A Day at the Museum

 

Brodhead Museum & Historical Society

Downtown Brodhead

Lost in History

You know the feeling of euphoria combined with anticipation???

Well ... that is exactly what I felt when walking into the temperature controlled back room of the Brodhead Historical Society today. This room of wonder shelves all hard copies of the city's newspapers dating back to the 1860s.

I was gratefully able to discover some new information on the McNairs. However, it struck me how lost in history the McNairs truly are ... even when searching the local archives.

I find it perplexing as they contributed so much to the city from its earliest days. Miles was a founder of Brodhead, and Grace taught at the local school since the turn of the century. As Grace did not marry or have children, all McNair knowledge and contributions seem to be laid to rest with her back in 1945.

When bringing this frustration with my husband over dinner the other night, he brought up a great point: history is often preserved by tribal knowledge. Combine this with the observation that local knowledge is of linage of families still in town ... much of the McNair's history has been long forgotten ...

... That is until a crazy lady bought the house Miles and Elizabeth built, fell in love and fascination with the incredible family, and has made it her growing mission to document and preserve this dynamic family's story. Not just the genealogy of the McNair family ... but who they truly were as people.

Brodhead Museum & Historical Society

Downtown Brodhead

Next Steps ...

I'm pulling together the few important clippings I was able to discover for posts here on Lap of Legends. I need to also better prepare by pinpointing key dates in theMcNair family history in hopes of being able to discover more information within the invaluable depths of the Historical Society's archives.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy a few newspaper ads I found interesting from the 1880's and 90's :)