Dunning Robert McNair (April 2, 1797 – March 16, 1875) was the

Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate The Sergeant at Arms and Doorkeeper of the United States Senate (originally known as the Doorkeeper of the Senate from April 7, 1789 – 1798) is the protocol officer, executive officer, and highest-ranking federal law enforcement officer of the ...

from March 17, 1853, to July 6, 1861.

Biography

Dunning R. McNair was born in what would become

Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania Wilkinsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The borough has a population of 15,930 as of the 2010 census. Wilkinsburg is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The borough was named for John Wilkins Jr., a United States Army ...

, on April 2, 1797, the son of Dunning Mcnair, a prominent Pittsburgh area legislator, militia colonel, businessman, and land speculator. Dunning R. McNair was involved in several business ventures, including operation of a stage line that carried mail between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and along the National Road between Cumberland, Maryland and Wheeling, West Virginia. He also became active in the militia and attained the rank of colonel. McNair later relocated to Lexington, Kentucky, where he speculated in land and continued to operate stagecoach lines and carry mail. In the 1840s he was appointed

War Department War Department may refer to: * War Department (United Kingdom) * United States Department of War (1789–1947) See also * War Office, a former department of the British Government * Ministry of defence * Ministry of War * Ministry of Defence * D ...

Mineral Agent with the rank of Major at Fort Wilkins,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, where he supervised the mining of copper ore for military use. From 1853 to 1861 McNair was Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate. He is most notable because while serving as Sergeant at Arms in 1856 he helped restrain Representative

Preston Brooks Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an American politician and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving from 1853 until his resignation in July 1856 and again from August 1856 until his ...

after Brooks used his cane to beat Senator

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...

on the Senate floor. McNair died in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, on March 16, 1875, and he was buried at the

Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcnair, Dunning Robert Sergeants at Arms of the United States Senate People using the U.S. civilian title colonel 1797 births 1875 deaths People from Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania People from Pennsylvania