150th James EM O’Hair reunion Saturday at Robe-Ann Park

The 150th James EM O’Hair reunion is to be held at Robe-Ann Park in Greencastle on Saturday, Aug. 26 at 11 a.m.

The organizers have received confirmation from O’Hairs across the country who plan to attend.

The first O’Hair reunion took place on Christmas Day 1873.

James EM O’Hair was the son of Michael O’Hair, who arrived in colonial America in 1761 at age 12 without parents. He was bonded to a Scots-Irish family in Staunton, Va., until age 21.

Michael O’Hair served under Daniel Morgan at Saratoga during the American Revolution including skirmishes back to Valley Forge, where he was furloughed. Michael re-enlisted in the Illinois Regiment under George Rogers Clark, finishing out the Western Campaign, which eventually helped open the western frontier after the American Revolution.

Michael received land grants for his service around Clarksville but sold them and returned to Virginia. After marrying Elizabeth Tribbett, Michael later settled in eastern Kentucky, where James EM O’Hair was born in 1804.

Michael O’Hair died in 1813, leaving Elizabeth to raise their nine living children.

When James EM was about 15 years old, he went to live with “Father” James Montgomery in Kentucky, where he had the privilege of going to school in the winter, gaining a thorough education for those days. He lived there until age 20, when he married Margaret Montogmery, daughter of Father Montgomery.

James EM and many of his nine living siblings left Kentucky in the early 1800s, floating down the Ohio River and up the Wabash River to Vincennes, where they followed the river to present-day Terre Haute, but crossing over the river to settle near Paris, Ill.

Descendants are not sure why James EM decided to move to Putnam County, but he arrived in October 1829, building his first log cabin just north of Brick Chapel.

In 1834, James built the first section of a brick home still standing roughly a mile north of Brick Chapel on U.S. 231. Most of the O’Hair reunions were held at this site over the years, with the last one in 1966.

The O’Hair family of Putnam County has held an annual family reunion continuously since 1873. The first 10 reunions were held on Christmas Day, and as the family grew it was changed to the summertime when everyone could be outdoors. A secretary’s book (a record of the meeting, births, deaths and marriages) was kept from the first meeting and continues to this day. The 1873-1930s secretary journal is now housed at the Putnam County Public Library.

James EM O’Hair told the first secretary of his childhood and early married life, which was recorded in the book. Since he was instrumental in starting this annual reunion, the name has been officially called the James EM O’Hair Reunion attended by local and distant O’Hair cousins over the years.