John George Adair

John George Adair

John George Adair (3 March 1823[1][2]– 4 May,[2] 1885), sometimes known as Jack Adair, born in County Laois, Ireland,[3] was a Scots-Irish businessman and landowner, financier of JA Ranch in the Texas Panhandle.

Adair had made his fortune in Ireland buying up estates bankrupt after the Irish potato great famine.[4]

In 1866 Adair made his first visit to the United States and established a brokerage firm in New York City for the purpose of placing British loans in America at higher interest rates than those in Britain.[5]

Together with his business partner Charles Goodnight, Adair established the JA Ranch, the first cattle ranch in the Texas panhandle in 1877 in the Palo Duro Canyon area.[6]

In 1867, at a ball given in honor of Congressman J. C. Hughes, Adair met Mrs. Cornelia Wadsworth Ritchie, whom he married in 1869.[5]

He is buried at Rathdaire Protestant Parish Church, Ballybrittas.[4]

  1. ^ "The life and death of Black Jack Adair, the mastermind of the Derryveagh Evictions – The Irish Story". Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  2. ^ a b "John George "Jack" Adair". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  3. ^ "John George Adair". irishevents4u.com. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  4. ^ a b "John Adair". www.ranches.org. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b "TSHA | Adair, John George". www.tshaonline.org. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  6. ^ Commission, Texas Historical. "Charles and Mary Ann Goodnight Ranch State Historic Site | THC.Texas.gov - Texas Historical Commission". www.thc.texas.gov. Retrieved 27 December 2020.