Hello everyone….how is your summer going? Here in the wilds of Indiana, we are having a bit of a drought! The temperatures haven’t been too awful but we sure could use some of the rain that it looks like Texas is getting!

Here at the McNairn Times HQ I have finally gotten most of my genealogy note and documents put in sheet protectors and organized, hopefully making research a bit easier! I’m also working on getting my United Empire Loyalist membership approved--no easy feat! More on Loyalists next month, hopefully…and more on my progress as well. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

By Judi McNairn

The Knowe is a "Family Estate" in the Parish of Penninghame in Southwest Scotland. As far as I can tell - almost all McNairn researchers come across this name and talk about it as the origin or part of the origin of their family. The house still stands and a photo of it can be seen at http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~leighann/parishes/penninghame/fullpic/penninghame32.html

The story of the Knowe in the McNairn family begins this way. William M’Nairn/McNairn (1704 - 1769) was the first Laird of Knowe and got Sasine (legal posession) of the Knowe in 1767. It would appear that he took ownership but did not live there. William at the time was tenant in Barskeoch (pronounced Barskew). Here is a quote from a letter from Sarah McNairn to William Harvey McNairn in 1907 that would suggest that William purchased the Knowe with money from smuggling.

"I had a chat with my old aunt at Beoch one night when all her family were out. The little I got from her was a funny story, and I will tell you it. The truth of it I can hardly credit. She said her father told her that this country at one time was much given over to smuggling, and that it was considered no wrong but cleverness on the part of those who carried it on successfully, and that the money made for the purchase of the Knowe was got that way."

According to records of "Sasine" - Alexander - the Second Laird of Knowe (William’s son) took Sasine in 1788 and according to William - Alexander’s son - that is when the family "moved in" This is a quote from a record book kept by William the 3rd Laird of Knowe

Knowe, 30 Sept., 1840

"My father Alex M'Nairn was born in Barskeoch in this parish 1739 Feb., and died Feb. 27 1821 aged 82 years. His father William M'Nairn purchased the farm of Knowe to which he entered at the expiry of the lease in the year 1788. I built the dwelling house in 1812, and the barn and stable in 1820, and the rest of the office in a few years thereafter, put up a threshing mill in 1840......"

According to what I understand for records - this William (1780 - 1865) was the Third Laird of Knowe and there were no McNairns as Lairds after that. We do know that in the 1841, 1861, 1861, 1881, 1891 and 1901 censi there were McNairns living on the property. Also in 1926 or 1927 Robert and Norman McNairn sons of William Harvey McNairn visited Scotland and the Knowe and met Mr. & Mrs. McNairn living at the Knowe and took photos.

The Valuation Rolls for 1918-1919 and 1940-1941 indicate that William McNairn was tenant at both times and that Major Marmaduke S. Fox of Polbae was the owner and rent was charged both times of 75 pounds sterling each year. I am pretty sure that this William would be William McNairn (1857-1944) son of William McNairn (1819-1898) who would be my Great-Great grandfather’s brother.

I understand now that the residents of the Knowe are not McNairns and they are summer residents. I am hoping for more information soon.

Earlier this summer, Judi and I both undertook a major letter-writing campaign to McNairns in Canada and the United States that we found mailing addresses for but no email. We are trying to get ahold of any McNairns that we can, regardless of whether or not they have computer access. I personally sent out 37 letters across the United States. I’ve gotten back 4 of them as of today due to being undeliverable. Judi is not sure how many she sent throughout Canada, but I would guess upwards of 70 or so. Neither she nor I have gotten any responses from the letters, but we will let you know every month in this newsletter if we do find any new relatives!

We HAVE found a new relative thanks to the internet! With his permission, I would like to introduce to you Robert Blackwood McNairn III!

Robert was born in 1940 in San Francisco, CA. He is the son of Jackson Clare and Alice Ann McNairn. He earned a BS in Forestry at UC Berkeley in 1962; MS in Plant Physiology at UC Davis in 1964; and a PhD in Plant Physiology at UC Davis in 1967. He taught Plant Physiology, Botany, and Biology at California State University at Chico, and retired after 31 years.

Robert married Marjorie Lee in 1962 and had two children, Bonnie and Michael. Michael is married to Ami Phillips and they have two children, Thomas and Spencer.

Robert’s paternal grandparents were Robert Blackwood McNairn, born in Thurso, Quebec, and Clara Jackson. (Interesting note: This Jackson family was related to President Andrew Jackson!)

His great-grandparents were William Albert McNairn (1852-1923) and Catherine Jane Haggart (1850-1927). They moved from Canada to California in about 1900.

Interestingly enough, Robert has also been in contact with some of the Newfoundland and New Brunswick McNairns that have moved to California--so hopefully we will figure out a relationship sometime yet!

A big welcome to Robert Blackwood McNairn! If you would like to write to him, his email is: RBMcNairn@aol.com.

Judi and I are still working on setting a date and coming up with ideas for our first annual McNairn Reunion. We are hoping to have it sometime in early to mid August perhaps, so that families with children can attend and not interfere with school schedules. It will most likely be held in or near Cardinal, Ontario. We would like to hold the actual event at my cousin’s property as they have a nice-sized farm and front yard where we could hopefully have some folks make a primitive camp-site if they plan to stay overnight. There would also be hotel accommodations available in Cardinal for those who do not care to "rough it". We don’t have any actual events planned as of yet, so if you have any ideas for easy, inexpensive events, ways to deal with feeding everyone, and just basically ANY ideas at all for the reunion, please let Judi or I know. Judi’s email is judi@jamcnairn.com and mine is cheryllgrice@cs.com. Thanks!

I am still working on putting together a master list of McNairns (and other relatives) throughout the world to distribute amongst ourselves. If you are interested in being on the list so other relatives can contact you, please send what information you would like to have included in your contact info to me.

I also thought it might be a good idea to put together some kind of database of medical conditions that the family has experienced to see if we can be on the lookout for any particular conditions and become a healthier family as a whole. Any ideas for how to go about this would be very much appreciated.

Live long and prosper! (Sorry, Spock.)

That is all for this month…I hope you enjoyed the newsletter. Please write to me with comments and suggestions: cheryllgrice@cs.com See you next month! ~~~Cheryl