(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 18321870; 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, 16651998):
Edward McNair 17651812 (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 17771839. Daniel married Margaret Fairley (17931871). 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 1812aft 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 1808bef. 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 1810bef 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 (17911880); per Barbour County 1845 orphan court records
about Daniel McNair's estate, Nancy lived in Richmond County, NC.
Neill M. McNair abt 18141863, 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 18161852 (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 18211897 (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 18241862 (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 18271906 (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 18291887 (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 (18211897) 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 18571862
Daniel Alexander McNair 18591863
Nancy Margaret McNair 18611941
Effie Catherine McNair [Maddox] 18651952
Lillie L. McNair [Hooks] 18691923
John Alexander McNair 18701924
Minnie Leona McNair [Dukes] 18721928
William Emmet McNair 18781937 (AL) m. in 1902 Ida Malinda Cope (Linda) (18771949) (AL)
Ina McNair [King] 18801932
Mittie McNair [Cope] 18831984
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 (19171973).
Back to Descendants of John Fairly (1717-1798) of Richmond County, NC
Back to Whats New in Richmond County, NC
Back to Richmond County Families
Back to Myrtle's Genealogy Page
©Copyright 2016 by Myrtle N. Bridges