John George Adair
| John George Adair | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
March 3, 1823 Queens County, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland |
| Died | May 4, 1885 (aged 62) St. Louis, Missouri, United States |
| Residence | Glenveagh Castle, County Donegal, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; New York City; |
| Other names | Jack Adair |
| Occupation | Businessman; landowner |
| Spouse(s) | Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie Adair |
| Children | Stepsons:Arthur Ritchie & Montgomery Harrison “Jack” Ritchie (1861–1924) |
| Notes | |
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(1) Adair visited his JA Ranch named in his honor only three times before his unexpected death. (2) Adair was in the brokerage business in England, Ireland and the United States, but realized a large return from the JA Ranch investment. (3) Adair was trained in the British diplomatic service, but his temperament was too volatile for him to become a professional diplomat. (4) Anger at townspeople in Derryveah in County Donegal, Ireland, in 1861 prompted Adair to evict forty-seven families from their dwellings to beautify the land surrounding his Glenveagh Castle. |
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(1) Adair visited his JA Ranch named in his honor only three times before his unexpected death.
(2) Adair was in the brokerage business in England, Ireland and the United States, but realized a large return from the JA Ranch investment.
(3) Adair was trained in the British diplomatic service, but his temperament was too volatile for him to become a professional diplomat.
John George Adair (March 3, 1823 – May 4, 1885), sometimes known as Jack Adair, was an Irish businessman and landowner, who provided the seed capital for the large JA Ranch in the Palo Duro Canyon of the Texas Panhandle, a region of Texas. In its peak year in 1883, the ranch encompassed 1,335,000 acres (5,400 square kilometres) in portions of six Texas counties and boasted 100,000 head of cattle.
Adair was born in Queen's County (since 1922 known as County Laois), Ireland. He attended Trinity College, Dublin, where he was trained for the British diplomatic service. He had the military rank of captain. However, he seemed to lack the patient, smooth temperament required for diplomacy. He owned considerable real estate in Ireland, including the large Glenveagh Castle. In 1860, Adair went hunting on land he had rented to tenants in violation of the rental agreements. When the tenants objected, an irate Adair threatened them. A year later, in April 1861, with the force of the law behind him, he removed forty-seven families from forty-six houses in Derryveagh in County Donegal, Ireland. More than 150 screaming children and their parents were ordered off the property. Adair cleared twelve thousand acres. Many of the evicted had no idea where they might find shelter; some relocated to Australia. The incident is recorded by the Donegal band, "Goats Don't Shave," in the song "The Evictions" on their "Rusty Razor" album.
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