You know my obsession for Mack runs strong. I don't know why I love that mean old man so much, but I am determined to find his parents. Through this obsession I've found many cousins, and it's been really fun to connect with them and see pictures of their families.
One cousin sent me this treasure. This beautiful photo is Mack & Minnie and their young family. They had 10 children, 8 that reached adulthood (with the first sibling passing in 1925). We believe we know who each person is in the photo, left to right.
William "Bill" Bolen Adair
James "Jim" Harrison Adair (our line)
Eva Mae Adair Barnett
Mack Adair (seated)
Mack Adair, Jr.
Josephine "Josie" Adair Newsome
Arminda "Minnie" Hinkle Adair (seated)
Emma Adair Todd
Beatrice Adair Carroll Fugate
Where is their oldest daughter Cora Adair Peebles? Well, purely speculation on my part but the youngest child in the family is Mack Jr. born in 1899. I am making the assumption that he is the youngest boy - since he is in pants. He looks to be four-ish years old in this photo. If that is the case this photo was taken in 1903 or 1904. Cora married Willie Peebles in 1903, Eva married John "Harrison" Barnett in 1904. Maybe this was taken after Cora's marriage but before Eva married and left home.
There are always family stories floating around, and it's tough sometimes to tell stories from truth. In visiting with the cousins I've found there are 3 or 4 common themes . . . remember, it's not all pretty and that's okay. Each of these bits and pieces I've heard from at least 3 sources (kinda my standard to include it in my records).
Minnie was one tough gal:
- She always wore something on her head when she was older, as she didn't have much hair.
- She was afraid of water on her head, as a result she rarely if ever washed her hair.
- She chewed tobacco and had a spittoon.
- Once when she had a bad tooth she pulled it herself.
Mack:
- 1 family line indicated Mack was adopted and raised by another family. Two family lines indicated they had never heard that story or anything like that. None of them have any information on Mack's parents or siblings.
- 3 family sources have all indicated they heard a story of Mack while serving as a constable or deputy sheriff in Missouri shooting and killing a man for drinking at a "whites only" water fountain/trough. This upset the local community to the point Mack was given a referral for similar work in Muskogee Indian Territory (Oklahoma) and that is how the family ended up in Oklahoma. (UPDATE: A new cousin contact (4th source) heard Mack was a US Marshal during this incident. I'm researching)
All of them have said Mack and Minnie worked hard, and did the best they could.
Maxine, Grandpa Lester's youngest sister told her family little stories, as it seems she was a bit of a prankster. She got a hold of Mack’s pipe once and stuffed it with dried leaves instead of his tobacco. Maxine had said she had to tiptoe around him for days after that one. Also she cut off half of his mustache once when he was sleeping in a chair on the porch.
Maxine said once that another family member was complaining about how badly they were treated by Mack and Minnie, but Maxine defended them saying they did the very best they knew how. Maxine felt the girls were treated a lot better than the boys.
These things are tough to hear, but I do remember hearing similar stories. It hurts my heart to think of grandpa Lester being treated badly. From stories the boys (our dads) have told Lester had temper too, hearing about his upbringing gives us information that might helps us understand. As a grandchild I never saw that side of him, but I'm sure Bob, Gary and Dean could share stories, one that comes to my mind is when they had to tell him he couldn't drive anymore and they were there to take his drivers license.
There are many sides to people and not everyone sees every side of a person. We do know they donated to the Red Cross (through previous news articles) and they took in their four grandchildren and raised them.
When grandpa Lester's mom, Clara, died his dad, Jim, was also sick with the same flu. The newspaper said that he was improving slowly. Clara's death certificate informant was her mother Mary Buschjost. It appears then she was there. Maybe she came for the birth of the new baby and stayed since Clara wasn't recovering. Maxine said the four children stayed with the Buschjost side of the family for a bit, but were all left outside the front gate of Mack and Minnie's farm with a suitcase. Mack and Minnie took them in.
From records we know that Clara's father died about 18 months before Clara did. His wife Mary had 5 children at home to provide for after her husband's death. It is difficult to imagine the hard choices people had to make then. It was said grandpa Lester and his brother and sisters were left at Mack and Minnie's gate, we weren't there and we don't know if Mary agonized over the decision to let her daughter's children go. For all we know she may have easily rode away, we just don't know.
And in all of this where was Jim (James Harrison), why did he not keep his children with him? Again, we weren't there and we just cannot know what he was thinking or experiencing. Was he grieving at the loss of his wife? Maxine said of her father, "He was an alcoholic and we would go long stretches without seeing him to finding him passed out in Ma & Pa's (Mack & Minnie) front yard. He'd stay a couple days then be gone again." From Maxine's photo albums it appears Jim remarried a lady named Dora and Jim did much better after marrying her. I did find a census record in from 1940 with a James Harrison Adair with a Darline. I'm researching this further, but can't find marriage records for it. Maxine has her listed as his "common law" wife. But in a photo, they both have wedding rings on. When Jim passed away in 1950 his obituary did not mention being married, nor did his will.
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