Adair County, Oklahoma Genealogical Records Information

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Adair County History and Information

Adair County Facts

Click HERE to see full size D.O.T. County Map

Adair County was created in 1907 from Cherokee lands. The County was named for a prominent Cherokee family of which perhaps the most noted member was Col. William Penn Adair, who represented the Cherokee Nation at Washington from 1866 until his death in 1881. The County Seat is Stilwell. See also County History for more historical details.

Counties adjacent to Adair County are Delaware County (north), Benton County, Arkansas (northeast), Washington County, Arkansas (east), Crawford County, Arkansas (southeast), Sequoyah County (south), Cherokee County (west).

Adair County Cities & Towns Include Bell, Bunch, Cherry Tree, Chewey, Christie, Fairfield, Greasy, Lyons Switch, Maryetta, Peavine, Rocky Mountain, Salem, Stilwell, Watts, Watts Community, West Peavine, Westville, Zion, Elohim City, Oklahoma.

Records at the Adair County Courthouse

See Also Oklahoma Land Records, Marriage Records, Court & Probate Records

PLEASE READ!! Please call the clerk's department to confirm hours, mailing address, fees and other specifics before visiting or requesting information because of sometimes changing contact information.

All Departments below can be contacted at the Adair County Courthouse at PO Box 88, Stilwell, OK 74960-0088; Phone: (918) 696-5310; Fax: (918) 696-6829. NOTE: The record dates below are from the earliest date to present time.

Adair County Clerk's Office has Birth Records from 1908, Death Records from 1908 and , Land Records from 1907.
The County Clerk's office is responsible for preserving all the legal instruments filed by private citizens and public officials with the County Clerk's office. The office maintains files of all real estate records, plats, judgments, liens, patents, military discharges, school records, county personnel, insurance and retirement records for employees, meeting notices, commissioners' proceedings and other documents. Although county clerks record births and deaths and provide information on request, certificates are available only from the Vital Records Section, State Department of Health

Adair County Court Clerk's Office has Probate Records from 1907, Marriage Records from 1907, and Court Records from 1907.
The Court Clerk has the primary responsibility to record, file, and maintain permanent records of the proceedings of the District Court. We collect fines, fees, and forfeitures, and distribute the collected monies as provided by law to the appropriate agencies. There are numerous types of cases filed with the Court Clerk's Office some of which include: Civil, Small Claims, Probate, Guardianship, Adoption, Felony, Misdemeanor, Search Warrants, Licenses and more...

Click Here to Search Oklahoma Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records! - Researchers often overlook the importance of court records, probate records, and land records as a source of family history information.

Below is a list of online resources for Adair County Court Records. Email us with websites containing Adair County Court Records by clicking the link below:

Adair County Vital Records

See Also Research In Tax Records

Heavy spring rains with severe flooding in 1902 awakened Oklahoma's citizens to the need for better roads. Territorial laws placed responsibility with townships, and a road overseer was to be elected for each district. General property tax and some funds from liquor licenses collected by counties and townships were used to finance the building of public roads along section lines. A road tax was required, along with the requirement that all males between the ages of twenty-one and forty-five donate four eight-hour days a year to work on highways. Those who did not work or provide a substitute were fined $5 for each absence.

The county treasurer or assessor may have tax or assessment records. Some tax records are stored in museums, historical, and/or genealogical societies' repositories. Published tax records for Oklahoma are almost nonexistent. Some duplicated copies of county tax records are stored in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, State Archives Division for security purposes, but are not available for research. Koplowitz, Guide to the Historical Records of Oklahoma, indicates location of county records, including those of tax and assessments.

Below is a list of online resources for Adair County Tax Records. Email us with websites containing Adair County Tax Records by clicking the link below:

Adair County Tax Assesors Office, PO Box 88, Stilwell, OK 74960-0088; Phone: (918) 696-5310; Fax: (918) 696-6829
The county assessor has the responsibility to appraise and assess the real and personal property within the county for the purpose of ad-valorem taxation. Also, the county assessor is required to compute the ad-valorem taxes due on all the taxable property. By law, the county assessor appraises all the taxable real property according to its fair cash value for which the property is actually being used.
Adair County, Oklahoma Tax Books at Amazon.com

Adair County Genealogical Addresses

See Also Other Oklahoma Genealogical Addresses

The Repositories in this section are Archives, Libraries, Museums, Genealogical and Historical Societies. Many County Historical and Genealogical Societies publish magazines and/or news letters on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual or annual basis. Contacting the local societies should not be over looked. State Archives and Societies are usually much larger and better organized with much larger archived materials than their smaller county cousins but they can be generalized and over look the smaller details that local societies tend to have. Libraries can also be a good place to look for local information. Some libraries have a genealogy section and may have some resources that are not located at archives or societies. Also, take a special look at any museums in the area. They sometimes have photos and items from years gone by as well as information of a genealogical interest. All these places are vitally important to the family genealogist and must not be passed over.

Below is a list of online resources for Adair County Genealogical Addresses. Email us with websites containing Adair County Genealogical Addresses by clicking the link below:

Adair County Historical & Genealogical Association
Indian Territory Genealogical & Historical Society
Chronicles of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Historical Society, Tahlequah, Oklahoma
Northwest Oklahoma Genealogical Society, Woodward, Oklahoma
Oklahoma Pioneer Genealogical Society, Ponca City, Oklahoma
Southwest Oklahoma Genealogical Society, Lawton, Oklahoma
Western Trails Genealogical Society, Altus, Oklahoma
Local Oklahoma Researchers, Find a local researcher or become a local researcher.
The Federation of Oklahoma Genealogical Societies, P.O. Box 2531, Ponca City, Oklahoma 74602
Oklahoma Historical Society, 2100 North Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73105
Oklahoma Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 12986, Oklahoma City 73157-2986
Oklahoma Department of Libraries, Division of State Archives and Records, 200 N.E. 18th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 75105
National Archives; Southwest Region, 501 West Felix Street, Building 1, Fort Worth, Texas 76115-3405; E-mail: ftworth.archives@nara.gov. Mailing Address: P.O. 6216, Fort Worth, Texas 76115-0216
Oklahoma Newspapers & Periodicals Records - Newspapers and periodicals are the diaries of local communities. They are excellent sources of family history details - often recorded nowhere else. Look for obituaries, marriages, legal notices, and more found in our Historical Newspaper Archives.
Oklahoma Genealogical Society Books at Amazon.com

Adair County Church & Cemeteries

Click Here to Search Oklahoma Obituary Records! - This database is a compilation of obituaries published in U.S. newspapers, collected from various online sources. Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as names, dates, places of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships.

There are many churches and cemeteries in Adair County. Some transcriptions are online. A great site is the Adair County Tombstone Transcription Project.

There are no centralized repositories dealing with church records in Oklahoma. Scattered records can be found in genealogical publications, the DAR compilations, and on microfilm. The Spanish missions have played a central role in Oklahoma's religious history.

Printed secondary sources of transcribed cemeteries exist for most Oklahoma counties. The Oklahoma State Society of the DAR has collected hundreds of such records. Transcripts are housed both at the national DAR and with some local chapters and libraries.

Below is a list of online resources for Adair County Cemetery & Church Records. Email us with websites containing Adair County Cemetery & Church Records by clicking the link below:

Family Trees & Genealogy Tidbits

Click Here to Search Oklahoma Family Tree Records! - The use of published genealogies, electronic files containing genealogical lineage, and other compiled sources can be of tremendous value to a researcher.

When view family trees online or not, be sure to only take the info at face value and always follow up with your own sources or verify the ones they provide. Below is a list of online resources for Adair County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information. Email us with websites containing Adair County Family Trees, web forums and other family type information by clicking the link below:

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Oklahoma Family & Local History Records - The Family & Local Histories Collection lets you read journals, memoirs, and other first-hand historical narratives right on your computer. Gathered from some of the world's finest libraries, these materials may provide hard-to-find town, county, and state information; tax records and wills; military, church, and court records; as well as photographs, stories, and maps.
Oklahoma Pioneer Project - The Oklahoma Pioneer List (CPL) is a list of settlers to Oklahoma who migrated to or were born in Oklahoma prior to 1880 (included in the 1880 Oklahoma Census) and obtained from those sent (e-mailed) directly from individuals doing genealogical research.
Genealogical Document Search and Retrieval Service
Adair County USGenweb Archives
Adair County, Oklahoma Family Books at Amazon.com

County History

Adair County was named in honor of Watt Adair, one of the old time Cherokees who was one of the first settlers of Indian Territory.

His son, Hugh M. Adair, took an active part in the development of Eastern Oklahoma and is still one of its honored citizens.

Adair County is located in the eastern part of Oklahoma adjoining the counties of Benton and Washington, State of Arkansas, on the west and Cherokee County, Oklahoma, on the east. The western slope of what is called the "Ozark Uplift" of Arkansas extends into Adair County, giving it a healthful altitude of one thousand feet or more. It is about thirty-six miles in length north and south, with an average width of sixteen miles, containing 587 square miles of land. The greater part of the county is rough and hilly and originally was heavily timbered. The hilly sections are underlaid with sandstone, limestone, and granite which very closely resembles marble. These hills are plentifully supplied with sparkling springs, good grass, and of late years the residents are just becoming fully cognizant of the fact that much of this rough, cheap land is well adapted to fruit and berry culture.

Already thousands of crates of strawberries are being shipped to northern markets and under intelligent direction this section of Oklahoma will soon compete with Arkansas in the production of fine apples.

Adair County boasts of being one of the best watered counties of the state, its numerous springs forming little streams which furnish pure water for every neighborhood. Of these streams the Barron Fork, Sallisaw Creek, Lee's Creek, Ballard Creek and others, all tributaries of the Illinois and Arkansas rivers, not only supply pure water to the inhabitants of the county, but furnish great sport for anglers.

The greater part of the hilly sections of this county is still covered with timber, consisting of oak, hickory, walnut, ash, elm and sycamore, much of which is suitable for making furniture and building material. No special effort has yet been made to develop the mineral resources. Fifty years ago some lead was found from which the Indians molded their- bullets, but lead has not yet been found in paying quantities. Two attempts to drill for oil were made some time ago- but without success, although the land owners are still hopeful of finding lead, oil and gas.

The valleys of the numerous streams of Adair County are very fertile, producing practically all of the crops of the temperate zone. Corn, cotton, wheat and oats are the staple crops, but alfalfa, timothy and potatoes are produced in limited quantities.
Although quite a number of orchards have existed for many years, the citizens of the county have only recently begun to appreciate the possibilities of fruit and berry culture and to apply modern, intelligent methods in the care and development of orchards. Systematic spraying of fruit trees is now being advocated, although when first begun it met with opposition from some farmers who feared that the chemicals used in spraying would poison their bees. It was soon demonstrated, however, that the difference in value between the products of sprayed orchards and those not sprayed far exceeded the value of all the honey obtained. from bees.

Early Families

When the Cherokees were driven from their homes in Georgia and Tennessee nearly a century ago, some of their most prominent families settled within the present limits of Adair County, attracted hither no doubt by the primitive forests and beautiful streams where game and fish were plentiful.

Among them were the Ryder family, Augustus and Austin, who came from Tennessee in 1832, and settled a few miles east of the present City of Stilwell. Here in 1856, Thomas L. Ryder was born, who not only became prominent in Cherokee affairs but since statehood has been elected three times to serve his district in the lower house of the Legislature and once in the State Senate. At the age of sixty-six he has now retired and resides in Muskogee, surrounded by a family of children. Mark Bean, another Cherokee, emigrated to this neighborhood in 1832, developed a farm and reared a family of boys.

The Starr family, George, Caleb and Noon, were also prominent Cherokees who established homes here in an early day, locating on the beautiful Barron Fork, a tributary of the Illinois River, and on Sallisaw Creek, farther south.

Louis Downing, a full-blood, who was afterward elected Chief of the Cherokee Nation, established his home on Lee's Creek.

Walter Duncan and his brothers, Clint and Charles, were among the other prominent .Cherokees who located in the Valley of Barron Fork.

Charles Duncan, for many years, was a prominent Cherokee preacher. One of the historic spots in this vicinity is the site of the old Flint District Courthouse of Cherokee days. This temple of justice was a two story frame structure, located on Sallisaw Creek, seven miles east of where Stilwell is now located. Many important trials both civil and criminal were held in this historic old courthouse during the days when the laws. of the Cherokee Nation were in full force and effect. Many good old Cherokees will tell you that their old time laws were more rigidly enforced and penalties for violation of law were inflicted with more certainty and with less delay than is now customary under the rule of the white man.

Some of their old laws provide that such offenses as theft and assault should be punished with a given number of lashes upon the bare back of the offender, with double the number of lashes for a second conviction of the same offense, and it was not unusual, in the olden times, for an offender to be arrested, tried, convicted and punished all in one day.

If not recently destroyed, the old forked tree still stands near the Flint District Courthouse, to which the criminals were tied while receiving their punishment. During the later years of the life of the Cherokee Nation, however, punishment by fine and imprisonment was substituted for the whipping post. Under the old Indian regime, much annoyance and chagrin was often experienced by the tribal officials by reason of the fact that no white man, no matter how detestable he might have been, nor how flagrant his offense, could be tried or punished by the tribal courts. It is barely possible that the careers of certain white interlopers.

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