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  James McNeill & wife Elizabeth McNeill of Rockfish Creek
Chart No:
jm
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History
Associated Grants/Deeds:
1753 - Royal Grant to James McNeill, 100A, S side Lower Little River, Bladen Co., NC
1755 - James McNeill to Laughlin McNeill; 111A NE side of CFR, Cumb. Co., NC
1756 - Two Royal Grants to James McNeill, 100A each, both for land on both sides of Lower Little River, Bladen Co., NC;
1763 - Presbyterian Gentlemen to Rev. James Campbell, 100 pounds per annum to preach the gospel, Cumberland Co., NC;
1765 - Two Royal Grants to James McNeill, 100A each, both for land on both sides of Lower Little River, Bladen Co., NC;
1765 - Two Royal Grants to James McNeill, 100A each, both for land both sides of Big Rockfish Creek, Cumberland Co., NC
1784 (entered) - Two NC Grants 1789 to James McNeill, 100A each for land on both sides Big Rockfish, Bladen Co., NC
1785 - James McNeill to Archd McNeill; 100A both sides Lower Little Rr, Cumb. Co., NC
1788 - Entry plat for James McNeill; 50A S side Rockfish Crk at Holtons Br, Robeson Co., NC
1789 - James McNeill to Hector McNeill, 100A S side Great Marsh near Spring Branch, Robeson Co., NC
1794 - Archibald McNeill to James McNeill, 100A Big Rockfish, Cumberland Co., NC
1796 - State of NC to Elizabeth McNeill, 100A SW of Georges Marsh, Robeson Co., NC
1798 - Duncan McMillan, Jr. to James McNeill, 50A Georges Marsh, Robeson Co., NC
1803 - Robeson Co. Sheriff to James Ferguson, 200A, land of James McNeill on Buffalo Creek, Robeson Co., NC

Sources:
1801 will of James McNeill in Cumberland County, NC;
• 1786 Bladen Co. Tax List; 1814 Cumberland Co.,
1814 Estate Record of Elizabeth McNeill, Cumberland Co., NC;
• McNeill history by Mabel Lovin;
1830 will of Archibald McFadyen, Cumberland Co., NC;
Bible records written after 1853 by Barbara Patterson McNeill, copied by Mabel Lovin; the bible is in possession of family of Mary Lou Huske (dec'd);
• Cumberland County, NC grants and deeds for Hector McNeill of Carver's Creek in Cumberland Co.;
• Robeson County, NC grants and deeds for James McNeill and the McFayden family;
• Phillippi cemetery inscriptions;
• Raleigh Register Obit for Dr. Hector McNeill dated 6 January, 1840;
• 1840 estate of Dr. Hector McNeill of Cumberland Co., NC which provided slaves' names bequeathed from father to son;
• Research of Jay Edgerton and Dot Edgerton;
• Research of Steve Edgerton.

• Research of Reginald Barton of New York concerning the Archibald McFayden family of Cumberland Co.
• Vic Clark Papers, Genealogical Library, NC Dept. of Archives and History.

HUSBAND

  James McNeill of Rockfish Creek, aka Jimmie McNeill of McCaskills

Birth 22 February 1732 Place Scotland
Chr Place
Death between 30 July 1803 and April 1805 Place Cumberland or Robeson (now Hoke) County , NC
Burial Place Phillippi cemetery, Hoke County, NC
Father Mother
Marriage 1752 Place Bladen, now Cumberland Co., NC
Other spouses Marriage
WIFE   Elizabeth McNeill
Birth 1739 Place Scotland or Bladen (Cumberland) Co., NC
Chr Place
Death April-May 1814 Place Robeson (now Hoke) County, NC
Burial Place probably Phillippi cemetery, Hoke County, NC
Father "Hector, carver" McNeill Mother unknown
Other spouses Marriage

Notes: Around 1940 James Franklin "Frank" McKay of Philadelphus (my great-grandfather) told his granddaughter, Dot Edgerton (my mother), that he had always heard that his gr-gr-grandfather, James McNeill, came from Scotland in 1740. As Frank McKay was not overly interested in local or family history, it is doubtful he was even aware that there had been an Argyll Colony.
     It would appear, then, that James McNeill was an Argyll Colony child, arriving in America at the age of eight. Was he with parents? If I had to hazard a guess at James's father from the McNeill men of the colony, I would guess Daniel McNeill of Taynish simply because of naming patterns amongst James's sons. Without DNA analysis, it is impossible to know unless records come to light.
     The following children are listed in an order based on bible information (I do not have the original) that James's and Elizabeth's first child was Sarah born 1755 and their seventh child was Daniel born about 1765, Margaret born 1764, with newly acquired information that daughter Anne was born right at 1780. Further info from the 1786 Bladen County tax list shows James's household consisted of 7 daughters and 3 sons for that year. Margaret's birth year is known, 1764, which puts some ten years between Sarah and Margaret, room for some 4 children, probably all daughters (see next paragraph for info on proposed daughter Mary). A bible inscription guesses that Daniel was born about 1767, though his tombstone at Philippi places it nearer 1765. Son Hector's obit stated he was born about 1775. James Jr.'s birth is placed as a 3rd son owing to Scottish naming patterns of the day. Daughters whose names are not yet known are placed approximately 2 years apart to fill the years for which we have no birth dates. Flora McEachern witnessed James's will but is not specifically named as one of his daughters; however, a John McEachern is given 30 dollars, the same amount given by to "each of my daughters" and that is why I have listed her as a possible daughter; it is just as possible and more likely, however, that John and Flora McEachern were neighbors and friends. In a letter dated 1941 from A.C. Bethune of Raeford, the daughter Elizabeth was found mentioned as a sister to Anne who married a McFadyen; Anne's obit was dated 1825 stating her death at around age 45 making her one of the last children born to James and Elizabeth. It is very likely, however, that one or two children have died by 1786.
     The child Mary McNeill is added below as an educated guess. I have long suspected Malcolm McNeill's wife Mary—her parents have been unknown to the present day—was the daughter of James and Elizabeth McNeill of this chart. I suspect this based on the facts that Mary and Malcolm named their five oldest children Barbara, Archibald, James, Daniel and Elizabeth, matching the old Scots' naming patterns for children that reflected their grandparents' names; all five of these children of Malcolm and Mary's were born between 1778 and 1786 in roughly 2-year intervals leaving little or no room for any children born between their birth years and who may have died. In addition, there was at that time no other James McNeill in the region old enough to be the grandfather and namesake of their son James.

Children Birth Death Spouse Cht #
1. Sarah McNeill
(1st child, born in 1755,
per bible record)
1755
pre-1840
A bible record states that Sarah was the first child born to James & Elizabeth after their marriage in 1752. No further information.
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2. (Flora?) McNeill
c. 1757
by 1784
Second wife of Daniel McEachern, married c. 1774. Her name MAY have been Flora but no proof exists of her first name. Since her first child was born c. 1775, she was likely the 2nd or 3rd daughter born to James & Elizabeth.
3. (Mary?) McNeill
(c. 1759?)
(1826?)
(I believe James & Elizabeth McNeill had a daughter Mary who married Malcolm McNeill, son of "Bluff Archie" & Barbara McNeill.)
4. (Elizabeth?) McNeill
?
pre-1840
Mentioned in a letter by A.C. Bethune, c. 1941,
that stated Nancy McFadyen had a sister Elizabeth.
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5. (daughter) McNeill
?
pre-1840
?
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6. Margaret McNeill
1764
20 Apr 1839
"Long Duncan" McNeill, son of Turquill McNeill, Sr. & (Mary Bethune?)
7. Daniel McNeill
(7th child per bible record)
c. 1765
9 Nov 1828
Elizabeth McNeill, dau. of "Archie Ghar" McNeill & Barbara Patterson
8. James McNeill, Jr.
c. 1770?
alive 1806
Robeson Co.
Believed to have married Sarah Matthews of Robeson County but further research is needed to verify this. There is an obit for a James McNeill who died 20 Aug 1829 in Moore Co., NC and that states he was from Robeson Co. Also, a letter from Alabama or Mississippi from a McPherson that makes a statement about Old James McNeill having a son names James there who was a blacksmith.)
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9. (daughter) McNeill
?
?
?
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10. Dr. Hector McNeill
("last of the 12 children
to die" per bible record)
c. 1775
1 Mar 1840
Believed unmarried, but lived with his niece, Ann McNeill Wilkinson of Cumb. Co., wife of William Wilkinson & daughter of "Long Duncan" McNeill.
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11. Anne "Nancy" McNeill
c. 1780
1 Aug 1825
Archibald McFadyen, 21 August 1806
12. (child) McNeill
?
pre-1840
?
jm12