Adair County Genealogical Society

01/06/2026

Cemeteries: With the recent high wind issues, please check your cemeteries for floral tributes blown into fence rows and ditches, and fallen trees or limbs.

01/05/2026

Reminder of the regularly scheduled meeting of the Adair County Genealogical Society on Monday, January 5, at 5pm CT. No speaker, this is a planning meeting for the year 2026. Everyone welcome.

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01/04/2026

January 4, 1815 - Led by Major General John Thomas, 2,500 members of the Kentucky Militia arrived in New Orleans for the impending Battle of New Orleans that would end the War of 1812 (military leaders didn’t yet know that the Treaty of Ghent ending the war had been signed in Belgium on Christmas Eve 1814). Maj. Gen. Thomas, Gen. Joseph Desha (later Governor of Kentucky), Gen. William Henry, and Gen. William Henry Harrison (later President of the United States) were all on the scene with Thomas holding the rank of Major General, the same rank as Andrew Jackson.

Thomas was second in command under Jackson but fate caused his role to change and leave him largely forgotten in history. Thomas’ staff consisted of Adj. Gen. John Adair (future Governor of Kentucky), Maj. James Crutcher, and George Helm (father of future Kentucky Governor John LaRue Helm). Upon arrival in New Orleans, Thomas became seriously ill and when the battle occurred on January 8, he was in bed in his tent.

Adair assumed active command of the Kentucky troops. One company of the Kentucky troops was on the right bank of the Mississippi River to aid other units in stopping the advancement of British troops. The company was not successful because they had been issued ammunition that could not be used in their guns and more than 1,000 solders were not issued guns thanks to the Quartermaster opting to send the munitions by flatboat rather than steamboat (the flatboat was at the mouth of the Ohio River when the battle occurred). Andrew Jackson harshly and unfairly criticized the Kentucky troops in public for their performance, calling them cowards.

Adair defended the Kentuckians so vigorously that he became a hero in the eyes of Kentucky citizens and Jackson more of a villain. Informed with the truth, Jackson reluctantly and half-heartedly admitted he was wrong. When Jackson first ran for President in 1824, Kentuckians reminded him of his faux pas and cast their votes for Henry Clay. Meanwhile, Adair's popularity in the matter helped him become Kentucky's Governor in 1820.

Featured photo of John Adair, future Governor of Kentucky. Portrait by Nicola Marschall; courtesy of the Kentucky Historical Society.

01/03/2026

12/31/2025

A Kentucky Family Historian’s Recipe for a New Year ✨🕰️

Take twelve Kentucky months,
January through December,
and brush them clean of brick walls, lost records, and burned courthouses.
Keep the patina. Leave the fingerprints.
Those belong to us.

Cut each month into courthouse days, archive afternoons,
cemetery mornings, and long evenings at the kitchen table.
Do not rush the whole year at once.
This is the long work of remembering,
done one record at a time.

For each day, mix one part curiosity,
one part patience for microfilm that fights back,
one part courage to ask better questions,
and one part steady, honest work.

Add a measure of hope for missing ancestors,
faithfulness to sources,
generosity with discoveries,
and kindness toward beginners who are just learning where to start.

Stir in quiet moments with maps,
old deeds, and handwritten wills.
Fold in several good deeds,
sharing what you’ve found, answering a question,
indexing a page, labeling a photo,
or helping a fellow Kentuckian find their people.

Season with river stories,
church minutes, family Bibles, and newspaper clippings.
Add a splash of humor for name variants,
and a pinch of humility for what may never be known.

Pour everything into a vessel shaped like Kentucky,
across all 120 counties,
every ridge, holler, sinkhole, cavern, courthouse square, and river bend.
Let it simmer slowly over shared purpose,
with the understanding that preservation is an act of care.

Garnish with a smile at a breakthrough,
serve with generosity of spirit,
and share freely with the next generation.

If prepared with intention,
you will not only have a Happy New Year,
you will help ensure that Kentucky’s family stories
are documented, understood, and never lost.

✨A New Year Invitation ✨

As you begin this year’s work, consider joining or renewing your membership with the Kentucky Genealogical Society at www.kygs.org .

Membership supports education, digitization, and connection across all 120 counties—and helps ensure that the long work of remembering continues, one record and one family at a time.

12/31/2025

For today in history, we have an excerpt from the journal of Samuel F. Thompson, 10th Indiana Infantry.

"Dec 31 – Received orders to march; as it afterwards proved to join Genl Schoepff [sic] near Somerset and make an attack on Zollicoffer, who is entrenched at Mill Springs Ky on both sides of the Cumberland River. Struck tents and marched at 8 a.m. on the Columbia pike. On all the marches from this time till we left Kentucky for Nashville, my knap sack was carried on the staff wagon, and I carried a gun and cartridge box tho not required to do so, in addition to my sword. Suffered as did most of the men, greatly on this days march from blistered feet; the pike being very severe on our tender feet.
Camped on Maldrow’s Hill, both brigades always occupying as near each other as practible. Days march 11 miles."

The sudden orders to march were due to this dispatch from General Buell to General Thomas a few days earlier:

"HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO,
Louisville, December 29, 1861.
Brig. Gen. GEORGE H. THOMAS, Commanding First Division, Lebanon:
GENERAL: I send you a sketch of the country about Somerset which shows more of the roads than your map. We conversed about the movement upon Zollicoffer through Columbia, and if you remember my idea it is hardly necessary to add anything on the subject. It is for you to move against his left and endeavor to cut him off from his bridge, while Schoepf, with whom of course you must communicate, attacks in front. The map will indicate the proper moves for that object. The result should be at least a severe blow to him or a hasty flight across the river. But to effect the former the movement should be made rapidly and secretly, and the blow should be vigorous and decided. There should be no delay after your arrival. It would be better not to have been undertaken if it should result in confining an additional force merely to watching the enemy. Take such portion of the cavalry from Columbia as you think necessary. Draw all the supplies you can from the country and move as light as possible. Having accomplished the object, be ready to move promptly in any direction, but wait until you hear from me, unless circumstances should require you to move without delay, as I may want you to proceed from there to the other matter about which we have conversed. Acknowledge the receipt of this by telegraph and report frequently. Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
D. C. BUELL,
Brigadier General, Commanding."



Alt Text: A black and white drawing of a long line of civil war soldiers marching down a winding road.

12/31/2025

December 31, 1776 - By action taken on December 6th, the Virginia General Assembly officially formed Kentucke County, Virginia.

Vast lands once known as Fincastle County, Virginia were carved into three new counties - Kentucke, Washington, and Montgomery - and Fincastle ceased to exist. Harrodstown (also known as Oldtown and finally as Harrodsburg) was the county seat.

A county militia was formed with the following men as members: Gen. George Rogers Clark, Col. John Bowman, Lt. Col. Anthony Bledsoe, Capt. John Todd, Capt. Benjamin Logan, Capt. Daniel Boone, and Capt. James Harrod.

Three-and-a-half years later on June 30, 1780, Kentucky* County was abolished and divided into Fayette, Jefferson, and Lincoln Counties of Virginia. These counties petitioned the Virginia House of Delegates to separate from Virginia and become a state. In 1792, the Commonwealth of Kentucky was created and admitted as the 15th state making up the United States.

*Note that it was not until March 7, 1789 the Virginia General Assembly officially changed the spelling from Kentucke to Kentucky.

12/30/2025

New Year’s Superstitions

Open the windows and/or doors just before midnight to usher the Old Year out and the New Year in.

Wake up early on New Year’s day. Meet the New Year head on.

Have cash money on hand as you enter the New Year to ensure prosperity all year.

Stock the larder [or pantry] before the old year is out to ensure a good year to come.

No washing of clothes or dishes or other cleaning on the first day of a New Year. Some believe you will wash away your good luck, some believe you will wash someone out of the family. This also includes sweeping and mopping of floors.

Eat well on the first day of the New Year. Southern traditions dictate—[though menu varies from place to place and family to family: Pork or jowl meat to ensure you will eat well during the year; black eyed peas for good luck; cornbread to ensure honest and steady work; cabbage or collard greens for prosperity.

Remain at home, do no traveling, at least until someone enters your home from outside first, for good luck. The First Foot of a visitor sets the tone for the New Year: if a man enters, it is considered to bring prosperity.

Make some racket/noise at the stroke of midnight. Bang on pots and pans, ring bells, shoot off guns or firecrackers—in old times men would “shot off an anvil.” This is to ward off evil spirits.

—Mike Watson

12/29/2025

Henry Watterson and his connection to Adair County...

Famed editor, who built Courier-Journal into a journalistic powerhouse, had distinct ties to Adair County.

The journalistic world shall never forget the man who made the Courier-Journal the great newspaper it is, or was. "Marse" Henry Watterson was a name known in most circles one hundred, and more, years ago. He was a man to reckoned with. He was a powerhouse in political circles. He was editor of the Courier-Journal, one of the newspaper standards in the United States and in the South.

Henry Watterson had a distinct link with Adair County and Columbia. He was a great-grandson of early Columbia resident, William Morrison. Morrison was a veteran of the Revolution and purchased a house, in 1817, on the corner of North High and Greensburg Streets--later the long-time location of Durham Wholesale Grocery, and across Greensburg Street from the Nathan Gaither House. This was a purchase of convenience since Mr. Morrison's daughter, was the wife of Dr. Gaither.

One of William Morrison's daughters, Mary, born in 1784, married James Black. The Blacks had at least one child, a daughter named Talithacuni, called Talitha. Talitha Black married Henry McGee Watterson and became the parents of Henry Watterson.

Like Samuel L. Clemens, Henry Watterson seems never to have mentioned any connection with Adair County, but we know the link is there...err here. -- Mike Watson, ColumbiaMagazine.com 29 August 2013

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12/29/2025

Join the Tennessee Genealogical Society for a FREE Webinar Wednesday, January 7, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. Central with Melissa Barker and her presentation Patriot Paths: Finding Your Tennessee American Revolution Ancestor. The Revolutionary War had a huge impact on the area that would become the State of Tennessee. Although settlement of the Eastern part of the state had begun in earnest in the 1770s, it was the military land grants issued by the State of North Carolina that encouraged Revolutionary War Veterans and their families to brave the new Western frontier. Learn how to trace your Revolutionary War Veteran's footsteps to Tennessee using the Tennessee State Library and Archives Patriot Paths database. Register for this FREE webinar at this link:
https://tngs.org/event-6446698