August 28, 1897 just
a month after returning from the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of
the saints into the Salt Lake Valley. He was seventy-nine years old.
At father's funeral, Charles Negus Carroll, one of those who spoke
said, "We can say with truth, there lays an honest man." What greater
tribute can be paid any man?
- - - -
Some grammar, punctuation, and spellings were modernized by David Calvin
Andrus (George's g. g. g. grandson) November 2001, while converting the
narrative to electronic format from a typescript Sharon Adair Andrus made
in the 1970s.
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History of Joanna Bennett not available
History of Maria Freestone not available
MIRIAM BILLINGSLY ADAIR
Written by her grand daughter, Ethel Adair Pope, October 1967.
(written by Calvin Andrus and contributed by Ben Parkinson)
Daughter of Elijah Randolph Billingsly and Emaline Northcott Billingsly.
Born January 31, 1829, in Gibson County, Tennessee.
<Begin quoting Miriam's own account>
"When she was six years old she, with her parents, moved to the state
of Mississippi in Pontotoe County.
"In the year 1845 she heard the Gospel of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints and was baptized a member of the Church September
9, 1845. In February 1846 she started, with her parents, to gather
with the saints and arrived in Nauvoo in a drenching rainstorm. A
large majority of the saints had already started on the journey west to
seek a place of safety from the persecutions of their enemies. She
crossed the Mississippi River on the 25th of April with the Company of
Saints traveling on the road or course their leaders had taken, who had
left Nauvoo before she and her parents reached there.
"It was at this time that she met George Washington Adair.
She had a dream the night before that a young man would come riding up
to their wagon on a white horse. She had told her sister of her dream
and of course they laughed about it as young romantic girls would, so when
the young man did come riding into camp on a white horse, the two girls
nudged each other and wondered if this was really true. Yes . . .
that was the man that Miriam married before they reached the valley.
"Friendship ripened into love as they sat around the campfire in
the evenings after the long days journey. Sometimes the evenings
were spent in dancing and singing the beloved church hymns. On the
6th day of May 1846, they were married.
"They overtook President Brigham Young at Mt. Pisgah on the 23rd
day of May and it was the counsel of the President that some of the later
saints would stop at this place and plant vegetables and make a resting
place for those who would follow after them. Miriam and George were
among those who stopped at this place.
"Mt. Pisgah proved to be a very unhealthy place as a great majority
of the people were laid low with chills and fever and canker. There
were not sufficient number, in all the place, who were well enough to take
care of the sick, as a result there was much suffering and many deaths
because of this.
"In the spring of 1847 Counselor Lorenzo Snow, who was presiding
at Mt. Pisgah received counsel to send ten men with their families on to
the valley that season as President Brigham Young expected to find the
place to locate the saints that summer. Miriam and George and daughter
Emaline, were one of the families called to go. They had the baby
just three months old, born the first of March 1847 at Mt. Pisgah.
The journey was long and wearisome, with this young baby, but they, like
the rest, endured the hardships and privations courageously."
<End of Miriam's own account>
Grandmother had started to write her history but did not finish it.
This little verse, written by grandmother tells a little of the love
and devotion that was in her heart throughout the journey.
At this time when he and I,
Walked sweetly side by side.
Then there was glory in the sky,
Neither storm nor cloud could hide.
For then I knew that if this heart,
Should fail in strict demand,
That I could look into his face,
And he would understand.
They arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley on the 2nd day of October
1847 (just four months and ten days from Mt. Pisgah). As she stood
viewing the vast plain spread out before her, thinking of the situation
they were placed in, we wonder, today, what her thoughts must have been.
Was it fear of the future? Or was it gratitude and thanksgiving to
her Heavenly Father for having brought them safely to the valley.
Their fortitude and courage in meeting all that followed proved that it
was faith in the future and thanksgiving for God's blessings and for the
strength and courage that he had blessed her with.
Their first winter was spent on the north side of what is now known
as Pioneer Square. The house was a log cabin with a thatch roof covered
with dirt and when it rained it leaked so badly that Miriam had to hold
a quilt over the baby to keep it dry, however George had it repaired and
made more comfortable before the winter set in.
Quotation from scrap of paper found in Grandmother's book:
"The wheels of time roll on and we hailed with joy the first token
of another spring and the warm rays of the sun soon began to open a space
through the mountain of snow which had kept us shut up for about six months
and prevented any communication outside our valley home. The mail
could not go through East to let the nation know that the Saints in the
wilderness were still alive and that 'the mustard seed was growing.'
"We had resided in this lone retreat about eighteen months, where
civilized man had not made his home, nor a ripe harvest had not been enjoyed
for ages till last season. There had been no prevailing sickness
of any kind and very few deaths up to this time in the valley.
"Bread stuff began to be scarce, but we were beginning to be more
comfortably situated. We owned a team and wagon and were quite proud
of our outfit and felt truly thankful to our Heavenly Father for the many
blessings he had bestowed upon us in our valley home.
"The winter of 1848 and 1849 commenced at an early moment and therefore
found many without fuel and without houses. The snow fell very deep
and that made it difficult for the necessary amount of wood to be procured
to make the people comfortable. A great many of the brethren had
no shoes so they had to wrap old rags around their feet and go to the mountains
for wood. It was miraculous that some the brethren did not get their
feet frozen.
"In the year 1850, a great many men from the United States (Utah
was not a state) began to arrive in our peaceful home, as the news of the
discovery of gold in California had reached the states. They were
on their way to California to make their fortune. It was quite exciting
for us to see so many people-some with wagons, some with pack animals,
while some were on foot, buying or begging their food from those who were
liberal enough to divide with them. Our valley soon became a place
of deposit of property and goods of all kinds and we could buy almost anything
we needed most for a very low price."
Heber C. Kimball had predicted this event long before it happened.
This account of the coming of the crickets was found on another scrap
of paper:
"The crickets came like an army marching through the valley devouring
every thing they found. They did not leave any of the wild vegetation
that we could have used. Then the question arose, 'what shall we
do now?' The way to procure anything to eat seemed black indeed.
And then the gulls came. At first we thought it was another calamity,
but when we saw they were eating the crickets we shouted with joy.
The gulls would eat until they were filled, then they would drink then
throw them up, continuing to do this from morning until night, every day,
until the crickets were all gone.
"The destruction of the crickets strengthened our faith and our endeavors
to continue planting and trying in every way we could to raise something
to keep from starving, knowing that the Lord who had miraculously destroyed
the crickets could bless our labors and cause our crops to grow and come
to maturity even though the season was late. We were blessed in producing
a great amount of vegetables and we felt like shouting aloud for joy for
we surely beheld the salvation of the Lord.
"The land was surveyed and laid out in five and ten acre lots and
a great many of the people moved on these farms, which made it more convenient
to get green vegetables which we needed very badly. After sowing
some little wheat, my husband began to prepare the land for corn, beans
and other vegetables while I, wishing to help all that I could or was able,
would take my babies in my arms and go out to dig thistle roods to eat.
These tasted very good to us then."
I remember Grandmother telling about the time when they were much
better off that Grandfather wanted her to go and get some of those roots
to eat, thinking they would taste good. When she had them all ready,
seasoned with good fresh butter, she set them before him. One taste
was all he could take, they just did not taste like they did when they
were hungry.
This little poem written by grandmother could have been written at
this time of trial. One verse was missing:
Not vainly art thou left to bow
Neath grief's correcting rod.
Loves hand, thou may not see it now
Will lead thee up to God.
Dear heart, accept the lesson sent,
Be strong, be true, be brave,
In loving-kindness it was sent
From darker ills to save.
Be not by earthly woes crushed down
But trust the power divine,
The face which now may seem to frown,
Will soon with glory shine.
And thou shalt see, with wisdom cleared
His mercy doth attend;
To shield from what thou most hadst feared
Thy sure unfailing friend.
Thy father, God, thy cross will bear
As He alone can do,
Draw near to Him in fervent prayer
Be strong, be brave, be true.
By Miriam B. Adair
Sometime, when all life's lessons have been learned,
When sun and stars forever more have set-
The things which our weak judgment here have spurned
The things o'er which we grieved with lashes wet,
Will flash before us, out of life's dark night-
As stars shine most in deepest tints of blue,
And we shall see that all God's plans were right,
And how, what seemed reproof, was love most true.
By Miriam B. Adair
The following stories are those told to me by my Grandmother while
she was living with us in Tropic, Garfield County, Utah.
One Of The Three Nephites
Grandmother and Grandfather were living in, what is now called Sugarhouse,
and of course there were no neighbors close enough to call on, especially
when the snow was deep.
The snow was very deep but the fires had to be kept burning so grandfather
had gone off to replenish the woodpile. While he was away one of
the children became very ill. Grandmother did all she could for the
child but the child continued to get worse so grandmother did as she always
did when a crisis came, to get down on her knees and ask her Heavenly Father
to send her aid. After doing all that her knowledge prompted her
to do, she heard a knock at the door-on opening it there stood a man who
asked her if she would like him to administer to her child. Never
doubting that the answer to her prayer had come, she got the oil, which
she always had on hand, and the man administered to her child. Her
attention was turned to the child for the moment so when she turned to
thank him for coming, he had left without saying anything. She hurried
to the door to see if she could call him to give her thanks, but there
was no one in sight nor were there any foot steps or prints in the snow.
Grandmother always concluded that it was one of the three Nephites, that
we read about in the Book of Mormon, had visited her on that stormy night.
Her child was healed and was perfectly well when her husband returned.
It was summer now and they were still living in the same home in
Sugarhouse. On Sunday they always walked up to the Bowery, which
was located near the center of the city where the Sunday services were
held. It was a long walk and they had very little to eat before they
left. Butter was one of the luxuries so they seldom had any but when
they returned home they found a plate full of bread and butter on their
table. This was one of the miracles that do happen. They gave
thanks to their Heavenly Father for this wonderful feast. When my
Grandmother told me this story she did not know who had given them the
bread and butter, it was like a miracle.
I found this description of their hunger on a page in the book.
Just another scrap of paper.
"You who have plenty can not imagine how hungry we would be with
nothing at all, except one half pound per person per day. Once in
a great while through the winter, they would kill a beef or poor worked
oxen. The men would stand around waiting and each anxious to get
a small piece. There were always some who did not get any.
There would not be any of the animal left except the horns and the insides
of the entrails. I was thankful if my husband would bring home a
piece of hide or a piece of liver or just a foot. This would make
a good stew if we could get a few vegetables to go with it."
Manna Was Sent From Heaven
This incident happened just prior to their move to Southern Utah.
They were staying with some friends, George A. Smith and wife in Provo,
Utah. During this interval, they were trying to earn supplies for
the remainder of the trip by wagon to the south. It was a long trip
and they needed many things.
The Saints needed sugar badly. It was discovered that a sweet
substance covered the bushes that grew along the ditches and riverbanks.
They gathered the branches, washed the sweet substance off and proceeded
to boil this sweet water until it went to syrup and then more boiling until
it went to sugar.
They worked until they had fifty pounds of sugar and enough syrup
to last both families all winter. That was like the manna sent to the Children
of Israel while they wandered in the desert. It was now time to bid their
friends good-bye and continue on their journey south.
It is not know if they moved to Washington, Washington County at
this time but my father was born there on June 5, 1859 and then they moved
to Minersville when my father was a small boy. Then they moved to
Beaver City.
Grandmother had eleven children and raised two of her grandchildren.
She had many sorrows, loosing two children when they were babies and one
when about four years old, two girls died when their first babies were
born she planted the seed of faith in each child and nurtured it throughout
their lives.
Grandmother's testimony: "I know we are engaged in the great
work our Heavenly Father has established on the earth for the salvation
and the exaltation of His children, the work by which we may prepare ourselves
to enter back into His presence. Our mission, as mothers are great,
and I fear sometimes, that I do not sense the responsibility resting on
me in teaching my children the principles that would save and exalt them
in the Celestial Kingdom, and the way is opened up for us to return back
into His presence. May I abide and walk in His Celestial Law and
fulfill the designs of the creation and hold faithful to the end."
How This History Was Obtained
Father had an old book containing his mother's writing, bits of history,
poems, essays and talks she had given. She had given this to him
before she had passed away and it was all he had left of things belonging
to her. This book also had a short sketch of her own life that she
had written in her later years and never finished, although it did have
things written that happened just after they came to Utah. Father
prized this book very much. Seeing my interest in these histories,
he said to me, "Ethel, I can see your interest in preserving the histories
of your fore-fathers, so I am giving you this book of my mother's."
I will mark in quotation marks all things copied from this book
so that you can see she had the gift of writing.
Ethel Adair Pope
Written October 1967
- - - -
Some grammar, punctuation, and spellings were modernized by David Calvin
Andrus (Miriam's g. g. g. grandson) November 2001, while converting the
narrative to electronic format from a typescript Sharon Adair Andrus made
in the 1970s.
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