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Samuel Lyle and Florella Brown Adair Family Collection

Adair family 1831-1921

Microfilm rolls MS 1230–MS 1237

Manuscript Collection No. 161

 

Introduction

This collection, containing over 1600 letters, spans the period 1831-1921 and consists primarily of correspondence between Samuel and Florella Brown Adair and among various members of each one’s family. It also includes some diaries, sermons, church records and a few business papers. One box of the collection contains correspondence of Jeremiah Berger Remington, who married the eldest Adair daughter, Emma Florilla.

This collection was given to the Kansas State Historical Society in 1983 by two Adair relatives. The early correspondence in the collection was donated by Gerald McFarland, professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, residing in Leverett, Massachusetts. (Some typescripts in the collection were done by McFarland’s mother.) The later letters and the Remington correspondence came from Chester J. Ward of Osawatomie, Kansas. There are no restrictions on the use of this collection.

Biography

Samuel Lyle Adair was born April 22, 1811, in Ross County, Ohio, the son of George and Margaret Ramsey Adair. He began his college education in 1834 at Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio, but completed his ministerial degree at Oberlin College, a leading anti-slavery school. It was there that he met Florella Brown (born May 19, 1816, in Hudson, Ohio, daughter of Owen and Sally Root Brown and half-sister of John Brown) who also graduated from Oberlin. Prior to their marriage on November 27, 1841, he had taken a position with a Congregational church in Sandyville, Ohio. By 1843 they were living in Dundee, Michigan, where Adair had accepted a call to a church. It is unclear just when he left Dundee; he may have been there for just a year. By 1846, the Adairs were in Maumee City, Ohio, where in addition to a pastorate he had taken on the duties of a school principal. Accepting the call from the Congregational church in Lafayette, Ohio, he moved there with his wife and two children in the fall of 1849.

Their first child, Charles Storrs Adair, was born in Sandyville October 7, 1842; the next, Henry Martin, was born July 22, 1844, at Dundee but died in March of 1848; and Emma Florilla Adair was born October 14, 1847, at Maumee City. A little over a year after the Adair family settled in Lafayette, twin daughters were born on November 28, 1851, but both died within two months. A third surviving child was Addie Eliza Adair, born November 8, 1856, in Osawatomie, Kansas. The last child, Marion Brown Adair, was born September 27, 1859, in Osawatomie and died on July 18, 1860 at nine months. Of the children who survived, Addie Eliza died in 1906, Charles in 1910 and Emma in 1924.

In May of 1854, Adair received a favorable response from the American Missionary Association to his request for support as a missionary on the Kansas frontier. While Florella had previously opposed any move far from her family in northern Ohio, she was now ready to go west.

The journey west was a difficult one for the Adair family. Shortly after their arrival in Kansas City, Missouri, in October of 1854, each member of the family became ill so they spent November and December “cooped up” in the city. At the same time, Osawatomie was being established by enterprising men such as Orville Chester (O. C.) Brown and Morgan Cronkhite from New York and William Chestnut from Connecticut. All three had received assistance from the New England Emigrant Aid Society. In January of 1855 Adair was well enough to explore settled sections of Kansas; he was impressed by Osawatomie’s location (50 miles southwest of Kansas City in present-day Miami County) and its leading men. He returned with his family on March 21, initially staying with the Cronkhites.

Adair faced the usual problems of early Kansas missionaries—settlers were scattered and few of them were “eager” Christians; all had to deal with problems of sickness, disputes over land claims, and the growing of crops. The Adair family struggled, too, with Florella taking in sewing and laundry to make ends meet. On April 13, 1856, Adair organized the First Congregational Church of Osawatomie with seven members; its charter made evangelism its aim, thereby attempting “to raise the character of the entire pastoral district.” These Osawatomie Congregationalists, led by Reverend Adair with his anti-slavery Oberlin background, were mostly freestaters and soon found themselves caught up in the struggle over whether Kansas would enter the Union as a free or a slave state.

Adair’s personal views and family connections combined to place him at the center of this gathering storm, particularly after Florella’s half-brother, abolitionist agitator John Brown, joined five of his sons in Miami County. Adair was in the midst of the open warfare that erupted in May of 1856 between the free soil and proslavery advocates, for he was personally acquainted with several of the “Pottawatomie Rifles” group who retaliated for the proslavery attack on Lawrence.

Letters to Samuel and Florella from friends in Ohio expressed concern for the safety of their family after the subsequent “sacking” of Osawatomie by proslavery forces which preceded the burning of Osawatomie at the end of August, 1856. Just prior to the actual burning of the town, Adair’s nephew, Frederick Brown, was killed near Adair’s cabin; Adair and his cousin David Garrison discovered his body. Adair sent his 14-year-old son Charles to spread the alarm in the town and fled into the brush to save his own life. Later that same day, Garrison and a member of Adair’s church, George Partridge, were killed. The Adair home was the only free state home spared in the burning of Osawatomie, apparently because it was full of sick people, women, and children whom Florella was tending.

Though open warfare of this nature subsided after 1856, Reverend Adair and his small congregation encountered many difficulties. In 1858, O. C. Brown was the only male communicant, as the infant church struggled with hard economic times, sickness, and bad weather. Despite all these obstacles, work on a permanent meeting house began, with a national evangelical committee’s funds being matched by Osawatomie residents. By mid-1859, the church’s stone walls were completed up to the windows, but even O.C. Brown had despaired of the situation and returned to New York. Helped by eastern philanthropists of a free soil persuasion, the church was finally finished and dedicated on July 14, 1861.

Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Reverend Adair received a commission as a Chaplain in the United States Army, serving first at Fort Scott and then at Fort Leavenworth. While Samuel tended to his duties as chaplain at the hospital, Florella remained with their children in Osawatomie. When the hospital in Leavenworth was closed near the end of the war, he returned to his pastoral duties in Osawatomie. Soon after the end of the Civil War he became one of the founders of the Kansas State Insane Asylum at Osawatomie. Florella died February 6, 1865, in Leavenworth; and Samuel died December 27, 1898, in Osawatomie.

Scope and Content

The Samuel Lyle and Florella Brown Adair Family Collection consists of over 1600 pieces of correspondence written by Samuel Lyle Adair; his wife, Florella Brown Adair; and their many relatives before, during, and after the Civil War. A little over one-sixth of the correspondence relates to Jeremiah Berger Remington (b. 1838, d. 1912; Adair son-in-law, married to Emma Florilla May 18, 1870, and later a member of the Kansas House for 10 years), his wife Emma Florilla Adair Remington and their daughters Sarah Florilla (Flora) Remington Ward and Ada Marian Remington. While the Remington correspondence dates from 1861-1869, the years 1861-1866 deal primarily with Jeremiah Remington’s experiences as a soldier during the Civil War; the remaining years of correspondence deal with an unsuccessful business venture in a saw mill in Kansas City, Missouri. Although the inclusive dates of the entire collection are 1831 to 1921, about half of the total volume of correspondence dates from 1856-1865, while the period from 1831-1855 accounts for one-sixth of the volume and the period after the Civil War to 1921 for the remaining one-third.

In addition to the correspondence, the collection includes journals, diaries, course notes and sermons of Reverend Samuel Lyle Adair, as well as records of marriages performed by Adair. The collection also includes some church records, reports, accounts, certificates, college information, tax receipts, and an Oberlin College Catalogue for 1864-1864.

The historical value of this collection lies primarily in the fact that the correspondence and other items reflect the inner workings and social concerns of an extended family during the nineteenth century. This ordinary interchange among the various family members is set against the extraordinary backdrop of the turbulent times known as “Bleeding Kansas.” Because one of the members of Adair’s extended family was John Brown, this family’s record of day-to-day activities as well as response to various historical events are placed in a special context.

There is a good deal of description of daily activities from the women’s point of view in that the bulk of the correspondence from Adair’s siblings is from two of his three sisters, Anne Eliza Adair and Martha Adair Wallace (over 200 letters) while there are over 75 letters from Florella and nearly 250 letters from the remaining female members of this extended family. While most of the non-relative correspondence is male, a significant portion of the correspondents are female, bringing the female correspondence to about 40% of the total (around 600 letters). The content of these letters reveals the perspective of women on a wide range of topics – their roles in the family as daughter, wife, mother, or spinster; their community relationships; their everyday struggles in coping with such problems as illness, the death of a child, separation from husband for an extended period, to say nothing of dealing with weather and politics.

While there are only a few letters from Adair’s brother Benjamin (he died at age 39), there are a good many from his other brother, William Addison, detailing his several moves from Ohio to Nebraska, where he eventually lived for over twenty years.

The correspondence during 1841 between Samuel and Florella while he was a divinity student at Oberlin reflects the substance and progression of their courtship, Florella had been a student at Oberlin earlier.

In addition to many references to Florella’s half-brother, John Brown, by several of the correspondents, there are a few pieces (see John Brown’s folder in Box 3) in Brown’s own hand, the most significant of these being what appears to be a letter written Brown under the alias of “Jas. Smith” and dated June 3, 1857, from Hudson, Ohio, addressed to “Wm. Adison Esq” in Lawrence. (See box listing description for more detail.) The correspondence reflects the antebellum political concerns on the part of these family members and their friends and acquaintances. There is a letter of interest in Box 5, Folder 7, dated June 14, 1856, in which H. H. Williams writes to Adair of his being held prisoner, along with seven others (two of whom were Jason Brown and John Brown, Jr.), on a charge of high treason following the Pottawatomie Massacre.

Regarding actual fighting in the Civil War, the great preponderance of the correspondence is from Adair’s future son-in-law, Jeremiah Berger Remington, and describes his activities as a soldier in the Union Army. The letters from Adair’s son Charles during the Civil War years add to this aspect of the collection, for he, too, served in the Union Army.

Another aspect of the Civil War is reflected in Adair’s letters while he was a chaplain at the United States General Hospital in Leavenworth, Kansas. After the war when he returned to Osawatomie to resume his pastoral duties with the Congregational Church, Adair helped to establish the Kansas State Insane Asylum, although there is very little in the collection related to his activities in this regard.

In addition to the Civil War emphasis, there is considerable information in the collection relating to Adair’s work as a Congregational minister and his activities within that context as a missionary for his church (see Box 6, Folder 13, for correspondence between Adair and the American Home Missionary Society). Most of the non-relative correspondence in this collection, in fact, relates to this aspect of Adair’s life; and most of the correspondents who are not relatives of Adair share with him the common bond of the ministry in some form or another. Thus most of the correspondence of this type has to do with ministerial concerns. Within this larger ministerial framework is the relief work for territorial residents-in-need carried out by Adair and his fellow missionaries with the support of the churches they represented back in Ohio, Michigan and New York (see Box 6, Folders 9 & 14).

There are many references throughout the correspondence to various aspects of education; most of it is reflected in the correspondence of Adair, his wife, and their daughter Emma when each were students at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio.

Also reflected in the early Oberlin correspondence of Adair is the concern expressed by him and his fellow abolitionist ministerial students over the slavery issue. Adair’s ongoing concern with this issue is apparent in much of the later correspondence as well. Correspondence to and from Oberlin friends over the years reveals the strong bonds created by their Oberlin experience.

There is a fair amount of information on various settling activities, including the buying and selling of land by Adair’s friends and relatives (see Box 6, Folder 10, for example).

The collection includes two narratives: one by Grace Adair Hunt, granddaughter of Florella Brown Adair, “One Day in the Life of a Pioneer Mother,” written from Florella’s viewpoint, depicting events on August 30, 1856; the other, by Emma Adair Remington, “Early Life in Kansas,” written in August, 1920, and read at the Old Settlers Cutler picnic near Rantoul. (See Box 7, Folder 13 for both of these items.)

Beyond the many family members, several of Adair’s correspondents are of special interest (see Boxes 5 & 6). These include O. C. Brown who was one of the founders of Osawatomie, and Barstow Darrach, a childhood friend of Adair’s from Ohio who subsequently became a physician. Darrach had some medical training at New York Hospital in New York City before settling in Quincy, Illinois, and his letters are especially articulate on the coming of the Civil War (there are a dozen letters from Darrach from1856-1862). Other correspondents of interest are Kilborn Hurd, with whom Adair corresponds at length regarding land transactions; the Reverend S. S. Jocelyn of the American Home Missionary Society with whom Adair communicates concerning his work as a missionary; and Samuel C. Pomeroy, chairman and corresponding secretary of the Kansas Relief Committee.

For more detail regarding the scope and content of the collection, see individual folder descriptions.

Contents List

Box 1   Correspondence Between Samuel Lyle Adair and Florella
    Brown Adair and Their Children (Charles, Emma & Addie).
  Folder 1 1835-1840 correspondence between Florella Brown and her
    parents, Owen and Sally Root Brown, and her sister Martha.
    Includes typescripts and originals.
  2 1841 courtship correspondence between Samuel Lyle Adair
    and Florella Brown. Includes typescripts and originals.
  3 1860-1862 correspondence among Samuel Lyle and Florella
    Brown Adair and their children Charles and Emma.
  4 1863 correspondence among Samuel Lyle and Florella Brown
    Adair and their children Charles and Emma.
  5 1864-1865 correspondence among Samuel Lyle and Florella
    Brown Adair and their children Charles and Emma.
  6 1872-1901 correspondence from Addie Eliza Adair, youngest
    daughter of Samuel Lyle and Florella Brown Adair.
Box 2   Correspondence of Jeremiah Berger Remington, His Wife
    Emma Florilla Adair Remington, and Their Daughter,
    Ada Marian.
  Folder 1 1861
  2 1862, Jan-June.
  3 1862, July-Dec.
  4 1863, Jan-June.
  5 1863, July-Dec.
  6 1864
  7 1865, Jan-June.
  8 1865, July-Dec.
  9 1866, Jan-April.
  10 1867
  11 1868, Feb-Nov.
  12 1869
  13 1860-1908 correspondence to Jeremiah Berger Remington.
  14 1891-1921 correspondence of Emma Florilla Adair Remington
    to her family.
  15 1896-1907 correspondence from Jeremiah Berger Remington to
    his daughter Sarah Florilla (“Flora”) Remington Ward.
  16 1914-1921 correspondence from Ada Marian Remington, second
    daughter of Jeremiah Berger and Emma Florilla Adair Remington,
    to her sister Sarah Florilla.
  17 Small Account Book of Jeremiah Berger Remington for 1861-1863.
    Includes Civil War diary.
Box 2 (cont.)   Poem (late 1850’s) in honor of Remington.
Boxes 3 & 4   Correspondence Between Samuel Lyle Adair and
    Florella Brown Adair and Various Relatives.
Box 3    
  Folder 1 Anne (Ann) Eliza Adair, SLA’s sister, 1833-1859.
  2 Anne (Ann) Eliza Adair, con’t., 1860-1871.
  3 Benjamin Ramsey Adair, SLA’s brother.
  4 George Adair, SLA’s father.
  5 Lyle G. Adair, SLA’s nephew.
  6 William Addison Lyle Adair, SLA’s brother.
  7 Annie Brown Adams, FBA’s niece.
  8 Jason Brown, FBA’s nephew.
  9 Jeremiah Root Brown, FBA’s brother.
  10 John Brown, FBA’s half-brother.
  11 Owen Brown, FBA’s father.
Box 4    
  Folder 1 Martha Lucretia Brown Davis, FBA’s sister.
  2 Sarah Adair Dick, SLA’s sister.
  3 Martha Ramsey Garrison, SLA’s aunt.
  4 Sally Marian Brown Hand, FBA’s sister.
  5 Sarah (Sally) Ramsey Hagan, SLA’s aunt.
  6 James Ramsey, SLA’s uncle.
  7 John L. Ramsey, SLA’s uncle.
  8 Martha Adair Wallace, SLA’s sister.
Boxes 5 & 6   Correspondence to Samuel Lyle Adair and Florella
    Brown Adair From Non-relatives.
Box 5   1831-1859.
  Folder 1 1831, 1833, 1834.
  2 1835
  3 1837, 1838, 1840, 1841.
  4 1842, 1843, 1846, 1847.
  5 1850, 1851.
  6 1852-1855.
  7 1856
  8 1857
  9 1858
Box 5 (cont.)    
  Folder 10 1859
Box 6   1860-1915.
  Folder 1 1860
  2 1861
  3 1862
  4 1863
  5 1864
  6 1865
  7 1866-1868.
  8 1870, 1872, 1874, 1875, 1881, 1891, 1915.
  9 1856-1891 correspondence from O[rville] C[hester] Brown.
  10 1862-1864 correspondence from James Rockwell Brown,
    son of O. C. Brown.
  11 1858-1877 correspondence from Kilborn Hurd.
  12 1857-1872 correspondence from William & Lucretia Gee.
  13 1854-1872 correspondence from American Home Missionary
    Society staff in New York City.
  14 1856-1864 correspondence and lists concerning relief work.
Box 7   Miscellaneous Correspondence, Church Records, Reports,
    Accounts, Certificates, College Information, Tax Receipts,
    Commissioning Information.
  Folder 1 Reports to George Adair regarding his son Samuel’s status
    at Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio. 1834 & 1836.
  2 Correspondence related to Adair’s work as a school principal
    in Maumee City, Ohio, 1847-1849.
  3 Correspondence related to Adair’s commissioning as a chaplain
    in the United States Army, 1862.
  4 Correspondence to Adair regarding the death of seven soldiers,
    casualties of the Civil War.
  5 Two items relating to Adair’s being a director of the Osawatomie
    State Insane Asylum, one being a certificate of his appointment
    as a director in 1867.
  6 11 miscellaneous items relating to Adair’s ministerial duties,
    1859-1868.
  7 Church membership transfers, 1854-1896.
  8 Annual church meetings—notes, 1859-1862.
  9 Osawatomie Congregational Church records, 1856-1909. Includes
    births, deaths, reports, accounts, quarterly reports.
  10 Marriage certificate form and Ministerial Register, 1896.
  11 G. A. R. Letter, 1893.
  12 Copies of Adair correspondence, 1854-1871.
Box 7 (cont.)    
  Folder 13 Narratives: “One Day in the Life of a Pioneer Mother” by
    Grace Adair Hunt (granddaughter of Florella Brown Adair);
    “Early Life in Kansas” by Emma Adair Remington, Florella’s
    daughter.
  14 Treasurer’s Office Tax Receipts for C. H. Crane and S. L.
    Adair in Lykins and Miami Counties, 1861-1866.
  15 9 undated & miscellaneous items.
Box 8   Journals, Diaries, Course Notes & Sermons of Samuel Lyle
    Adair; Two Anti-slavery Tracts byAdair; Record of Marriages
    Performed by Adair; Oberlin College Catalogue 1863-1864
  Folder 1 Adair diary for portions of 1836 & 1837
  2 Adair diary for: summer 1845; April 22, 1848; May 7, 1848
    August 1-17, 1848; June 9-13, 1865
  3 Adair diary, 1849-1864. One volume, nearly 200 pp.
  4 Adair diary, 1849-1864, typescript carbon, 127 pp
  5 Adair's notes on President A. Mahon's lectures on Intellectual
    and Moral Philosophy at Oberlin College, October 1837. One volume,
    approximately 80 pages, both sides
  6 Two anti-slavery tracts by Adair, (1840) and 1850.
  7 Adair sermons and essays, 1833-1841. (most undated)
  8 Sermon record of Adair, 1850-1874. One small volume
  9 Sermon record of Adair, 1878-1898. 167 pp
  10 Record of marriages performed by Adair, 1843-1897. One small volume.
  11 Oberlin College Catalogue, 1863-1864
  12 Genealogical material
  13 Florilla Brown autograph book, 1836

Folder Content Description

Box 1 - Correspondence Between Samuel Lyle Adair and Florella Brown Adair
And Their Children (Charles, Emma & Addie).

Folder 1 – 1835-1840 Florella Brown, correspondence primarily from her parents and a sister. 17 letters, 1835-1840 (1835-1; 1836-4; 1837-4; 1838-7; 1840-1): six from her mother, Sally Root Brown (1789-1840); ten from her father, Owen Brown (1777-1856); one from her sister, Martha Brown; and one from Florella at Oberlin in 1836. All except three letters are from Hudson, Ohio. Typescripts included.

Folder 2 - 1841 courtship correspondence between Samuel Lyle Adair and Florella Brown. 17 letters: 13 letters from Samuel to Florella and 4 from Florella to Samuel. He is at Oberlin except for the first letter, which is from Dundee, Michigan, and the last letter, which is from aboard a canal boat. She is at Hudson, Ohio, for most of the letters except when she is visiting her sister Marian at Franklin, Ohio. The letters reflect the progression of their courtship, which culminated in their marriage on November 24, 1841. Typescripts included.

Folder 3 - 1860-1862: 1860, 19 letters (Samuel-1; Florella-12; Charles-8); 1861, 17 letters (Samuel-1; Florella-13; Charles-4); 1862, 11 letters (Florella-5; Charles-3; Emma-3). During the beginning of the 1860 correspondence, in August and September, Florella and son Charles are in Grafton, Ohio, while Samuel and daughter Emma are in Osawatomie; for the remainder of 1860, Florella and Charles return to Hudson, Ohio. There is correspondence for only the first four months of 1861, during which time Florella’s letters are from Grafton, South Salem, Lafayette, Xenia, and Greenfield, Ohio; Charles remains in Hudson. Only one letter during this time period is from Samuel in Osawatomie. The first correspondence in 1862 occurs in May, with two letters during that month from Emma, who is now attending Oberlin College in Ohio. The first letter in the collection from Charles as a soldier (Second Kansas Regiment) in the Union Army is dated June 17th from his camp outside Emporia. There are two other letters from Charles in 1862, both in December, the last one being from Ray Mills, Arkansas. There are several letters in November and December from Florella, as well as one from Emma; both have returned to Osawatomie.

Folder 4 - 1863: 82 letters (Samuel-19; Florella-26; Emma-27; Charles-10). Charles continues to serve in the Second Kansas Regiment; Emma Florilla Adair is a student at Oberlin College in Ohio and most of her letters are from Oberlin; Florella is in Osawatomie with their younger daughter, Addie Eliza Adair (1856-1906); and Samuel, commissioned as a chaplain in the United States Army June 16, 1862, is stationed at the United States Army Hospital at Fort Leavenworth. Frequently the letters from one member of the family are passed on to another, with the addition of a note from the forwarder.

Folder 5 - 1864-1865: 1864, 87 letters (Samuel-10; Florella-15; Charles-12; Emma-50); 1865, 8 letters (Charles-1; Emma-7). In 1864, Samuel is still chaplain at the army hospital at Fort Leavenworth; Florella is at Osawatomie except for October, when she is first at Hudson, Ohio, for a visit with her brother, Jeremiah Root Brown, and then at Leavenworth City for a visit with Samuel; Charles is in Arkansas for much of the year, but he returned to Kansas by early September; Emma’s letters are mostly from Oberlin, with a few from Grafton and Hudson, Ohio. The two letters from Florella in October are the last to her family, preceeding her death in February 1865. Except for one letter from Charles at Ft. Scott in early March, all the letters in 1865 are from Emma at Oberlin and Grafton, during January and February.

Folder 6 – 1872-1901 from Addie Eliza Adair, youngest daughter of Samuel Lyle and Florella Brown Adair. Contains some notes from Jeremiah Root Brown and his wife Abi Cornelia Hinsdale Brown, with whom Addie stayed part of the time she attended Oberlin College. 44 letters (1872-17; 1873-6; 1875-1; 1876-1; 1883-1; 1884-2; 1885-1; 1886-3; 1887-1; 1890-3; 1891-4; 1892-3; 1901-1). Until the fall of 1873, Addie is at Hudson where she is staying with her uncle (her mother’s brother), Jeremiah Root Brown; from 1873-1876 she is at Oberlin attending college. Later letters are from Las Vegas, New Mexico; Osage City, Kansas, where she is a school teacher; York’s Ranch, Arizona; Morenci, Arizona; Clifton, Arizona; and Dante, Tennessee.

Box 2 – Correspondence of Jeremiah Berger Remington, His Wife Emma Florilla Adair Remington, and Their Daughter, Ada Marian.

Folder 1 – 1861. 3 letters from JBR, all in December; from Washington, D. C., and Elmira, New York. Remington joined the 89th New York State Volunteer Regiment sometime after graduation from Union College in Schenectady, New York, in 1861.

Folder 2 – 1862, January-June. 18 letters from JBR; from Annapolis Harbor; on board schooner Horace E. Brown (transport going to Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina, headquarters of the New York State 89th Regiment) during February; then Camp Dickinson, Roanoke Island, in March.

Folder 3 – 1862, July-December. 22 letters from JBR; from camp near Norfolk. By August Remington thinks they are moving to join General Pope in Fredericksburg. By September he is at Meridian Hill near Washington, D. C. and later that month he is near the Potomac River above Harpers Ferry. By October, he is at St. Charles Hotel in Washington, D. C., but reports to General Sturgis in Alexandria. By November, he reports that his 9th Army Corps has left Pleasant Valley and by December he is back in Washington, D. C., in the hospital at Georgetown for a physical check-up.

Folder 4 – 1863, January-June. 25 letters from JBR; Remington is still in Georgetown but by late January he returns to the headquarters of the 89th near Falmouth, Virginia. By early February he is in Newport News, Virginia; then in Suffolk, Virginia, by the middle of March. By the end of May, he is near Portsmouth, Virginia. In a June 28th letter are engravings of various pieces of engineering equipment.
Folder 5 – 1863, July-December. 17 letters from JBR; in July the army camp is still at Gettie’s Point, Virginia; camp moves to Folly Island, South Carolina, in August to remain there through December.

Folder 6 – 1864. 33 letters from JBR; Remington is still with his regiment in Virginia. After the first letter early in the year there are no further letters until May. Most of the letters in this folder are from Petersburg. By July he is a captain with L Company, 89th New York State Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 18th Army Corps. By December he is with the 3rd Division of the 25th Army Corps.

Folder 7 – 1865, January-June. 17 letters from JBR; Remington is now stationed at the headquarters of the 25th Army Corps in the Office Chief Commissary of Musters, Department of Virginia, in Richmond, Virginia.

Folder 8 – 1865, July-December. 27 letters from JBR; Remington is still at OCCM, Department of Virginia, in Richmond, Virginia.

Folder 9 – 1866, January-August. 20 letters from JBR; Remington is still at OCCM, Department of Virginia, in Richmond, Virginia. There are no letters from September through December when Remington may well have been involved in mustering out of the army.

Folder 10 – 1867. 22 letters from JBR; the January letter is from St. Louis, Missouri, while the rest are from Kansas City, Missouri, where Remington buys a saw mill. Later in the year he relocates his mill in Wyandotte, Kansas.

Folder 11 – 1868, February-November. 8 letters from JBR; from Kansas City, Missouri, and Wyandotte, Kansas. Remington is still in the saw mill business.

Folder 12 – 1869, January-November. 13 letters from JBR; from Kansas City and Osawatomie. By late November Remington has sold the saw mill.

Folder 13 – Correspondence to Jeremiah Remington. July 5, 1860-July 21, 1908.
13 letters (1860-1; 1861-1; 1862-1; 1865-6; 1886-1; 1891-1; 1903-1; 1904-1; 1906-1; 1908-1). Includes explanation of engravings of engineering equipment; letters of introduction; statement from president of Union College attesting to his graduation with the class of 1861; letters from old friends; some business correspondence; letter from Salmon Brown (1898).

Folder 14 – Correspondence of Emma Florilla Adair Remington, wife of Jeremiah Remington. 5 letters, 1891-1921 (3 in 1911).

Folder 15 – Correspondence of Jeremiah Remington to his eldest daughter, Sarah Florilla (Flora) Remington Ward. 3 letters, 1896-1907. Remington is in Osawatomie, while his daughter is in Glendora, California for the last two letters.

Folder 16 – Correspondence from Ada Marian Remington, second daughter of Jeremiah and Emma Remington, to her sister Flora. 4 letters, 1914-1921. Ada is in Osawatomie helping with her father’s lumber and grain business, while Flora is in Glendora, California. A 1914 letter mentions the settling of Jeremiah Remington’s estate after his death in 1912.

Folder 17 – Small account book with various lists of Civil War diary covering the period November 30, 1861-December 31, 1863. Includes account of Remington’s leaving home November 30, 1861 and arriving at Elmira, New York, on Sunday, December 1st; being examined December 4th and being sworn into the 89th New York Sate Volunteer Army that same evening.

Folder 18 – Poem in honor of Jeremiah Remington, written by an unknown female admirer, probably in the late 1850’s.

Box 3 – Correspondence Between Samuel Lyle Adair and Florella Brown Adair and Various Relatives, 1831-1921.

Folder 1 / 1833-1859 & Folder 2 / 1860-1871 – Anne (Ann) Eliza Adair, Samuel’s sister; correspondence from, 1833-1871. 128 letters (1833-4; 1834-4; 1835-1; 1837-5; 1838-2; 1841-2; 1842-2 (typescripts of these two); 1843-1; 1844-1; 1846-1; 1850-1; 1851-3; 1852-1; 1856-5; 1857-6; 1858-4; 1859-3- 1860-4; 1861-5; 1862-4; 1863-10; 1864-10; 1865-8; 1866-11; 1867-13; 1868-10; 1869-1; 1870-9; 1871-3). From 1833-1863 the letters are primarily from Greenfield, Paint Township, Ross County, Ohio. In November of 1863 she refers to leaving “the old farm of Adison’s” and going to live with her sister, Martha Adair Wallace, in South Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio.

Folder 3 – Benjamin Ramsey Adair, Samuel’s brother; his daughter Roenah (Rowena) Melvinah Adair; daughter Eliza Jane Adair; correspondence from, 1833-1855. 13 (1833-2; 1834-1; 1838-1; 1841-1; 1842-1; 1851-1; 1852-3; 1853-2; 1855-1). Only the 1852 letters are from Roenah; the last letter is from both Benjamin and his daughter Eliza Jane. The first letter is from Greenfield; September 1833-1842 from Logansport in Cass County, Indiana; origin of 1851 letter is unclear; 1852 is from Blue Grass, Indiana; 1853 from Lasalle, Illinois.

Folder 4 – George Adair, Samuel’s father; correspondence from, 1837-1838. 3 letters, from Ross County, Ohio (1837-1; 1838-2). See also Martha Adair Wallace folder.

Folder 5 – Lyle G. Adair, nephew—son of Samuel’s brother, Benjamin Ramsey Adair; correspondence from, 1864. 3 letters relating to his Civil War experiences with the 81st Ohio and Company B of the 3rd Alabama at Hill Creek Trestle, Alabama.

Folder 6 – William Addison Lyle Adair, Samuel’s Brother; correspondence from, 1851-1892. 100 letters (1851-1; 1852-2; 1855-1; 1856-1; 1857-1; 1861-2; 1863-1; 1864-1; 1865-4; 1866-7; 1867-9; 1868-5; 1869-1; 1870-7; 1871-2; 1872-1; 1874-3; 1875-3; 1876-3; 1879-3; 1880-4; 1881-4; 1882-6; 1883-4; 1884-4; 1886-1, 1888-4; 1889-4; 1890-3;
1891-7; 1892-1). From 1851-1863 the letters are from Greenfield, Ohio; from1864-1870, Addison is in Odin, Illinois; two letters are from Columbus, Nebraska, in late 1870-early 1871; then he settles at Madison, Nebraska, from fall 1871-1892.

Folder 7 – Annie Brown Adams, Florella’s niece (daughter of John Brown); correspondence from, 1897. 1 letter, a copy of a letter written to Aunt Martha Davis in St Johns, Michigan, from Petrolia, California. Letter contains considerable family news.

Folder 8 – Jason Brown, Florella’s nephew – second son of John Brown – correspondence from, 1859-1861. 3 letters (1859-1, 1861-2), all from Akron, Ohio: first discusses impossibility of getting compensation from Congress for losses sustained in defense of their property in the fighting between the proslavery and antislavery forces in Kansas. The other two letters discuss Jason’s wish to send financial aid to Kansas as well as his sending the Adair’s several trees, vines and other plants. He writes of including in the letter a rose for the grave of his son Austin who died of cholera on his parents’ trip to Kansas in 1855.

Folder 9 – Jeremiah Root Brown, Florella’s brother; correspondence from, 1854-1874. 30 letters (1854-1; 1855-1; 1856-6; 1857-4; 1858-4; 1859-1; 1860-1; 1862-2; 1863-1; 1864-1; 1865-2; 1866-1; 1868-1; 1870-2; 1872-2; 1874-1). Included in these letters from J. R. Brown are notes from his wife, Abi; daughter Fannie to her cousin Charles; and his nephew, John, Jr.

The first nine letters are from Hudson, Ohio, where J. R. Brown is a dealer in wool, butter, cheese and produce. The May 14, 1856, letter tells of the death of Owen Brown in Hudson. Several subsequent letters deal with the settling of Owen Brown’s estate. The September 1857 letter is from Norwalk, Conn, where J. R. is on a fund-raising expedition for the free-state work of John Brown and Adair in Kansas. The September 25, 1858, letter is from Rawsonville, Ohio, where J. R. has returned to help find homes for orphan children brought out by the New York Children’s Aid Society.

In May of 1859 he is at his nephew John, Jr.’s in Andover where John, Jr. is considering relocating. By 1860 he is back in Hudson. The March 17, 1862, letter from St. Joseph, Missouri, describes his recent visit to an Indian camp (typescript also). The 1865 letters are on U. S. Sanitary Commission stationery for whom he worked during the Civil War. In 1872 J. R. is in Chicago dealing in hard and soft coal. The January 31, 1874, letter is from Santa Barbara where he has moved to cope with “this rotten old disease.”

Folder 10 – John Brown, Florella’s half-brother; correspondence from, 1857-1859, 5 letters. The first letter is dated June 3, 1857, from Hudson, Ohio, and is signed “Jas. Smith” but the handwriting appears to be that of John Brown. It is addressed to “Wm Adison Esq” in Lawrence, requesting him to notify several of Brown’s supporters in the area to meet John Brown at Tabor, Iowa for a conference. Adison is referred to Samuel Adair who will supply $50 if need be for expenses on being shown this letter. A letter dated August 21, 1858, is a copy of the resolution and order by the National Kansas Committee written out by Brown, with a note by him at the bottom stating that these documents give him claims upon any property, monies, or obligations belonging to the committee.

There is a note dated September 25, 1856, wherein Orson Day acknowledges he owes John Brown $50, being the balance due on September 1, 1857, on a cow and an ox to Frederick Brown, deceased. The note is signed over on the back by Jason Brown on behalf of John Brown to a M. Simpson. Underneath this John Brown signs over the note to “Rev. S. L. Adair”, agent for the heirs-at-law of Frederick Brown, deceased.

A March 28, 1859, letter from Osawatomie is written to a friend in Cleveland discussing the status of various notes Brown is concerned about. The letter is unfinished and unsigned but the context and handwriting indicate it may be from John Brown.

The last item in this folder is a copy of letter written to Daniel Breneman by George Sigler of Mechanicsburg, PA, June 15, 1912, in which Sigler reminisces about an experience with John Brown just before Harpers Ferry. Sigler had preached at a place about four miles from Harpers Ferry, and John Brown, using the alias John Smith, and his men had attended the service. He described Brown as a hero who undertook more than he was prepared to carry out but was a forerunner of the freedom of the slaves.

Folder 11 – Owen Brown, Florella’s father; correspondence from, 1842-1856 (typescript for every letter except the last). There is also an undated summary of Owen Brown’s estate. 6 letters (1842-2; 1851-1; 1852-1; 1855-1; 1856-1). The first three letters and the last, written to his grandson Charles, are from Hudson, Ohio; the fourth from Wadsworth, Ohio; the fifth from Munroe Falls, Ohio, where he lived part of the time with son Edward. Letters express religious, family, and slavery concerns and contain news about activities of various family members. Of particular interest is the letter of August 8, 1855, wherein Owen comments about his son John Brown’s activities with regard to John’s intention to start for Kansas shortly. At the end of this letter is a short note from John Brown, who is stopping off to visit his father enroute to Kansas.

Box 4 – Correspondence Between Samuel Lyle and Florella Brown Adair and Various Relatives on Both Sides of Their Family, 1831-1921 (continued from Box 3).

Folder 1 – Martha Lucretia Brown Davis, Florella’s sister; correspondence from, 1855-1892. 39 letters (1855-3; 1856-2; 1857-5; 1858-2; 1859-3; 1860-2; 1862-1; 1864-1; 1866-4; 1867-2; 1869-1; 1870-1; 1872-1; 1874-1; 1879-1; 1882/83-1; 1889-3; 1890/91-3; 1891/92-2). From 1855 to the mid 1860’s the letters are primarily from Grafton, in Lorain County, Ohio; two letters are from Petersburg, Michigan, where Martha visits from time to time; two in 1866 are from Elsie, Clinton County, Michigan, but thereafter they are from St. John’s, Michigan. Much of Martha’s correspondence is not clearly dated.

Folder 2 – Sarah Adair Dick, Samuel’s sister; husband Campbell Graham Dick; and son Thomas H. Dick; correspondence from, 1833-1875. 8 letters (1833-2; 1857-1; 1859-1; 1861-1; 1872-1; 1874-1; 1875-1). In 1833 Sarah is in Greenfield, Ohio; but by 1857 she has moved to Marshall in Highland County, Ohio, and is still there in 1875.

Folder 3 – Martha Ramsey Garrison, Samuel’s aunt; also from husband Gamaliel and daughter-in-law Rachel Foresman Garrison Dehart, correspondence from, 1837-1884. 40 letters (1837-1; 1853-1; 1856-3; 1857-7; 1858-7; 1859-2- 1860-6; 1861-3; 1863-2; 1864-2; 1866-2; 1880-1; 1882-1; 1884-1). Correspondents also include Lavena, James, Eliza Jane & David Garrison, Samuel’s cousins; Rachel Foresman Garrison, David’s wife, whose farm Samuel attended to after she moved away from Osawatomie following her husband’s murder; and Rachel Van Meter, a cousin of Samuel’s. Most of the letters are from Yellow Springs, Ohio, but a few of Rachel Garrison’s are from Xenia, Ohio.

Folder 4 – Sally Marian Brown Hand, Florella’s sister; son Addison K. Hand; daughters Nellie Hand Fisher and Marian Celia Hand. Correspondence from 1843-1892. 67 letters (1843-1; 1844-1; 1856-7; 1857-3; 1858-3; 1859-1; 1860-4- 1861-2; 1862-4; 1863-2; 1864-4; 1865-2; 1866-5; 1867-3; 1868-4; 1870-1; 1874-1; 1880-1; 1882-1; 1883-1; 1884-1; 1887-3; 1888-2; 1889-3; 1890-2; 1891-2; 1892-2; one undated).

The first two letters are from Oberlin, and the remainder are primarily from Rawsonville, Ohio; Dunkirk, New York, where Addison has a book and paper store 1860-1867; and Wellington, Ohio. In the 1884 letter from Wooster, Ohio, she talks of a visit with her nephews John & Own Brown and niece Ruth Brown Thompson. A note of January 26, 1883, refers to note she received from Addie last week telling of the “departure of one of the little ones.” In 1889 she is living in Los Angeles and tells of Jason Brown having been there in February. In 1890 she moves to Pasadena and refers to Will Fisher having been involved with the railroad and to John Brown’s daughter Sarah visiting friends in Pasadena. She returns to Wellington, Ohio, for remainder of letters. The 1892 letters are from Nellie Fisher in Wellington, Ohio.

Folder 5 – Sarah (Sally) Ramsey Hagan, Samuel’s aunt; lived in Virginia; correspondence from, 1837. 1 letter. She is “sorry to hear of the distressing condition of Sister Peggy”, Samuel’s mother Margaret and comments on the feelings in Virginia about abolitionists and slaves. She and her husband are slaveholders.

Folder 6 – James Ramsey, Samuel’s uncle; correspondence from 1862 & 1863. 2 letters. Both letters are from Albion, Marshall County, Iowa, where he moved in the fall of 1860, afraid to move to Kansas because of the famine there.

Folder 7 – John L. Ramsey, Samuel’s uncle who lived in Grantville Twp, Putnam Co., Illinios; married to Martha Town on January 2, 1817. 1 letter, 1857, from Granville, Illinois. He notes it has been 40 years since he last saw his nephew Samuel.

Folder 8 – Martha Adair Wallace, Samuel’s sister; husband John M. Wallace; correspondence from, 1833-1892. 79 letters (1833-1; 1838-1; 1841-1; 1842-1; 1843-2; 1844-2; 1849-2; 1850-3; 1851-1; 1852-1- 1853-4; 1854-2; 1856-1; 1857-1; 1858-1; 1870-3; 1872-1; 1874-7; 1875-4; 1876-6; 1879-4; 1880-2; 1881-3; 1882-5; 1883-3; 1884-1; 1886-1; 1887-6; 1890-4; 1891-3; 1892-2). From 1833-1854 the letters are from Greenfield, which is also referred to as Paint or Paint Valley, Ohio; after her marriage Martha’s letters are from South Salem, Ohio, where she lived until her death. There is a note from her father George Adair in her letter of December 7, 1838.

Box 5 – Correspondence to Samuel Lyle Adair and Florella Brown Adair from Non-Relatives, 1831-1859.

Folder 1 – 1831-1834. 19 letters (1831-2; 1833-2; 1834-15). At the beginning of this period Samuel Adair is in Greenfield, Ohio; but by 1834 he is attending Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio. Correspondents during this period include fellow divinity students Joseph G. Wilson and J. N. Taylor at Ohio University in Athens; William S. Rogers and Wilson C. Hollyday at Oxford University in Miami; John G. Wilson in Greenfield and C. H. Bidwell in Hudson. Several of these letters discuss abolitionist concerns, and there is reference to the “Oberlin fever” in the winter of 1834-1835.

Folder 2 – 1835. 17 letters. Adair is still in Hudson, Ohio, attending Western Reserve College. Correspondents include some of those in previous folder (Wilson, Hollyday, Taylor) as well as others in Ohio; John H. Lamb in Bellefontaine; A. Sortwell in Canton; John C. Eastman in Washington; James A. Wilson (Miami University); George N. Allen in Mansfield; T. W. Hopkins at Windham; James R. Wright & A. B. Childs at Oberlin. The latter refers to the new president Finney and other recently elected professors, many of whom are strong anti-slaveryites. Adair’s friends at Oberlin would like him to come to Oberlin to pursue his ministerial studies.

Folder 3 – 1837-1841. 21 Letters (1837-1; 1838-7; 1840-1; 1841-12). Adair is in Brecksville, Ohio, in February 1837; in Hudson, Ohio, in February 1838; in Oberlin in March; in Greenfield in November 1838; in Springfield in January 1840; in Dundee, Michigan, early 1841; and in Sandyville, Ohio, in June 1841.

1837 – Correspondents include James R. Wright in Oberlin who refers to a “Sister Brown” arriving to stay there. This might well be Florella Brown who, as an Oberlin student, boarded for a while with a family by the name of Wright.

1838 – Correspondents include M. E. Strieby in Oberlin who relates that James Wright is in Chilicothe assisting one of his sisters who is teaching at a “colored school”; G. Mills at Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut; Joseph G. Wilson urging Adair to come to Oberlin; Oliva N. Chapin at Western Reserve College; William P. Lord describing a trip to Niagara Falls

1840 – Abigail J. Hall in Lancaster tells of her experiences teaching a “colored school” and boarding with a colored family.
1841 – Correspondents include former Oberlin classmates J. A. Preston and William P. Russell; a Mrs. Evarts in Kingston, Jamaica; Mrs. E. Morey in Oberlin; Abigail Hall, who notes she assumes Adair is by now married to Florella Brown; several members of the Congregational Church in Dundee, Michigan, where Adair was for a while as an Oberlin divinity student, wanting him to consider being their minister.

Folder 4 – 1842-1847. 23 letters (1842-11; 1843-4; 1846-5; 1847-3). In 1842 Adair is still in Sandyville, Ohio, but by 1843 he is in Dundee, Michigan, having accepted a pastoral call there.

1842 – Correspondents include N. W. Hodge, Amelia Ellis and James J. Ellis, Oberlin; Cephas Foster, McConnelsville; J. A. Preston, Canton; trustees of the Congregational Church in Dundee, Michigan; E. N. Bartlett in Coshocton and Farmington, Ohio.

1843 – Correspondents include John Dickson, Sandyville; David Demick, Bolivar; O. D. Botsford, Oberlin; C. Lockwood, Clinton. There is also a statement of Adair’s account with R. E. Gillette Co. and a bill from the American Sunday School Union.

1846 – Correspondents include Hiram Wilson, an Oberlin classmate in Dawn Mills, Canada West; H. W. Curtiss, Maumee City; James H. Fitch, Oberlin; Rev. R. Laird, Hudson.

1847 – Correspondents include John Dawes, Lafayette, Ohio, re the possibility of Adair being called to a pastoral post there; M. M. Post, an Oberlin classmate in Logansport, Iowa.

Folder 5 – 1850-1851. 7 letters (1850-2; 1851-5). Adair is now in Lafayette, a few miles southwest of Hudson, where he accepted the pastoral call of the Congregational Church in September of 1849. Correspondents include Philo Hall, Maumee City; Joseph Howe, London, Michigan; Joseph Mason, Amherstburg, Fort Malden, Canada West; Sam Hovey, Cleveland; Rev. George Clark, Oberlin.

Folder 6 – 1852-1855. 23 letters (1852-6; 1853-10; 1854-2; 1855-5). By September 3, 1854, Adair has completed five years in Lafayette. He delivered his last sermon there on September 10th and indicated in his diary that he planned to go to Kansas as a missionary of the American Missionary association (AMA). The Adair family arrived in Kansas City, Missouri, in October, 1854, and finally settled in Osawatomie in March, 1855.

1852 – Letters include copies of two letters from Adair to Rev. George Whipple re Adair’s commission as a missionary of the AMA. Correspondents include Rev. George Clark, Lodi, Ohio; E. H. Merrell, Cleveland and J. P. Bardwell, who works with an Indian Mission.

1853 – Correspondents include Rev. George Clark, New York; Rhoda & R. E. Howe, London, Michigan; Joseph J. Fisher, Cass Lake; Edwin J. Fraser, Oberlin; Rev. J. B. Walker, Mansfield; Congregational Church trustees in Yorke and Seville.

1854 – Correspondent is Rev. George Whipple.

1855 – Correspondents are concerned about the Adair family’s welfare in Kansas Territory. They include Rev. H. H. Longley in Chatham Centre; E. Chapin in Lafayette; Harvey Jones, a Congregational minister, in Lawrence, K. T.; J. S. Lewis, Albany, Ohio.

Folder 7 – 1856. 30 letters. During the Adair family’s second year in Kansas, they were caught up in the political struggles surrounding the proslavery and free state forces; at the same time, Adair is organizing the First Congregational Church of Osawatomie. Of special interest during this year are three specific items. The first is statements by John T. Grant, William Grant, Francis Morse, and Mrs. Mary Day in Pottawatomie, K. T., dated June 12th concerning the murder of Allen Wilkinson and William Sherman in the Pottawatomie Massacre. The second is a letter dated June 14 and signed by H. H. Williams, Wm. Partridge, Jason Brown, S. W. Kilbourn, John Brown, Jr, S. B. Morse, I. Benjamin and P. D. Maness about their being held prisoner at Tecumseh on a charge of high treason following the Pottawatomie Massacre. The last is a note from Augustus Wattles in Lawrence, asking Adair if he knows of any Ohioans who have been driven from their claims or otherwise injured by the proslavery party.

Also of interest is the first of a dozen letters in the collection from Dr. Barstow Darrach, a friend of Adair’s who was at New York Hospital in New York City for postgraduate medical training. Darrach writes articulately on the slavery issue as it affects both Kansas and the nation as a whole. Other correspondents include J. C. Strong, Van Buren, Iowa, inquiring about conditions in Kansas; Col. Eldredge through Richard Realf about relief supplies for Kansas; J. S. Lewis, Albany, Ohio, expressing his concerns for Adair’s safety in the K. T. and referring to slavery issues in Ohio and Kentucky; Abel Polley, Council City, discussing territorial slavery issues; Anderson Johnston, Greencastle, Indiana about a group there considering emigrating to Kansas in anticipation of the upcoming election; Lewis Grout from Natal, South Africa; J. K. Cogswell, Maumee City, Ohio; Mrs. Isaac Partridge; Mrs. Mary Crane, Litchfield, New York, who plans to return to her cabin in Osawatomie in the spring of 1857; Chester Hubbard, Keokuk, Iowa, encouraging Adair to come to Iowa; Rev. M. W. Palmer in Kingsville, Ohio, expressing his wish to send a box of relief goods but being doubtful of its getting there; Harvey Jones in “Wabonsa,” K. T., discussing a Congregational ministerial association; Mrs. Abijah Kingsbury, Keene, New Hampshire; Elizabeth Partridge, Tecumseh (where her husband is still in prison), stating that she and her husband William will go to Lecompton as soon as he is well enough to travel.

Folder 8 – 1857. 47 letters. Much of the correspondence concerns relief aid for Kansas, emigration possibilities, proslavery/free state politics in Kansas as viewed from within the Kansas Territory as well from afar, and the opening of the land office at Lecompton. Correspondents of special interest include Dr. Barstow Darrach at New York Hospital;
Folder 8 (cont.)
L. Williams, Lafayette, who congratulates Florella on the arrival of Ada Eliza; C. M. Crane, Utica, New York, referring to John Brown, Sr., having been in Albany a few days ago; William Partridge, Lawrence, referring to James Townsley, a member of the Pottawatomie Rifles, having his shackle removed by a blacksmith; W. P. Russell, Memphis, Michigan, refers to the Supreme Court decision regarding Dred Scott; G. W. Babb, Boston, who refers to having seen John Brown and one of his sons in Boston last winter; William Partridge requesting the remainder of his belongings he sent to him in Lawrence; Hugh Foresman, Yellow Springs, Ohio, expressing his concern for his daughter Rachel Garrison who married David Garrison, a cousin of Adair’s who had been murdered along with Frederick Brown, Adair’s nephew, in August of 1856; N. Engle, Xenia, Ohio, expressing concern for Rachel Garrison.

Folder 9 – 1858. 27 letters. Correspondents are still concerned with the impact of the slavery issue on political events in Kansas and the nation as well as relief aid for Kansas. Correspondents of interest include W. A. Ela in Hampden requesting assistance in building a church for the Hampden Colony in Coffey County; Benjamin Fenn, Hartford, Ohio, an old friend of Owen Brown’s who is planning to emigrate to Kansas in the fall of 1858; Dr. Barstow Darrach who is considering setting up a practice in Osawatomie when he finishes his residency training at New York Hospital; Luther Humphrey, a 75 year-old cousin of John Brown’s in Windham, Ohio, who is interested in coming out and assisting Adair; receipt from J. H. Kagi acknowledging $1.30 received of Adair for John Brown on account (October); George W. Babb in Boston praising Adair for how Kansas put down the “English Swindle” and including a notice of the opening of his bootmaking shop; Rev. Richard Knight, South Hadley Falls, Massachusetts.

Folder 10 – 1859. 13 letters. Correspondents include N. Engle of Xenia, Ohio, who is still thinking of coming west and asks Adair 16 questions about conditions in Kansas Territory; R. E. Howe in London, Michigan, with news of the town; Dr. Barstow Darrach, who has completed his training at New York Hospital and moved to Quincy, Illinois to set up practice; John W. Gale in McHenry County, Illinois; Rev. R. Cordley in Lawrence. Issues continue to be those of politics, emigration and conditions in the Kansas Territory.

Box 6 – Correspondence to Samuel Lyle Adair and Florella Brown Adair From Non-Relatives, 1860-1915.

Folder 1 – 1860. 13 letters. Correspondents include Dr. Barstow Darrach, Quincy, Illinois, regretting the terrible drouth in Kansas; Mary Day, writing to Florella expressing sympathy regarding the recent death of the Adairs’ last child, Marion Brown Adair, born September 27, 1859; letter in September from Congregational ministers R. Cordley, J. Copeland, S. Bodwell, H. W. Simpson & J. W. Fox, wanting all churches in the area to set aside November 6th as the start of a religious revival in Kansas; Mrs. Lewis Tappan in New York who writes she is sending barrels of clothing and bedding to Kansas.

Folder 2 – 1861. 25 letters. The sending of relief barrels as well as money to Kansas continues to occupy many of the letters to Adair. In the first half of the year, a considerable number of letters have to do with plans for the dedication of the Osawatomie church in July. Correspondents include H. N. Haight and Elizabeth Howe with news of London, Michigan; H. C. Harris, Rochester, Minnesota; Jesse Dickinson, Wethersfield, Illinois; J. A. Albra, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Sarah Tappan of New York. They are concerned with relief aid for Kansas. Other correspondents include J. Copeland, Clinton, Kansas, regarding the dedication of Adair’s new church; N. A. Calkins with money for the church from the American Congregational Union; G.W.E. Griffith, Minneola, Kansas, requesting information about Rachel Garrison’s land; and Mary Partridge, Fair Haven, Minnesota, telling of the unsettled situation there and that her father is given credit for starting a revival there.

Folder 3 – 1862. 6 letters. In August of this year, Adair accepts a commission as a chaplain in the United States Army and is first assigned to Fort Scott in Bourbon County. By late October he is also dealing with the problem of refugee Indians. Correspondents include Rececca Howe, London, Michigan, who expresses concern over the threatened invasion of Kansas by the rebels as well as giving news of local happenings in London; Dr. Barstow Darrach, Quincy, Illinois, who comments at length on the war situation; he has tended some of the wounded from the battle of Pittsburgh; Professor George N. Allen, Oberlin, who refers to Florella’s recent visit there and comments that several of the Oberlin boys in the Ohio Second Cavalry are stationed at the Kansas border; C. A. Hine, Otego, New York, who discusses war, prices of produce, weather, and crops.

Folder 4 – 1863. 23 letters. In January Adair is transferred to the hospital at Fort Leavenworth. Florella remains at Osawatomie. Their daughter Emma is now a student at Oberlin. Many of the correspondents express concern about the war. (In September Florella tells her husband of the death of his friend Dr. Darrach in July at Vicksburg, where he was Medical Inspector.) Correspondents include Professor James H. Fairchild, Oberlin, who is sorry there is no room at his house for Emma to board with them; several others at Oberlin discussing Emma’s tuition and living costs, including a note from W. W. Wright with whom Emma Boards; Frederick L. Binder, Greenfield, Ohio, who thanks Adair for paying the taxes on his land in Kansas; C. A. Hine, Glens Falls and later Saratoga Springs, New York, who feels a draft is sure to come; William Chestnut, Osawatomie, wanting Adair to intervene with Major Blunt on behalf of their sons in terms of an officer rank; J. H. Carruth, a teacher at Baldwin City who refers to Wm. Quantrell; Orson Day, Peoria, Illinois.

Folder 5 – 1864. 31 letters. Adair continued to work at the hospital in Leavenworth and
Florella moved from Osawatomie to Leavenworth in mid-May to be with her husband as her health was failing at this point. In July, Adair received his discharge from the Adjutant General. Correspondents during this year include J. H. Carruth, Baldwin City, Kansas, who comments on the aftermath of the Civil War; Frederick Binder, Greenfield, Ohio, who wants Adair to act as his agent for some land in Kansas; C. A. Hine, Glens Falls, New York, who is sending Adair the deed to his Osawatomie land which he has sold; Rev. Zebina Baker about church matters; R. E. Howe, London, Michigan; Mary E.
Folder 5 (cont.)
Partridge, Austinburg, Ohio, who writes of her visit last winter with John Brown, Jr., and requests Adair to recommend her for a teaching position as she feels she can teach blacks.

Folder 6 – 1865. 11 letters. Correspondence indicates Florella’s health continued to decline culminating in her death on February 6, 1865, with burial in Greenwood Cemetery in Leavenworth next to her last child Marion. Correspondents include Rev. Lewis Bodwell in Olathe and Wyandotte who thinks Adair can apply for and receive a commission from the American Home Missionary Society of between $450 and $500 a year; Mrs. Mary J. Patterson of Lawrence who wants Adair to be a witness on her behalf in a legal matter.

Folder 7 – 1866-1868. 38 letters, 1 item.
1866 – 13 letters. Correspondents include Rev. Lewis Bodwell, Topeka and Wyandotte; C. H. Crane, Leavenworth; S. D. Bowker, Topeka. There is a report from Adair to the corresponding secretary of the American Home Missionary Society.

1867 – 14 letters. Correspondents include Rev. Harvey Jones who is encouraging Adair to consider a position with the Congregational Church in Geneva; C. H. Crane, Leavenworth; Rev. Lewis Bodwell, Topeka; G. L. Becker, Grenada, Nemaha County; R. E. Howe, Exeter, Michigan; L. H. Hunting, Osawatomie who wants Adair to intervene in a problem between Hunting and another member of the church.

1868 – 11 letters; 1 item. Correspondents include R. E. Howe, Exeter, Michigan, who is sorry to hear of Florella’s death; H. H. Williams in the House of Representatives in Topeka, who is enclosing scrip to compensate Adair for his work as director of the Kansas Hospital for the Insane since there is no money in the treasury; Rev. Zebina Baker, Waushara, Lyon County, who describes his preaching schedule, sends greetings from men who served in the Kansas 8th Regiment and knew Adair, and inquires about purchasing a swarm of bees; Rev. L. Smith, Strongsville, Ohio; Rev. L. H. Platt, Topeka; Rev. M. R. Clough, Emporia; Rev. Edwin A. Harlow, Wyandotte.

Folder 8 – 1870-1915. 20 letters, 1 item.
1870 – 1 letter, from C. H. Crane in Leavenworth.

1871 – 1 letter, to Mrs. Adair from a Bloomington friend.

1872 – 4 letters. Correspondents include Henry Chapin, Durant, Iowa who thinks of Adair as an antislavery friend and is grateful both their sons were spared in the war; R. E. Howe, London, Michigan, commenting on changes there; E. N. Bartlett, Lawrence who has lost three children and is visiting a married son.

1874 – 5 letters. Correspondents include A. D. Williams, Maumee City, Ohio, who is delighted to learn that Adair has survived the Kansas troubles; Mrs. Lucy Haxton, Scotland, Connecticut; Rev. R. Cordley (and copy of Adair’s response to him); John Blunt in Woburn, Massachusetts, visiting from Kansas.

1875 – 3 letters. Correspondents include Rev. S. Y. Lum, Lawrence; L. B. Storrs, Quindaro; and a friend of Emma’s by the name of Lucie who is in Lawrence.

1878 – 1 item: Note from Adair acknowledging receipt of $48.60 from Martha M. Wallace as his share of estate of their deceased sister, Ann Eliza Adair.

1881 – 1 letter, from Rev. J. H. Carruth, Topeka, on selling the west half of the Kelly claim.

1887 – 1 letter, from G. W. Walrod, Osawatomie, requesting that Adair perform his marriage ceremony.

1891 – 2 letters, both from Henry Chapin, Anita, Iowa.

1915 – 1 letter, a reminiscence from a W. P. Shepard of Elyria Ohio, on a “bit of Osawatomie history.” He refers to the time he worked in a drug store in Osawatomie in the winter of 1873-1874 and Adair’s son Charles was his Sunday school teacher.

Folder 9 – 9 letters. Correspondence from O[rville] C[hester] Brown, 1856-1891. He was one of the founders of Osawatomie and originally came from New York state. In 1858 he was the only male communicant in Adair’s church in Osawatomie. He left Osawatomie after a severe drought hit the area in 1859 and returned to New York. In 1856 and 1857 his letters are from Utica and Buffalo, New York, where he is fundraising for Kansas relief. In 1861 he writes from Chicago where the whole city is arming to meet the rebels; in 1862 he writes from various places in New York.

Folder 10 – 3 letters. Correspondence from James Rockwell brown, son of O. C. Brown, 1862-1864. First letter is from hospital in Helena, Arkansas; others are from Pine Bluff, Arkansas. All tell of his wartime experiences in the 5th Kansas Cavalry, Company H.

Folder 11 – 16 letters. Correspondence from Kilborn Hurd, 1858-1877. The folder includes 5 related letters, all having to do with Hurd’s Osawatomie land transactions with which Adair is helping as he had given Adair power of attorney. Hurd has moved to Canada West (Ontario).

Folder 12 – 4 letters. Correspondence from William & Lucretia Gee, 1857-1872. (1857, 1860, 1871, 1872). The first is from London, Michigan, and the rest are from Minnesota. A friend of Gee’s is anxious to go to Kansas so he is inquiring of Adair about conditions there.

Folder 13 – 78 letters. Correspondence to Adair from the American Home Missionary Society in New York City. 1845-1872 (1845-2; 1851-1; 1852-4; 1853-3; 1854-16; 1855-8; 1856-2; 1857-4; 1858-10; 1859-2; 1860-7; 1861-7; 1862-1; 1863-1; 1866-3; 1868-3; 1870-1; 1872-3); 22 quarterly drafts to Adair from AHMS, 1866-1871; Adair’s commission renewal, 1870. The principal correspondent is Rev. S. S. Jocelyn. Other correspondents include Rev. R. Cordley, Lawrence on AHMS business and Lewis Tappan, treasurer of AHMS.

Folder 14 – 19 items. Relief Work correspondence and lists, 1856-1864. Includes correspondence from S. C. Pomeroy, chairman and corresponding secretary of Office of Kansas Relief Committee; E. B. Whitman, general agent of N. K. Committee in Osawatomie; and Luther Humphrey, a relative, in Windham, Ohio, (1864) who writes that he has sent a barrel of relief goods for Kansas.

Box 7 – Miscellaneous Correspondence To and From Samuel Lyle Adair; Reports, Records, Accounts, Commissioning, Certificates, Narratives, Tax Receipts.

Folder 1 – 2 items. 1834 & 1836. Reports to Adair’s father, George Adair, on his status at Western Reserve College in Hudson, Ohio.

Folder 2 – 4 items. 1847-1849. Correspondence related to Adair’s work as a school principal in Maumee City District, Lucas County, Ohio.

Folder 3 – 24 items. Correspondence relating to Adair’s commissioning as a chaplain in U. S. Army, 1862. Includes orders, duties, assignments, certification, letters of recommendation, reports by Adair. Of special interest is what appears to be a copy of a letter to President Lincoln from Zebina Baker certifying Adair’s character.

Folder 4 – 11 letters. Correspondence to Adair about the death of soldiers in Civil War. Six letters are from relatives of soldiers who have died in the war (1862), and five letters are related to the death of a Daniel True (1864).

Folder 5 – Appointment of Adair as a Trustee (Director) of the Osawatomie State Insane Asylum, 1867.

Folder 6 – 11 miscellaneous items relating to Adair’s ministerial work, 1859-1868. Includes subscription information relating to American Sunday School Union in Philadelphia; warranty deed between Henry A. & Matilda Harris and Florella Brown Adair for the purchase of some property of Osawatomie; report Sept., 1865, by Adair from U. S. Sanitary Commission to J. R. Brown, listing receipts and disbursements.

Folder 7 – 41 items. Church membership transfers, 1854-1896.

Folder 8 – 5 items. Church annual meeting reports, 1859-1862.

Folder 9 – First Congregational Church of Osawatomie – records, births, deaths, reports, accounts, 1856-1909. Includes two incomplete hand-written journals by Adair.

Folder 10 – Marriage certificate form & copy of Ministerial Register of Kansas dated November 20, 1896.

Folder 11 – G. A. R. Letter (incomplete), 1893, from Joseph Morrison, commander of McPherson Post No. 1.

Folder 12 – 22 items. Copies of Adair correspondence, 1854-1871. Most of the contents of this folder have to do with ministerial concerns of Adair.

Folder 13 – 2 items. Narratives: “One Day in the Life of a Pioneer Mother” by Grace Adair Hunt, granddaughter of Florella Brown Adair. Written from the point of view of Florella Brown Adair, depicting events on August 30, 1856. Copy of typed MS, 4 ½ pp. “Early Life in Kansas” by Emma Adair Remington. Written in August 1920 and read at the Old Settler Cutler picnic, near Rantoul. Copy of typed MS, 4 pp.

Also other miscellaneous items: July 11, 1864 essay by Nellie E. Strieby; funeral notices for Major Jeremiah B. Remington, Ada M. Remington, Jessie Remington Willis, Arthur E. Willis, Mary E. Brennan newspaper clippings on “A Ranch for Wooden Horses” in Leavenworth; Elizabeth Winyan’s (Indian) addresses (small pamphlet); Articles of Faith of First Congregational Church of Osawatomie, Kansas; promotion for book “Moral Philosophy” by Rev. J. H. Fairchild; clipping of prize poem “The Children of the Battlefield”; certificate of military land grant of 160 acres to William Chestnut, 1867; funeral discourse for Mrs. Sarah Ann Remington, July 29, 1883.

Folder 14 – Treasurer’s office tax receipts, 1861-1866, for Miami and Lykins (Kansas Territory) County for C. H. Crane (4) and Adair (8).

Folder 15 – 9 Undated & miscellaneous items.

Box 8 – Journals, Diaries, Course Notes and Sermons of Samuel Lyle Adair; Record of Marriages Performed by Samuel Lyle Adair; Oberlin College Catalogue 1863-1864.

Folder 1 – Samuel Lyle Adair diary for portions of 1836 & 1837 written while Adair was a student, age 25-26. Includes narrative of a trip home in 1836 to Paint Valley, Ohio, from Hudson, Ohio. Of special interest is a reference in August 1836 to his mother’s having “lost her reason” and no longer knowing her son Samuel, though she had been thus afflicted for a long time. Other entries include visiting his Uncle Joel Van Meter’s and his Uncle Gamaliel Garrison’s, in Yellow Springs, Ohio; reference to his Uncle Maxwell Patton’s family; discussion of attending an abolition meeting at Elizor Wright’s and visiting with him and his wife as well as with Clarissa, Lucy and James at Tallmadge; reference to September 1836 visit with Owen Brown.

Folder 2 – Samuel Lyle Adair diary accounts for: summer 1845; parts of 1848; June 9-13, 1865. The 1845 account concerns Adair’s decision to leave Dundee, Michigan; one 1848 entry is written on Adair’s 37th birthday and summarizes his existence up to that point. During 1848 Adair is in Grafton, Hudson, and Monroe, Ohio.

Folder 3 – Diary of Samuel Lyle Adair, 1849-1864, one volume, nearly 200 pages. Begins in Maumee City, Ohio, and concludes in Leavenworth, Kansas. During several of these years, Adair made no entries. Diary entries include comments on daily activities, self-reflections, observations, family events, church happenings, and current political events. Time periods covered in the diary:
January 1, 1849.
January 1 – March 10, 1850.
January 1 – June 10, 1853.
December 30, 1853 – January 3, 1854.
September 3 & 10, 1854.
August 20 – 22, 1862.
April 23 – May 4, 1855.
August 13 – 25, 1855.
September 3 – 9, 1858.
January 2, 1860.
January 1, 1861 – August 28, 1864 (a few dates are missing within this
time period).

Folder 4 – Diary of Samuel Lyle Adair, 1849-1864, typescript carbon of original volume in Folder 3, 127 pp. Certain dates have been underlined by the transcriptionist to indicate an event of particular interest or significance in Adair’s life on that date.

Folder 5 – Samuel Lyle Adair’s notes on President A. Mahon’s lectures on Intellectual and Moral Philosophy at Oberlin College, October 1837. One volume, approximately 80 pages, both sides.

Folder 6 – Two anti-slavery talks, ca 1840 & 1850.

Folder 7 – Sermons and essays (most undated) of Samuel Lyle Adair, Oberlin, Ohio, 1833-1838. In addition to the 21 sermons and 22 essays, there are two poems; a note from the clerk of the Lorain County Association certifying Adair’s theological attainments, October 31, 1840; and a list of subscribers’ names on the reverse side of a preamble (undated).

Folder 8 - Sermon record of Samuel Lyle Adair, 1850-1874. One small (6”x7.5”x.5”) volume. Information given includes text, date, place and subject of sermon. Beginning in April, 1860, Adair included brief remarks pertinent to such concerns as the weather and how many were present.

Folder 9 – Record of sermons preached by Samuel Lyle Adair, July 6, 1878 – December 18, 1898. One volume, 167 pp. Includes text, date, subject, weather, attendance and remarks (a column for each).

Folder 10 – Record of Marriages performed by Samuel Lyle Adair, 1843-1897. One small volume. 171 marriages are recorded. Volume includes 28 loose sheets which are copies of Kansas State Board of Health “Return of Marriage” certificates, 1886-1894.

Folder 11 – Oberlin College Catalogue, 1863-1864. Emma F. Adair is mentioned on page 27.

Folder 12 – Genealogical material.

Folder 13 – Florilla (sic) Brown’s autograph book (1836).

Microfilm Roll List

#28823
Box 1, Folder 1 to Folder 5
MS-1230

#28824
Box 1, Folder 5 to Box 2, Folder 9
MS1231

#28825
Box 2, Folder 9 to Box 3, Folder 2
MS-1232

#28826
Box 3, Folder 3 to Box 4, Folder 3
MS-1233

#28827
Box 4, Folder 3 to Box 5, Folder 4
MS-1234

#28828
Box 5, Folder 5 to Box 6, Folder 8
MS-1235

#28829
Box 6, Folder 9 to Box 8, Folder 1
MS-1236

#28830
Box 8, Folder 2 to Folder 13
MS-1237

 

--Constance L. Menninger, 10/84