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   Archibald "Bluff Archy" McNeill & wife Barbara Baker
Chart No:
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History
Associated Grants/Deeds:
1754 - Royal Grant #651 to Archibald McNeill, 25 Feb 1754, 100A on branch of Rockfish Creek called Stewart's Creek, Bladen (now Cumberland) Co., NC;
1759 - Archibald McNeill to Neill Graham, 15 April 1759, 100A on Stewarts Crk, a branch of Rockfish Crk, Cumberland Co., NC;
(?1760 - Royal Grant #6840 to Archibald McNeill, 6 May 1760, 100A in Bladen (now Cumberland) Co. on South River?)
(?1760 - Royal Grant #6838 to Archibald McNeill, 6 May 1760, 50A in Cumberland Co. on branch of Black River called Beverdam joining the mouth of the river, Cumberland Co., NC?)
1763 - Archibald McNeill to Hugh Bain, 16 August 1763, 50A on Beaverdam on Black River in Bladen Co., NC;
1770 - Archibald McNeill and wife Barbara McNeill to Michael King, 25 January 1770, 240A part of land granted to Thomas Jones on NE side of CFR near James Smith, Cumberland Co., NC;

Sources:
• Mrs. George (Beatrice) Bullock's "The McNeills of the Bridge", 1958;
• 1778 will of "Bluff Archie" McNeill, Cumberland Co., NC;
• 1778 will of Hector McNeill, Bladen Co., NC;
• Judith Bullock Thomson Nesbit's history, "McNeills of the Bridge" her account of "Laird Archy" McNeill;
• An article on the various Hector McNeills of Cumberland County by Allan A. McCaskill, 1901, Fayetteville Observer;
• Records from the Black family;
• Cumberland Co., NC deeds;
• Cumberland Co. court minutes, 1779;
• Old Bluff Cemetery, Cumberland Co., NC;
• Accounts from the 1950s of Mrs. George T. (Beatrice) Bullock and her sister Miss Mary McEachern;

HUSBAND

  Archibald "Bluff Archy" McNeill, aka "Laird Archie" and "Gentleman Archy"

Birth – Place Scotland
Chr – Place –
Death Will dated 8 Nov 1778; probated April Term 1805. Court minutes indicate he may have died 1779. Place Cumberland Co., NC
Burial – Place Old Smith cemetery across the Cape Fear River from the present Bluff Church, Cumberland Co., NC
Father (Was Bluff Archy a lesser son of Malcolm McNeill 2nd of Colonsay?) Mother (Barbara Campbell of Dunstaffnage?)
Marriage c.1747-48 Place probably Cumberland Co., NC
Other spouses – Marriage –
WIFE   Barbara Baker
Birth – Place probably Scotland
Chr – Place –
Death alive 1778 Place probably Cumberland Co., NC
Burial – Place Old Smith cemetery across the Cape Fear River from the present Bluff Church, Cumberland Co., NC
Father unknown Mother unknown
Other spouses – Marriage –

Notes: 'Bluff Archy' is said to have lived like a hermit for a time after arriving in the Cape Fear region after Culloden in 1746. Shortly after arrival in the Cape Fear colony he settled on Stewarts Creek above old Bennetts Mill, according to Allan A. McCaskill who had lived with his grandmother, Isabella McNeill, the widow of Daniel McNeill (see below). He also stated that Bluff Archy moved to the Bluff Church area, and indicated it was after 1758 when the church first organized. McCaskill stated that soon after coming to this country, Archy met and became acquainted with the Baker family and married their daughter, Barbara Baker. Nothing is known of the fate of Bluff Archy's daughters. In the past, James McNeill of Rockfish Creek was claimed as having been a son of 'Bluff Archy' but the two men were too close in age to have been father and son. James was born in 1732; however, owing to Malcolm's children's naming pattern, it is highly likely that "Bluff" Archy's son Malcolm McNeill married James's daughter Mary.
Children Birth Death Spouse Cht #

1. Hector McNeill,
   Tory Colonel
   killed at the
   Battle of
   Lindleys Mill british flag
c.1748-53
13 Sept 1781
Did this Hector marry a woman named Margaret per a Bladen Co. will by a Hector McNeill dated 1778? Col. Hector McNeill is said to have been the brother-in-law of Jennie Bhan Smith McNeill but I don't know any evidence of this. Could he have married a forgotten sister of Jennie Bhan? (Jennie's mother was named Margaret.) Col. Hector, Tory, was killed at Lindley's Mill on Cane Creek.
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2. Daniel McNeill,
    Private in the
   Continental
   Army 13 star flag
1750
31 Oct 1807
Isabella McLaren on 12 January 1786; they lived in eastern part of Cumberland Co. and owned tracts on nearby Black River. She and her husband Daniel and some of their children are buried at the Bluff.
3. Malcolm McNeill
c.1753
25 Mar 1803
Mary McNeill (Was she a dau. of James McNeill of Rockfish?); lived near mouth of Stewarts Creek at Rockfish Creek.
4. Neill McNeill
c.1760
after 1778
Said to have died young and was buried at the old Bluff Church grounds with his father and brother Hector McNeill.
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5. John McNeill
c.1763
after 1778
Said to have died young and was buried at the old Bluff Church grounds with his father and brother Hector McNeill.
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6. Ann McNeill
?
after 1778
?
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7. Sarah McNeill
?
after 1778
?
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8. Margaret McNeill
?
after 1778
?
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