History Sheet Mack McNair

Mack Manilus McNair was born on 10 April 1847 in Tennessee, probably Bradley County. He was the fourteenth child of John (Jack) McNair and Mary Ann “Polly” Sherertz.  John always wanted to serve in the military, which became his focus. When he finally married at age 37, John was 18 years older than Mary Ann. This family is found in subdivision 26, Bradley, Tennessee in the 1850 census. Mack was the baby of the family.  In 1850, there were 5 brothers and 4 sisters still living with their parents.  Three children had already left home.

In 1851, John and Mary Ann moved the family. Some say this was to Union County, Illinois, but I later found Mack in Illinois County, Arkansas. So, I am unsure where exactly that John died on 28 July 1852. 

[The "Knoxville Intelligencer" of 23 Jul 1822 says, "Married on Friday the 12th inst., by Robert Houston, Esq., Col. John McNair and Miss Polly Sheritze." After marriage John and Mary Ann moved from Knox County to the Cherokee Nation (now Bradley Co.). In 1851 they moved to Union County, IL (South end of the state).]

However, I found my Mack McNair in the 1860 census as a 13-year-old son, living with his mother, Mary Ann, age 57, and 3 other siblings. They were living in the Tomahawk section in Searcy County, Arkansas. In 1870, Mack moved to the south of his family home and was working for a wealthy young man, William G Hall. Included in the household was a young child, another laborer (a black man) and a domestic servant (a black female). This appears to be a wealthy district. Mack’s mother, Mary Ann and daughter Hannah Irena, were still living in Tomahawk, Searcy Co., AR, just a few doors down from her son James Claiborn McNair.  In 1880, Mary Ann and her blind daughter, Irena, were still living in Saint Joe, Searcy County, Arkansas.

Mack married Sarah Henderson on 1 Oct 1873, and by 1880, they had also settled in Saint Joe. He was a laborer and had been unemployed for 3 months. His brother James and wife Harriet (Manes) lived next door. James was farming so Mack may have been working for James. My Charles Franklin was 3 years old. Mother Mary Ann and daughter Irena are living only a short distance away. Next door to them is a family of Hendersons. Eventually, brother James and his wife Harriet moved to Pleasant Hill, Missouri, and mother Mary Ann went with them where she passed away on 9 May 1894.

[After John’s death, Mack’s mother, Mary Ann, moved to Pleasant Hill, Missouri, to live with son James Claiborn McNair. This information was recorded in Reminiscent History Of The Ozark Region Published 1894 by Goodspeed Publishers  found on http://www.accessgenealogy.com/arkansas/reminiscent-history-of-the-ozark-region.htm ]

Mack and Sarah eventually owned a 165-acre farm Searcy Co, Arkansas, at the side of Boston Mountain, part of the Ozark mountain range. He cultivated 70 acres of this farm. Mack and Sarah had 12 children.

Sometime between 1895 and 1898, Mack and Sarah moved to Eddy, McLennan Co, Texas (near Waco) where their last child, Eula Franes was born. In 1900, they were living in Blevins, Falls Co., Texas. They now had a large family, including my great grandfather, Charles Franklin McNair, age 22.

They eventually moved to Jones County, Texas, where they lived in the country near Bunker Hill School about 3 miles from Leuders. Mack received his mail at Avoca, Rt. 3. He owned a 160-acre farm which offered poor living conditions. Years later around 1960, this family farm and mineral rights were sold and now Jones County yields many oil fields.  

Mack had a colorful personality. He was bald headed and had a beard. He often claimed that he walked on his head to keep the devil from tracking him and that was the reason why he was bald. He enjoyed visits from the grandchildren so much that if he awoke before the children, he would drip cold water on their faces.

Mack and Sarah lived in the Lueders community for the rest of their lives and were buried in Bethel Cemetery near Avoca, Texas. Mack died 15 May 1933.  Mother and I visited their gravesite in 1995. Their daughter Lee Ollie was buried next to them.