The current exhibit at Plains District Museum features 12 little known local historians of the 20th c whose works have helped preserve the history of our area. One of these is Rev. Charles. E. Nair, great grandfather of Board Chair Mike Wean of New Market. According to his obituary, Rev. Nair was born near Oakland, MD in 1873. His family moved to Rockingham Co. when he was two years old. He lived for fifty-four years in the Mayland community serving as a minister in the Church of the Brethren from 1911 until his death in 1955.
As a free minister, he worked as a carpenter and farmer to support his family, wife Laura Bell Hiser Nair and his eight children. At the same time, he explored his interest in family genealogy and local history. The original copy of his research into the Nair ancestors is part of the exhibit at the Museum. It was not until the mid-1940’s that he began to record his local history research. His works include histories of local communities in Cedar Run, Mayland, Broadway and histories of local Brethen Churches at Mayland, Linville Creek, and Brocks Gap. In 1997, his handwritten manuscript on the life of Elder John Kline became a key part of the Linville Creek Church of the Brethren Bicentennial Celebration.
Rev, Nair’s Collection, on loan from Mike Wean, will be on display through June 2024.
PLAINS DISTRICT MEMORIAL MUSEUM
PO Box 601
176 N. Main St., Timberville VA 22853
540-896-7900
Email: plainsmuseum@comcast.net
Website: plainsmuseum.com
