(Follow-up) DESCENDANTS of JOHN FAIRLY (1717-1798) of RICHMOND COUNTY, NC
Includes McNair family after their move to Alabama

by Linda Cope McNair Cohen   February 22, 2016
Dear Mrs. Bridges,
Thank you for the work you have done on the families McNair, Fairley, McLaurin and other Scots of North Carolina. You mentioned you 
would appreciate information that helps clarify areas where you had questions at the time of your writing. Below is an excerpt from
your research on page http://ncgenweb.us/richmond/johnfairly.html with new information in bold type.
In addition I have provided an overview of what I can deduce about the McNairs who moved to Alabama.


4. ALEXANDER2 FAIRLY (JOHN1) was born 1753 in Scotland, and died 1827. He married EFFIE MCLAURIN 1791 in Richmond County, NC.

Notes for ALEXANDER FAIRLY:
The signatures of Scottish immigrants on a petition dated September 6, 1799 at the home of Capt. Alexander Fairley in Richmond County 
are Daniel McNair, Donald McKinnon, Edward McNair, Gilbert McNair, Alexander Fairlie, George Graham, Hector McMillan, Peter McRae, 
Arch'd Fairly, John Matthews, Jr. Donald McCall (x his mark), Alex McMillan, Arch'd Lucas, John Carmichael, Colin McArthur (x his mark), 
Dugal McCormick, Arch'd McInnis, Daniel McCall, John McCall, John McIntyre, Kenneth McKenzie, Duncan McLaurin, John Lucas, Duncan McIntyre, 
and Peter Fairly. Source: NCArchives- 'Scotland County Emerging 1750-1900' by Joyce M. Gibson.

(Note spellings - Fairley, Fairlie, Fairly)
Alexander Fairley's will dated 1828 devised his lands to John Fairley, Daniel and Archibald Fairley, his sons. All his children were 
born in Richmond County, NC. (Source: Our Native Heath - Bridges. Civil Action Papers Concerning Land 1883-1889 CR 082 325.42)
Richmond County Estate Records - Bridges)

Notes for EFFIE MCLAURIN:
Effie is said to have left Port Appin, Scotland with her brothers in 1790.

Children of ALEXANDER FAIRLY and EFFIE MCLAURIN are:
i. CATHERINE3 FAIRLY, d. 1837.

Notes for CATHERINE FAIRLY: Died unm. Daniel McNair was her guardian. He hired the negroes belonging to his sister-in-law for the years 
of 1837 and 1838, for $60.

ii. MARGARET FAIRLY, m. DANIEL MCNAIR.

Notes for MARGARET FAIRLY: They moved to MS.

Correction: Margaret Fairly married Daniel McNair and they moved to (then) Barbour County, Alabama. See McNAIR below. 

10. JOHN M.3 FAIRLY (ROBERT2, JOHN1) died 1872 in Richmond County, NC. He m. NANCY MCLAURIN Abt. Mar. 17, 1852 in Richmond County, NC.

Notes for NANCY MCLAURIN:
Nancy was already a widow when she and John M. [Fairly] married. John C. McLaurin was their bondsman.(Source: Richmond County Marriage Bonds)

Correction: She was Nancy McNair, the widow of Lauchlin McLaurin (the one who died in 1843). Nancy was the daughter of the Margaret Fairly 
and Daniel McNair who moved to Alabama. Nancy is in her father Daniel's will records as "Nancy McLaurin widow of Lauchlin McLaurin and 
daughter of said testator residing in Richmond County, North Carolina." Nancy had 4 children with Lauchlin McLaurin: Daniel Murdock 
McLaurin 1832–1870; Mary Ann McLaurin 1837–?; Catherine McLaurin 1839–?; Margaret Jane McLaurin 1842–?. John Cameron McLaurin the 
bondsman was the brother of her late husband.

Children of JOHN FAIRLY and NANCY MCLAURIN are:
17. i. ROBERT N.4 FAIRLY, d. 1891, Richmond County, NC.

18. ii. EFFY FAIRLY, d. Abt. 1866.

iii. MARGARET ANN FAIRLY, m. A. MCEACHERN, January 09, 1848, Richmond County, NC.

iv. HENRY FAIRLY, b. January 1853.

Correction: i-iii above are the children John Fairly had with his 1st wife; her name is uncertain. A Wilmington, NC death notice 
recorded her name as Mrs. Fairley.

iv. HENRY FAIRLY, b. January 1853- d. April 1925

Correction: Henry was the only child of John M. Fairley and Nancy McNair McLaurin Fairly.

McNAIR
After 1830 some McNairs migrated from North Carolina to Alabama and to Mississippi. Some then moved to Texas. Census and state records 
and a family Bible provide support for the following information. The names in Bold are my direct ancestors.

1. Gilbert McNair (abt 1740 - 1819) died in North Carolina.
Below are the children named in Gilbert's will of 1819 (North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665–1998):

Edward McNair 1765–1812 (Gilbert named in his will the children of this deceased son Edward. Edward's will (1812) referred to his daughters 
and named his sons and his brothers Alexander and Daniel. (North Carolina, Wills and Probate Records, 1665-1998)
Sarah McNair 1765–
Daniel McNair 1777–1839. Daniel married Margaret Fairley (1793–1871). Daniel and his brother Alexander were named as executors of their 
brother Edward's will.
Margaret [McKay] 1785–
Catherine [McNeill]
Mary [Mclaurin]
Jean McNair
** Alexander McNair (1775-1859). This son was not named in Gilbert's will but was named as a brother and executor in above Edward McNair's 
will. It is probably this Alexander who settled in Alabama and is buried with wife Jenette and children at Pea River Presbyterian Cemetery, 
Barbour County, Alabama. This Alexander is often conflated with his brother Daniel's son named Alexander and also with the Alexander McNair 
who settled in Mississippi.

2. Daniel McNair and Margaret Fairly McNair decamped to Barbour (now Bullock) county Alabama after 1830. (Bullock County was created by an 
Act of the State Legislature on December 5, 1866 from parts of Macon, Pike, Montgomery, and Barbour counties.)
Some of Daniel and Margaret's children moved to Alabama as well. A comparison of the 1830 census in North Carolina with Daniel's estate 
records in Alabama confirms who was who. Daniel and Margaret's North Carolina household was recorded by age and gender in the 1830 census 
(below with annotations). When Daniel died, his children were identified by names and locations in the will and estate documents filed in 
Alabama from 1839-1845. (Alabama, Wills and Probate Records, 1753-1999 and Barbour County Orphan Court Records). Named in the estate documents 
were his wife Margaret and his children Margaret, John D. (P.?), Nancy, Neill M., Murdock, Alexander, Katherine, Gilbert, and Mary Jane. He 
also named a daughter Abigail about whom there is no other information, but she could be the unidentified daughter in the 1830 census. The 
daughter who was not counted in the family's 1830 census was Margaret who would have been about 22 years old and probably already married.

Name Daniel McNair-Home in 1830 Richmond, North Carolina
Free White Persons – Males – Under 5 1 Gilbert – 14 JAN 1827 NC – 3 MAR 1906, Rusk, TX
Free White Persons – Males – 5 thru 9 1 Alexander – 1821 NC – 10 NOV 1897, Bullock, AL
Free White Persons – Males – 10 thru 14 1 Murdock – abt 1816 NC – 1852, Tippah, MS
Free White Persons – Males – 15 thru 19 1 Neill – abt 1814, NC – 25 AUG 1863 (family Bible)
Free White Persons – Males - 20 thru 29 1 John abt 1810, NC – bef 1860, Barbour, AL
Free White Persons – Males – 50 thru 59 1 Daniel (father) – 1777, NC – 1839, Barbour, AL
Free White Persons –Females – Under 5 1 Mary Jane [Whittle] – 16 FEB 1829, NC – 21 JAN 1887, Dale, AL
Free White Persons – Females – 5 thru 9 2 Katherine [Green] – abt 1824, NC – 1862?, MS
Abigail????
Free White Persons – Females – 15 thru 19 1 Nancy [McLaurin, Fairly] – abt 1812–aft 1883
Free White Persons – Females – 30 thru 39 1 Margaret (mother) abt 1793, Richmond, NC- 10 AUG 1871, Bullock, AL (family Bible)

The children of Daniel McNair and Margaret Fairly McNair were:
Margaret McNair abt 1808–bef. 1870 (AL) m. Jesse Pipkin; per Barbour County 1845 orphan court records about Daniel McNair's estate Margaret 
lived in Macon County, AL.

John D. or P. McNair abt 1810–bef 1860 (AL) m. Ann Capers McIntyre, of whose children by her 1st marriage he was guardian; per Barbour County 
1845 orphan court records about Daniel McNair's estate, John lived in Barbour County, AL.

Nancy McNair abt 1812–? (NC) m. 1st Lauchlin McLaurin (d. 1843) and 2nd John Fairley (1791–1880); per Barbour County 1845 orphan court records 
about Daniel McNair's estate, Nancy lived in Richmond County, NC.

Neill M. McNair abt 1814–1863, death date from family Bible, not sure where he died but he was in Alabama before the Civil War and enlisted 
in the 3rd Alabama Infantry in Union Springs, AL; per Barbour County 1845 orphan court records about Daniel McNair's estate, Neill lived in 
Barbour County, AL.

Murdock McNair abt 1816–1852 (MS) m. Sarah Dill in Alabama; he was in Alabama before the Civil War; per Barbour County 1845 orphan court records 
about Daniel McNair's estate, Murdock lived in Barbour County, AL. He moved to Mississippi and died there tragically in 1852.

Alexander McNair 1821–1897 (AL) m. Sarah Miller 1836-1914 (AL) – this Alexander is often conflated with two other Alexander McNairs, one in AL 
(probably his uncle) and one in MS; per Barbour County 1845 orphan court records about his father Daniel McNair's estate, Alexander lived in 
Barbour County, AL. When Alexander died, the area was Bullock County.

Katherine McNair 1824–1862 (MS?) m. Henry King Green (who married 2nd and moved to TX); per Barbour County 1845 orphan court records about 
Daniel McNair's estate, Katherine lived in Barbour County, AL.

Gilbert McNair 1827–1906 (TX) m. 1st Nancy (died in AL 1858, buried Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Bullock County, AL); married 2nd 
Margaret McCaskill and moved to TX; per Barbour County 1845 orphan court records about Daniel McNair's estate, Gilbert was a minor and lived 
in Barbour County, AL.

Mary Jane McNair 1829–1887 (AL) m. Ambrose Whittle in 1849; per Barbour County 1845 orphan court records about Daniel McNair's estate, Mary 
Jane was a minor and lived in Barbour County, AL

3. Alexander McNair (1821–1897) married Sarah W Miller in Barbour (now Bullock) County, Alabama in 1853.
After his father Daniel died in 1839, Alexander and his brother Gilbert cared for their mother Margaret Fairley McNair. She is found in the 
census records from 1850-1870 with one or the other son in the area that was Barbour, Pike, or Bullock County, depending on the year. 
Margaret's death was recorded in the family Bible as August 10, 1871.

The children of Alexander McNair and Sarah Miller McNair were:
Frances V McNair [Berry] 1855–?
Malissa Anne McNair 1857–1862
Daniel Alexander McNair 1859–1863
Nancy Margaret McNair 1861–1941
Effie Catherine McNair [Maddox] 1865–1952
Lillie L. McNair [Hooks] 1869–1923
John Alexander McNair 1870–1924
Minnie Leona McNair [Dukes] 1872–1928
William Emmet McNair 1878–1937 (AL) m. in 1902 Ida Malinda Cope (Linda) (1877–1949) (AL)
Ina McNair [King] 1880–1932
Mittie McNair [Cope] 1883–1984
William Emmet McNair and Linda Cope McNair had seven children, including one who died in infancy. I am the daughter of their 7th child: 
Woodrow Wilson McNair (1917–1973).

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