When Sarah Elizabeth Adair was born on 23 August 1823, in Franklin, Indiana, United States, her father, Robert F. Adair, was 35 and her mother, Margaret Spears, was 33. She married Henry Ellison Newlin on 16 March 1843, in Grundy, Missouri, United States. They were the parents of at least 6 sons and 4 daughters. She lived in Woodland Township, Decatur, Iowa, United States in 1860 and Iowa, United States in 1870. She died on 24 August 1897, in Woodland, Decatur, Iowa, United States, at the age of 74, and was buried in Shields Cemetery, Woodland, Decatur, Iowa, United States.