O[scar] H. Adair, a prominent and influential citizen of Portland, has been a member of the bar of Jay County since April 1880, at which time he began his professional career. He is at present prosecuting attorney of this district, having been appointed to his present position by the Governor of the State March 9, 1885, and elected to the office in the fall of 1886.
Previous to his appointment he had served as deputy prosecuting attorney for four years under John T. France of Decatur. Mr. Adair has passed the whole of his life in Jay County, having been born in Bear Creek Township in December, 1852. His father, James G. Adair, was a native of Pennsylvania and subsequently settled in Ohio. He came from Ohio to Jay County several years before the birth of our subject, living here till his death in November, 1873.
O. H. Adair, the subject of this sketch, received good education at Liber College and in July, 1876, he graduated from the eastern Indiana Normal School. He followed the avocation of a teacher for a number of years, beginning at the age of seventeen years, teaching in all about five years in Jay County.
In the fall of 1877, he began reading law in the office of Headington & LaFollette of Portland and in April, 1880, he was admitted to the bar when he began his law practice, forming a partnership with Thomas Bosworth. He was associated with Mr. Bosworth until December, 1886, when the duties of his position as prosecuting attorney required the dissolution of this partnership. In his political views, Mr. Adair affiliates with the Democratic Party.
Biographical & Historical Record of Jay County, Lewis Publishing Company, 1887
Transcribed by Jim Cox