Edward McNair
b. circa 1800, d. between 1850 and 1853
- Edward McNair was born circa 1800 in South Carolina.
- He married Letitia Ann Wood, daughter of Ashley Wood and Elizabeth McCullers, on 21 November 1839 in Dallas County, Alabama.
- Following the deaths of their parents William Chambers and Jane Green Paul LeGrand in the early 1840s, the LeGrand children were taken into various families. Mary Jane, the eldest, spent time with Charles and Sarah Norman Rush and with Theodore and Caroline Mays Brevard. She and Green Mark Wood were married by Judge Brevard, and they named their first child Rush Brevard Wood. Margaret was raised as the only child of Letitia Ann Wood McNair (daughter of Green Wood’s cousin Ashley Wood) and her husband Edward McNair. Cornelia was raised in the household of Charles and Sarah Norman Rush, and Virginia William “Willie” was raised from infancy as the only child of John Henry and Mary Harris Gindrat (whose niece Sarah Anne Harris later married Willis Breazeal Wood). Likely son Milton Paul LeGrand also was taken into the Rush family, but no record has been found of his earlier years; by 1850, at age 17, he was serving as an apprentice in the household of druggist Henry F. Godden in Marion, Alabama.
- He and Letitia Ann Wood gave as a gift the Shelby Springs. to Matilda M. Wood before 1848 at Shelby County, Alabama.
- Edward McNair and Letitia Ann Wood appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1850 in Selma, Dallas County, Alabama. Other members of the household included Margaret Deborah LeGrand. Known as "LeGrand," Margaret is identified as L. G. McNair. Also in the household were three teachers, apparently boarding.
- He was a physician, according to the 1850 census.
- Edward McNair died between 1850 and 1853 . Apparently he was deceased when Letitia died.
- His wife Letitia Ann Wood became a widow at his death.
- Mary Wood Mitchell wrote on 5 October 1852, in a letter to her niece Lizzie Green Wood Powell, "I got a letter from [Dr McNair] the day I received your,s. he said Latitia had no ease, only when lulled by opiates. Her sister is with her. every thing is done for her comfort that can posibly be done. The Dr says he takes her to ride as often as she can bear it. I think they don't expect She can live long. The leaders of her arm were cut when the opperation was performed but she could use it at first and imbroiderd or trimd a dress for Lagrand which inflamed the arm & swelled it very much. She has been suffering with that arm more than any thing else. Dr Mc N.. would take her any where she wishd. He received your letter recommending Dr Newton but she cant bear the trip. It grieved me that I cant go to see her. My children think it would lay me up. I insisted on L,s spending this summer with me but could not get her to do so. I now think there is no probability of our meeting until we meet in Heaven."
- Last Edited: 27 Aug 2014