Col. John Hamilton McNairy

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, the way Duane sees it from the road. Now, some men make their mark on a place quietly, and some make it loudly, and some just keep movin' until they find the ground that fits them. Colonel John Hamilton McNairy seems to have been that third kind.

Born in 1804, out of Guilford County, North Carolina. He lived in Tennessee for a spell. Then, in 1837, he came to Shelby County, Texas.

A decade passes. 1847, he moves again, this time to Upshur County. And here, here is where things get interesting. In 1848, the people of Upshur County elected John Hamilton McNairy as their first Representative from the county.

The first. That is the kind of distinction that gets carved into stone and planted beside the highway, and rightly so. The man also married twice and was the father of eleven children, so the Colonel was not exactly living a quiet life between all that traveling and all that lawmaking.

But the road has its own schedule, and on January 7, 1853, Colonel John Hamilton McNairy died at Old Coffeeville. North Carolina to Tennessee to Shelby County to Upshur County to Old Coffeeville. First Representative elected from the county.

Eleven children. Some men just have a lot of living to do, and they get after it.

What the marker says

Born 1804 Guilford County, N. C. Lived in Tennessee; came to Shelby County, Texas, 1837; to Upshur County, 1847. Here he was first Representative elected from county, 1848. Married twice. Was father of eleven children. Died at Old Coffeeville, Jan. 7, 1853.