The McNairn Times
Publisher: Cheryl "Zetta McNairn" Grice Volume No. 2 Issue No. 1 January 2002
Happy New Year!
Yes, I am FINALLY getting around to writing the first issue of the year. It’s been a busy one already! I don’t know about you folks, but we have had our share of colds, flu, and other fun things running around. We are down to one car, and awaiting the ever-elusive tax refund check to fix everything….ha ha.
I haven’t had much of a chance to find out anything new about the McNairn clan, but I have heard from a couple of folks, one who turned out to be a fourth cousin to me. I received some new information on the "Northern McNairns" from Earle McNairn up in Nova Scotia, and I am currently going through that. There was some interesting information that caught my eye right away that I just HAVE to share with you all now. I will not list all of the children but just give you a sample of the rich history of the McNairns contained herein.
McNairn Ancestry
(Copied from a book on Scottish Names, at Maine Historical Library.)
William McNairn had sasine of the Knowe of Fentalloch in Galloway, in 1767.
As far back as 1684 the name appears McNairn, McNarin, McNaren, McNarren, McNearne and McNearin.
(Sasine is the act of legal possession of property--the instrument by which such possession is proved)
The family home of the McNairns at Newton Stewart, Scotland, was called the Knowe and was an estate of some 1200 acres.
The McNairns came from the very south of Scotland. A man by the name of William McNairn still lives at the Knowe (1918) near Newton Stewart, Wigtonshire.
Four brothers left Scotland at about the same time, 1799. One migrated to Philadelphia; a second found a home at Cornwall, Ontario. Anthony and Peter settled at Galloway, New Brunswick.
Peter McNairn did not marry.
Anthony married Jane McNeill, who also came from Scotland. They were married at Shediac, N.B. and had three children. Their daughter, May, married Tom Johnson and moved to the Pacific coast.
It gets rather confusing at this point as to WHICH person the notes are referring to, but what is written is interesting just the same:
William, youngest son of Anthony (not sure which Anthony as there are a couple of them mentioned) had a mill and farm about eight miles from Buctouche, N.B.; the settlement later became known as McNairn. In 1857 William married Isabella Matilda Wathan McBeath.
Attached to the back of this information is a couple paragraphs of information that read:
Copied from Bulletin of New York Public Library, Their Origin, Meaning and History, George F. Black.
MCNAIRN, Galewigian, surnames, the first of which is evidently metathesized form of the second, its form having been influenced by the name of the northern county Chuthbert.
MCNARNE was tenant on the lands of Auchbirdelkdy in Dumfrieshire 1376. (RHM 1, P. Liv. 11, p. 16); Malcolm McNerane is mentioned in 1509 A.L.C. 21 July; Gillecrist Macnerrance was tenant under Stewart of Appin in the same year (Appin Stewarts p. 193).
William McNairn has sasine to the Knowe of Fintalloch in 1767. In Balloway in 1684 the name appears as McNaren, McNarien, McNarin, McNarine, McNearie, McNearin.
This is just the beginning of the wonderful information that Earle McNairn sent. I will be going through all the pages, eventually, and will let you know what I find!
Notes from Judi
Hello all on the subscription list for the "Times" - Hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Years!
As for me, in December I started a new job so it has been a busy time. I also turned 40 years old on January 16, 2002, which for me is days from when I am writing this late for the issue this month. If anyone is interested in seeing some neat stuff from a surprise party my friends had for me - check out <http://jamcnairn.com/> and click on the 40th birthday link. I did have a wonderful time and it reminded me how special my friends are.
I think something we all need to remember is that family is important - Cheryl and I have certainly felt that - but my friends, where I live, are as close as family. I have no birth family within a three hour drive from where I live - so my family connection has to be by Internet and phone. Cheryl and I chat almost daily on MSN Messenger - my contact thing there is judi_mcnairn@hotmail.com <mailto:judi_mcnairn@hotmail.com> - if anyone wants to get MSN Messenger - it is a great way of chatting on the keyboard without paying long distance calls. If anyone else would like to try that - I go online for that several times a day, e-mail Cheryl or me if you want to find out how if you don’t know already.
Now, I told you last month I would give you some more info about McNairns and History, so here it goes.
The 18th century (1700 - 1800) and McNairn happenings.
(Well, at least the latter half - the book for some reason is missing some pages that have information from 1682 to 1741!)
In 1745, John McNairn, UEL, was born in Scotland. This was about the same time that the first Oddfellows lodge was founded in Middlesex, London, England. The wearing of tartans was forbidden in Great Britain in 1746 (Oh my on that one - check out the McNairn Resource site to see the McNairn tartan - now a background to the main page at <http://jamcnairn.com/mcnairn>). In 1752, Benjamin Franklin in the United States invented the lightening conductor. Robert Burns, a wonderful Scottish poet, was born in 1759. He died in 1796, and something that means a lot to me about him is the "Selkirk Grace" which my grandfather taught to me and I taught to all my children. For any who don’t know it, check out the McNairn resource site above.
Here is an interesting one: in Scotland, in 1762 at the Carron Ironworks in Stirlingshire, cast iron was first converted to malleable iron.
Now we approach another aspect of history that I have learned all about in Canada about the start of the American Civil War. In 1770 there was the Boston Massacre, and in 1773 was the "Boston Tea Party". It was in 1773 that John McNairn UEL came to North America. As far as I understand, he went to the United States first, but didn’t stay long as he went to Canada in 1778. This was the year the American colonies signed a treaty with France and Holland - but let us not forget that the United States of America became a country in 1776.. and in 1776 James Cook took his third voyage to the Pacific Ocean.
In 1782 James Watt perfected the Steam Engine with a double acting rotary steam engine (a special point for me since I grew up with steam locomotives!) and in 1784 the first school for the blind was established in Paris, France.
Then in the 1790’s many things happened. Samuel Morse was born and Mozart died in 1791. In 1793 both Louis the VX1 (King of France) and his wife Marie Antoinette were executed. "Auld Lang Syne" (Burns) was published in 1794. In 1795 the first horse-drawn railroad began in England. The metric system was established in France. And among these happenings, Napoleon was at war.
I hope all this helps with some of your knowledge of history .…it has certainly has helped with mine.
Talk to you all next month,
Judi
Comin’ Round the Bend….
Ok, well, that’s enough history for this issue. Does your brain feel full yet?
Well, I’ll just let you know that Judi and I are both working on more interesting things to include with future editions of the newsletter….I’m going to be interviewing a gentleman from McNairn Packaging in the near future, and I am also working on a new website (wish me luck, HTML and I do NOT get along!) If you want to see this site right now (remember, it is in its infancy), the URL is <http://www.geocities.com/klingongal69/mcnairnheritage.html> . So far it is just one page, but it does have a few links on it. I’m working on more pages and photos and all sorts of things. Who knows, I might even put together a site with nothing but photos of McNairns!
As always, if you have any ideas, comments or suggestions, please contact me at cheryllgrice@cs.com <mailto:cheryllgrice@cs.com>. I appreciate any input you might have. If you do not received this newsletter on a regular basis and would like to be on my distribution list, please contact me as well. If you need a hard copy, let me know. I don’t usually do mailouts but if you would like to contribute toward the postage, it would be appreciated.
Have a great January! (PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDI!)
~Cheryl~