Adair County Genealogical Society

07/24/2025

The Adair Genealogy & History Research Center will close a bit early today--at 4pm--to help on the Columbia Public Square with "Paint the Town" side walk chalk event.

Friday normal house, 9-5, and Saturday, 8-noon.

07/24/2025

When it was local to Columbia! Adair County News advertisement, 28 March 1917.

07/23/2025

🎨 Beautiful Local Art for a Great Cause! 🏛️

We’re proud to offer this stunning watercolor print of the historic Adair County Courthouse, painted by our beloved ❤️Henrietta Scott in 2003. Titled “Renaissance Columbia,” this piece captures the charm and history of our beloved downtown.

🖼️ Print Details:
• Overall Size: 19” x 25”
• Print Area: 14” x 22”
• Only $20 per print!
• All proceeds go directly to support Downtown Days

Stop by and grab yours—support local art and our community celebration all in one go!

07/23/2025

07/22/2025

This Saturday--

Phillip Wood Coffey—Book Signing
27 July 2024
Phil Coffey will be visiting us at the Adair Genealogy & History Research Center on Saturday, July 27th to sign his new book, “Fancy Me Writing a Book.” Phil is a native of Keltner, Adair County, near the ‘golden triangle’ formed by the Adair, Green and Metcalfe County lines, just a stone’s throw from Mell Ridge. He has a story that is interesting as well as touching, well sprinkled with his usual wit and humor.
Learn more about the life and times of Phillip Wood Coffey and share a laugh or two at the official Book Signing—Saturday, July 27h at 10 a.m. Central Time, at the Adair Genealogy & History Research Center, 307 Greensburg Street, Columbia, Kentucky.
Sponsored by his friends at the Adair County Public Library, the Adair Genealogy & History Research Center, and Columbia Magazine followers. Phil’s Prose and Poems will touch you, make you smile, and so much more. For more information: [email protected] or 270-380-1024; or follow our face book history pages.
Mike Watson

07/22/2025

Pellyton newsletter, Adair County News, 27 September 1899:

At 10 o’clock last Sunday morning Mr. Proctor K. Ellis was married to Miss Annie B. Pelley, at the home of the bride’s father, Mr. T.J. Pelley, one of Adair’s prosperous farmers. The attendants were Mr. D.O. Pelley and Miss Pearl Rubarts. Rev. John Bowles, pastor of the Methodist church here officiated. The groom is a son of Rev. T.J. Ellis, and is an excellent young man and has many friends. The bride is a handsome young lady and is liked by all who know her. That they may live long, be prosperous and loving to the end, is the wish of the writer and their many friends. [Pellyton]

07/22/2025

July 22, 1799 - A constitutional convention convened in Frankfort to draft Kentucky’s second constitution. Kentucky had been admitted to the union in 1792 after seven constitutional conventions sought statehood.

Despite years of work, Kentucky’s first constitution was found to be woefully inadequate. The 1792 document created a structure for state government, but it never mentioned taxation or education and it provided no means of adding amendments to the constitution.

Prior to the 1799 convention, Kentuckians expressed their concerns in newspapers and committees gathered comments for consideration. At the time, the state’s citizens concluded that their voices were being silenced by electors, local county governments were tyrannical, the state senate was elitist, and slavery remained an issue.

The resulting document restructured state government but still gave the governor broad powers of appointment that included each county’s sheriff and justices of the peace. The office of lieutenant governor was created. The governor was prohibited from succeeding himself for a period of seven years.

The electoral college system was abolished so voters’ direct ballots determined the election of the governor and legislature, secret ballots in the general assembly were forbidden and replaced with voting by voice so citizens knew how their legislator was voting. Untouched, however, was the 1792 clause allowing slavery to continue in Kentucky. The new constitution was approved by the convention rather than the citizens and it remained in place for another 50 years.

07/18/2025

Check out Adair County Public Library’s video.

07/18/2025

18 July 1917

Camp Shelby was established on this date. This is one of four Kentucky historical markers not actually located in Kentucky.

Camp Shelby, Mississippi

07/17/2025

From the files: Byron Crawford's Courier-Journal article on the Circle R, J.D. Harper, with Sylvia Wilson's corsage...