John L. Adair
John L. Adair was born in 1828 within the boundaries of the original Cherokee Nation, located in what is now northern Georgia. He belonged to a family with Irish roots that had intermarried with the Cherokee, making John a part-blooded Cherokee. At the age of ten, he experienced the traumatic forced relocation of the Cherokee to the Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi River. As he matured, Adair emerged as a significant leader, aiding the Cherokee in adapting to their new home. Appointed as the Cherokee boundary commissioner in 1871, he played a critical role in delineating the borders of the Cherokee Nation following the Treaty of 1866. Additionally, he was instrumental in compiling the constitution and laws of the Cherokee Nation, which were published in 1893 and served as essential references for Cherokee law until Oklahoma statehood in 1907. John L. Adair passed away in 1896 in Tahlequah, the capital of the Cherokee Nation.
John L. Adair
- Born: 1828
- Birthplace: Northern Georgia
- Died: October 21, 1896
- Place of death: Tahlequah, Indian Territory (now in Oklahoma)
Category: Government official
Tribal affiliation: Cherokee
Significance: Adair played an important role in Cherokee affairs during the difficult years following the Trail of Tears
John Lynch Adair was born in 1828 in the original Cherokee Nation, which included northern Georgia. The Adair family, originally from Ireland, had intermarried with the Cherokee and produced numerous part-blooded Cherokee Adairs, of whom John was one.
When John was ten years old, the Cherokee were forcibly moved to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Reaching manhood there, John Adair provided needed leadership in helping the Cherokee adjust to a new environment.
In 1871, as a result of the Cherokee Treaty of 1866, Adair was appointed Cherokee boundary commissioner to work with a U.S. government commissioner in determining the boundaries between the Cherokee Nation and surrounding states. In later years, he compiled the constitution and laws of the Cherokee Nation; published in 1893, they were the major references for Cherokee law until Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Adair died in the Cherokee capital of Tahlequah in 1896.