The Alexander family motto is "Per Mare, Per Terra" meaning "By sea, By land"
and it is of Greek origin, meaning "helper of mankind, defender of men" -
descending from the ancient Dalriadan tribe of the west coast of Scotland.
Though the name is Greek in origin it is most commonly found in Scotland,
introduced there by Queen Margaret late in the 11th century who named one of
her sons Alexander - subsequently three kings of Scotland carried the name.
The Adair family motto is "Loyal Au Mort" meaning "Loyal Until Death". Adair
was a place name in the County of Limerick, Ireland. It is derived from the Celtic
and Gaelic, Ath a ford, or Dair - the oak tree: so it literally means the ford of the
oak tree. I am adding the immediate family of James and Rebecca Montgomery Adair, to
include their children and spouses.
This history is dedicated to our Dad.
Mike and I started this "family tree" - he turned it over to me because, as he said - "You have nothing else to do"! Mike re-typed Augustus' family history - it is here for those that don't have it - thanks Mike, I know it was a lot of work! This tree has been a lot of fun to put together and I hope you find it informative. I've researched and followed clues along the way. I could not have done this tree without the help of many of our various "Alexander's". I am indebted to the following : Augustus, Mary Perry and Don Alexander - without Augustus' written history, we would be nowhere, Don's descendant tree and Mary Perry Alexander's family file were huge helps; Mom, for her family knowledge; Linda, for her writing talent; the late Karen Johnson Bagford, who had worked with me on numerous lines, especially of her Rev. John Alexander, Jr. line; Sally Donald, who gave me info on her descent from William Jefferson Alexander; Julian Don Alexander II, who has a wealth of Alexander papers, pictures and information much of it from his Augustus Alexander line; Robert Underhill, for his Alexander line; Bruce Reynolds, for her help in South Carolina research; and others who are noted in citations! The Birmingham Public Library has a fantastic collection of records in their Southern History Department, and I've done a ton of research there - helped a lot until I made it over to Spartanburg to do more! Where not noted as researched by or sent to me by someone else, all research has been done by me.
A note about the flags: Sally is correct that historically, Northern Ireland
is a part of the United Kingdom and as such, should be represented by the
flag of the British Isles. I am using the flags of Ireland and Scotland to
represent our heritage.
"Everyone has ancestors and it is only a question of going
back far enough to find a good one." -- Howard Kenneth Nixon
