What's in a Note?

Well, here I am again. Obsessing about Mack seems to be my favorite past time. Notice I didn't say "new" favorite past time.

In searching records of the White River Valley Historical Quarterly Society, a publication with interests in counties in Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas, including Stone, Taney, Green and Ozark Counties, I ran across this note:




If you notice in the first paragraph the writer out lines the names listed in the old notebook. Frank Hinkle and Dan Hinkle are included - followed a few names later by Mack Adair.

Pure speculation on my part at this time, but Minnie (Mack's wife) has brothers named Frank & Daniel J. Hinkle.  Could that be the same Frank and Dan Hinkle listed and maybe even working with Mack Adair? Is that maybe how Mack and Minnie met or Minnie's brothers helped Mack find work?  From records found previously in the "Jungles" Mack seems to be fond of religion and the United Brethren in Christ church is an evangelical Christian denomination with roots in Mennonite and German communities in Pennsylvania.  The Hinkles are originally from Pennsylvania and of German ancestry, so it would make sense they were associated with this type of church.  

Mack and Minnie were married by the 1880 census and living in that area. It's the right county and right time frame. Again, I may just be desperately looking for a connection, but I'm going to hold on to this just in case.

Adairs or Not? That is the Question

Family history is a lot of making contacts and exchanging information. I've connected with several of our Adair family's distant cousins and we've kept in touch and shared information.

Mack & Minnie

• Jessie Adair (1881-1882) did not have children
• Mary Adair (1883-1895) did not have children
• Cora J. Adair (1884-1925) - cousin connection (Lynn)
• Eva Mae Adair (1886-1970) 
• James Harrison Adair (1889-1950) - our line
• Beatrice Adair (1891-1959) - cousin connection (Marsha)
• William Bolen Adair (1893-1994) did not have children
• Emma Adair (1895-1962) 
• Josephine Adair (1897-1993) - 2 cousins connections (Sandy & Jo)
• Mack Adair, Jr. (1899-1986) - cousin connection (Chelsea)

Chelsea, this new cousin I recently connected with, is a descendant of Mack Adair, Jr. We shared information and what our sources were. I asked her what she knew about Mack Sr. this was her reply:

"So, as far as finding more on Mack Sr., it is hard and I am not sure we ever will. The story I have always been told about him (and it seems to be a story that was told often as everyone here seems to knows it) is that he was adopted into the Adair family as a baby. He was a member of a Native American tribe that was massacred and as far as we know he was the only living survivor. On census records they did not list him as Native American or Indian because of the stigma and prejudices then. Regardless, I have not been able to even find his adopted family, but I am always searching. I am not sure if that is the full story or even a true story, but I have always been at a wall with him as well and that would make sense to me as to why."

From what our cousin has been told Adair is the family who adopted him.  I'll have to look into this further.