Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Adair, John

ADAIR, John, general, b. in Chester co., S. C., in 1759; d. in Harrisburg, Ky., 19 May, 1840. He served in the revolutionary army, and in 1787 removed to Kentucky, where he was appointed major under St. Clair and Wilkinson in their expeditions against the Indians of the northwest in 1791. In an attack by " Little Turtle," the Miami chief, 6 Nov., 1792, while in camp near Fort St. Clair, his command was defeated and forced to retreat. He was a member of the convention that framed the constitution under which Kentucky was admitted into the union, 1 June, 1792. Adair was appointed lieutenant-colonel under Gen. Charles Scott in 1793, was for several years a representative from Mercer co. in the Kentucky legislature, of which body he was "elected speaker, and was also register of the U. S. land office. In 1805-'6 he was U. S. senator. Returning to military life, he became volunteer aid to Gen. Shelby at the battle of the Thames, 5 Oct., 1813, was made brigadier-general of the state militia in November, 1814, and commanded the Kentucky troops with distinction at New Orleans under Gen. Jackson. From 1820 to 1824 he was governor of Kentucky, and in 1831-'33 a member of congress, serving on the committee on military affairs.