Research Notes on Rufus N. Adair

2. Norma Entrekin, granddaughter, has provided me a family group sheet for the family of Rufus and Nellie with data and photos of all of their children. I have this on file with Geo. W. Adair's information.

BIOGRAPHY: 1. Per 12/31/2001 email from Norma Entrekin [nje@mindspring.com]: "A lot of our info. also has holes and little documentation, so I know how you feel- Also conjectures and rumors enter into ours too! Most of our Adairs, (my mom's family) were, and are not active in church. My grandfather Rufus married my grandmother, Nellie Reid when she was 16 or so and he was 26. He was good looking and a charmer, and could speak Navajo and the Indians loved him. I'm told that he knew the B of M by heart, but was inactive in church. (I assume his folks George and Emily Tyler Adair read the B of M to him.) I didn't know him well; family scandals, etc. When my grandma Nellie was having her 10th child, he had been stepping out on her. She told my mom, Nellie P. Adair, her oldest daughter, that if anything happened to her, "Papa" (Rufus) would leave. She and the baby died in child birth and she was 39. My mom was 16 and sure enough he more or less abandoned the family. Horrible mess. He eventually married Nita Seitzinger. Their oldest children married each other (Helen Seitzinger married Clarence Adair before their parents remarried each other). My Aunt Helen is still alive and a lovely person. Anyway, my mom moved from Bloomsfield, NM to Eagar, AZ with my dad and rarely saw her family again. Clarence and Helens' daughter, my cousin, Carolyn Adair Smith is a genealogist and a good person. She is Rufus and Nellie's granddaughter and also Rufus and Nita's."

2. Per email of 7 Jan 2002 from digger_grant@hotmail.com: "I had the privilege of knowing Bonita 'Nita' as many people called her, and she was a wonderful person. She was never baptized into the LDS church although I've heard her support the church on many occasions. Apparently she was the only mom that most of Rufus and Nellie's children knew. My grandfather was the oldest child of Rufus and Nellie. We have a picture - probably taken at Nellie's funeral - of he and his brother Corwyn in nice suits. My grandad (Clarence) was probably about 16 years old at the time. I've heard that my Grandad had to take on a lot of responsibility for his siblings after his mom died and it was really hard to get him to talk about his youth (probably because life was so hard growing up in Hammond, NM). Grandad Adair (Clarence W. Adair) married Helen Malen Seitzinger June 2, 1936 in Aztec, San Juan Co., New Mexico. They had five children. Here is a list of their names and birth/death dates: a. Clarence James Adair (Jimmy) married Billie Lei Nani Newman Born: 9 Feb 1937; Place: Farmington, San Juan Co., New Mexico Died: 5 Jan 1982; Place: Farmington, N.M. Buried: 9 Jan 1982; Place: Bloomfield, San Juan Co., New Mexico b. Helen Louise Adair Married Robert E. Martin Born: 13 Jan 1939; Place: Bloomfield, San Juan Co., N.M.; Still Living c. Carolyn Anita Adair (My Mother) married Don Kay Smith Born: 7 April 1943; Place: Provo, Utah Co., Utah; Still Living d. Roselynn Nell Adair married Thomas LeRoy Dugger Born: 8 April 1950; Place: Farmington, San Juan Co., N.M. Died: 6 May 2001; Place: Bloomfield, San Juan Co., N.M. Burial: 9 May 2001; Place: Bloomfield, San Juan Co., N.M. e. Robin Marie Adair married Paul Anthony Chavez Born: 21 June 1954; Place: Farmington, San Juan Co., N.M.; Still Living We have many original pictures of Rufus Adair and Nellie Reid, pictures of Bonita "Nita" Sheetz and her parents/family, pictures of Geo. Washington Adair family, etc. If you are interested contact my mom at csmith@acrnet.com."

3. Per 25 Jan 2002 email of Carolyn Smith : "Nellie & Rufus traveled to St. George to be sealed in the Temple, George & Edna Slade traveled with them to witness the sealing. George & Edna had been sealed a few years prior to this. The trip to St George was a major undertaking & due to the financial situation of both couples and the fact that Rufus & Nellie's mode of travel was by team & wagon, it was necessary to travel some and then stop & work to help finance the remainder of their trip. We understand that several work stops were necessary to complete the trip. When they got to New Harmony they spent several months visiting family. The time spent there also allowed Rufus & George to find work to help finance their return trip to New Mexico."

4. Unpublished paper "Hammond History" by Don Smith of Bloomfield, New Mexico is a history of the Hammond, New Mexico where George Adair and his son George Adair, Jr. were part of the two dozen or so LDS families who settled in the area in the late 1890's. Many had come from the White Mountain aand Apache County area of Arizona. I have a copy of this history on file. The area was first settled by nonmembers of the LDS Church and was kind of a rough area at first. The area is on the San Juan river and was attractive because of the irrigation possibilities. The Hammond Ward was organized on 25 Nov 1900. George Adair, Jr. was named to the bishopric to replace second counselor Joseph W. White when White moved from the area a couple of months or so after the ward organization. The irrigation ditch was problematic with many flash floods continually washing away parts of it. So many families had moved away from the area by 1913, that the ward became a branch of the Western States Mission for the next several years. Don has copies of the ward and branch records and it appears therefrom that the Adairs were active members. In the very early days of the ward, Sunday services were held in the various homes of the ward members. In 1914, after about 14 years, a new church house was bult. It was small and built of cedar posts set upright in the ground,then stuccoed with adobe mud. This little building served for church, school, community meetings, and a dance hall. It was so small that there was only room normally for a stove, 12 student desks, and the teacher's desk. For dances, the men would have to take turns in the building. School was normally held for four months a year. The children were taught by some teachers who had but eight years formal education or less. Some of the students had to walk or ride hourse back as far as five miles to attend school. Recreational acitivities in Hammond were humble affairs. There were dances, house parties, and outdoor affairs such as baseball and footraces. Dances were a favorite recreation since they didn't cost much except for the passing around of a mason jar for donations to pay the local fiddler. Often there would be two or three dances a week. Even the little kids danced, but when it became too late the kids were put to bed in the wagon boxes while the adults continued to dance. One of the fiddlers was George Adair's son Rufus. Don Smith's son Grant still has the old fiddle in his possession as of 2003. The old leather case in which the fiddle was carried is very weathered and worn from being hooked to the saddle horn and rubbed back and forth on the side of the horse as Rufus rode horseback to play for the dances. In the summer, normally picnis were held in a large grove of cottonwood trees by the river. Every Fourth of July would be celebrated with camping in the grove in their wagons on the evening of the third. At daybreak campfires were built and the celebration began. In the mornings there would be an outdoor dance followed by pot luck at noon followed by baseball in the afternoon. There was always a patriotic talk by a member of the ward. The festivities would end with a dance lasting well into the night. The irrigation ditch never could bring enough land under cultivation and was constantly rebuilt for 20 or more years before being given up on. The water from the river was very muddy and usually had to be settled before being used domestically. The old timers used to say that "the water was too thick to pour but too thin to cut with a knife." Homes were painted with a mixture of water and soft rock mica. The mica was dug from the hillsides, washed clean, then put in an oven to bake. After baking, it was ground into a fine powder and mixed with water and applied to the walls. This homemade paint gave the homes a beautiful glitter. There never was a post office in Hammond and so they would go up the river to Largo. The water supply was always a problem leading to poor crops; consequently, the men would often go find work outside of the community. Some went to Colorado to work the timber and in the mills. Others helped lay track from Durango to Farmington for the Denver Rio Grande Southern Railroad. Some of the old ward minutes in Farmington fefer to times when most all of the men of the ward were gone. In one case in 1909, there was only one brother left temporarily and he did all the ward [home] teaching by himself. In Hammond in 1909, priesthood quorum meetings were held Monday evenings every week. By 1928, most of the Hammond settlers due to hardships and hard times had given up and moved away. Rufus Adair was one who remained. Later in 1928, Hammond was combined with Bloomfield and was organized as the Bloomfield Branch which was in turn a dependant branch of the Burnham Ward in Kirtland. All that is left of the settlement is one old home from 1893 and the Hammond cemetery with a few old stones and at least twenty unmarked graves. George and Emily Tyler Adair are buried in this cemetery. George Jr. is also buried in Hammond and Rufus is buried in Farmington.

BIRTH: 1. Per funeral program cited below. 2. Norma Entrekin, granddaughter, indicates variant date of 16 Sep 1884.

MARRIAGE: 1. Date and place per www.FamilySearch.org, Pedigree Resource File, disc #8, Pin #456957, submitted by Vern Hixson, 819 Mesa Court, Los Banos, California 93635; 6 Jan 2002. 2. Per 21 Jan 2002 email of Carolyn Smith : "I have a copy of Rufus and Nellie's marriage application. It states that Rufus was 25 and that Nellie was 18 when they marred. They were married at Aztec, San Juan, New Mexico on 17 May 1910. If her birth date is right, that of 3 Dec 1893, she was 16 but must have lied about her age." Norma Entrekin, granddaughter, indicates that the marriage was performed by Judge Current.

DEATH: 1. Per funeral program cited below. 2. Place per www.FamilySearch.org, Pedigree Resource File, disc #8, Pin #456957, submitted by Vern Hixson, 819 Mesa Court, Los Banos, California 93635; 6 Jan 2002. 3. Norma Entrekin, granddaughter, indicates Rufus had an undiagnosed blood clot in his leg for several days. He had gone to a doctor in Azted but by the time his problem was found it was too late to save his leg. He went into the hospital in Farmington for an operation to amputate his leg. He didn't recover from the surgery and died in the hospital on 28 April 1959. 4. Norma Entrekin, granddaughter, indicates variant date of 27 Apr 1959.

BURIAL: 1. 30 Jun 2002 email from Delbert Adair's relative "Audry" : Per funeral program : "Rufus Nathaniel Adair. In loving Remembrance In My Father's House. No, not cold beneath the grasses, Not close-walled within the tomb; Rather, in My Father's mansion, Living in another room. Living, like one who loves me, Like my child with cheeks abloom, Out of sight, at desk or school book, Busy in another room. Shall I doubt my Father' mercy? Shall I think of death as doom, Or the stepping o'er the threshold, To a bigger, brighter room? Shall I blame my Father's wisdom? Shall I set enswathed in gloom, When I know my loves are happy, Waithg in the other room? Robert Freeman. In Memory of of Rufus N. Adair. Date of Birth: Sept. 25, 1884. Date of Death: April 28, 1959. Services at L.D.S. Church, April 30, 1959, 2:00 P.M. Officiating: V.M. Johnson. Final Resting Place: Bloomfield Cemetery. Cope Mortuary." Norma Entrekin, granddaughter, indicates officiator was Branch President Volney M. Johnson, that the funeral was held in the Bloomfield Branch chapel, and that he was buried same day in the Bloomfield Cemetery. 2. Date and place per www.FamilySearch.org, Pedigree Resource File, disc #8, Pin #456957, submitted by Vern Hixson, 819 Mesa Court, Los Banos, California 93635; 6 Jan 2002.

!ORDINANCES: Verified 31 Mar 2001. BAPTISM: 1. Per Ordinance Index; notes "LDS Church membership record of a deceased individual - Book, 884001 - 884003, batch H000001." 2. 30 Jun 2002 email from Delbert Adair's relative "Audry" : 16 Sep 1892 at Nutrioso, Apache, Arizona." 3. Norma Entrekin, granddaughter, indicates John Mangum performed the baptism. ENDOWMENT: Per Ordinance Index; no documentation provided.f SEALING TO PARENTS: Born in the covenant. SEALING TO SPOUSE (1): Per 17 Feb 2002 email from Carolyn Smith . I do not find her date in the Ordinance Index but I do see one "pending" as of 31 Mar 2001. SEALING TO SPOUSE (2): Per Ordinance Index FHL film 6142783. Change Date: 17 MAY 2003 at 06:42:14

Father: George Washington ADAIR b: 27 JUN 1837 in , Pickens, Alabama Mother: Emily Prescinda TYLER b: 28 JAN 1847 in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie, Iowa

Marriage 1 Nellie REID b: 3 DEC 1894 in Wellington, Carbon, Utah Married: 17 MAY 1910 in Aztec, San Juan, New Mexico

Marriage 2 Bonita Katherine Christine SCHUETZ OR SHEETZ b: 17 JAN 1899 in Colorado City, El Paso, Colorado Married: 25 MAR 1936 in Fruitland, San Juan, New Mexico

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