History of the Hugh Neel Family in America
By Stuart D. Neel, 4th great grandson [1]
The origins of Hugh Neel, father of John Neel Sr, are obscure. Family lore, probably passed down through his grandson, John Neel Jr, to his children, asserts that Hugh was born in Ireland around 1750. [2] Research on the several men by that name who arrived in America in the latter part of the eighteenth century evidently suggests that Hugh may have been an impressed sailor in the British navy and jumped ship after it docked in America.[3] If true, Hugh Neel’s desertion might explain the low profile he apparently kept after arriving in America.
We know that Hugh Neel eventually made his way to North Carolina where his son John was born around 1778. Tax records for Randolph Co, North Carolina in 1779 list a Hugh Neal, but no other records for Hugh Neel in that county have been located.[4] The Carolinas during these revolutionary-war years witnessed some of the most intense and bitterest fighting between loyalists and rebels. While we have no evidence that Hugh participated in any of the conflicts, it would have been difficult for him to avoid the turmoil completely. Like so many Carolinians following the war, Hugh apparently left the state in search of cheap land and new opportunities. Hugh probably spent some time in Kentucky where his son John married, but no records have been found to document his residence there. Records for a Hugh Oneal/Neal in Pittsylvania and Franklin counties of southern Virginia require additional research to establish if our elusive ancestor may have wandered to Virginia by the mid-1780s.[5] According to family records, Hugh had at least two additional children: two daughters who reportedly were born in Kentucky. One, named Janet, married an Akers, while her sister married a man named Roach.
John Neel Sr. Family
John Neel Sr makes his first appearance in the written record in Madison Co, KY where he marries Rebecca Guess, daughter of John Guess and Mary Linsey, on June 14 1798.[6] Rebecca was born in Granville Co, North Carolina about 1778 and lived there until about 1789 when she emigrated with her family to Kentucky.[7] From the Madison county tax records, it appears that John and his new wife lived with his in-laws for a few years before striking out on their own.[8] Their daughters Anna and Elizabeth were born in Madison County in 1799 and 1801 respectively. But from 1802 to 1809—when children James, Mary, and David Hugh were born—we have no records for John and Rebecca in Madison County; they may have moved away before returning in 1810. Their son, John Neel Jr was born in 1810 in Madison County.
According to David H. Neel, the family moved to the area that eventually became Anderson County, Kentucky in 1812, probably in company with Rebecca’s brother Jesse Guess.[9] If so, John’s last three children, Sally, Janet, and William R were born near there. In the 1820 Federal Census, a “Jonas Guess” and “John Oneal” are living next to each other in Bardstown township, Nelson County, Kentucky. In tax records for Anderson county from 1827 through 1837, Jesse Guess is shown owning property in both Anderson and Nelson counties. [10]
Rebecca Guess Neel died on 30 November 1828 in Kentucky, according to family records, but we do not know exactly where. David Hugh Neel said that he moved to Missouri around 1826 and it is probable that at least part of his family accompanied him. We do know that by 1830 most of the family was living in Crooked River, Ray County, Missouri.[11] In September, 1830, John Neel Sr married the widow Ellender Vanderpool, whose first husband, John, was one of the original settlers of Ray County.[12]
Between July and late September 1832, James Neel served as a private in the 4th Regiment of Missouri Mounted Volunteers in the Black Hawk War.[13] This conflict arose when a band of 1,000 men, women and children of the Sauk tribe under Chief Black Hawk crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois to occupy their former homes along the Rock River. Black Hawk's band contended that they had been tricked out of their lands while the Governor of Illinois regarded the entry of the Indians into the State as a military invasion.
The late 1830s witnessed growing tension between newly-arrived Mormons and the “old settlers.” In September 1838, state officials called up militia to keep the peace, although the troops often merely harassed the Mormons. James’ previous military experience may have been the reason he was elected captain of a company of Mounted Volunteers from Sept 13 to Sept 22, 1838 in the so-called “Mormon Wars.” Serving under his son during the campaign was John Neel, Sr.[14]
The tensions erupted into armed conflict on October 25, 1838 in the “Battle of Crooked River” which took place on the border of Caldwell and Ray counties and resulted in the deaths of three Mormons and one Missourian. Two days later Missouri Governor Boggs issued his infamous “exterminating order” that insisted Mormons leave the state or be exterminated. State troops and militia from western counties were mustered up to drive the Mormons out. From October 29 through November 10, 1838, James and brother David Hugh served in a company of Mounted Volunteers under James T. Houston along with a number of their Vanderpool relatives.[15]
A sad family tragedy can be read between the spare lines of these military records. John Neel Jr had married a member of the Mormon church, Clemency Litten Casper, on December 31, 1837.[16] Although John Neel Jr did not join the Mormon church until 1840, he surely must have sympathized with the religious beliefs of his wife and her family. Thus, we view the sad picture of several families split between opposing sides in the bitter religious strife in Missouri in 1838. John Neel Jr probably left Ray County with his Casper in-laws and other exiled Mormons in March 1839 and settled in Adams County, Illinois.[17] Probably adding to the Casper’s distress, daughter Avarilla stayed behind after marrying John Jr’s brother David Hugh on 13 January 1839.
Historians have noted that a major factor fueling the strife between the Missourians and Mormons was the issue of slavery. Many of the old settlers emigrated from southern states and believed in slavery, while the Mormons predominantly originated in New England and generally opposed that institution. Although John Neel Sr is not a slaveholder in the 1830 Federal Census, by 1840 he owned eight slaves, perhaps explaining his willingness to take up arms against the Mormons. While no other Neels in Missouri owned slaves, according to the census records, they probably shared the belief in slavery common to their southern heritage.
Most Mormons were forced to sign over their lands to the Missourians as reparations for damages in the civil warfare. Although the Casper’s were forced out of Ray County, they apparently found a way to keep their property. Avarilla Casper notes in her journal that prior to the family leaving Missouri, her husband William went back to Ohio “on business.” In Ohio, William arranged to sell their four hundred acre homestead to Avarilla’s brother John Durbin for $1400. The deed dated 8 Jan 1839, was signed in Richland County, Ohio by John and by Avarilla in Adams County Illinois on 25 October 1839. There is no evidence that John Durbin ever lived on the land. However, Avarilla’s sister, Elizabeth Durbin (Walker) McDowell stayed in Missouri and she may have gained possession. [18] John Neel Sr spent the remainder of his days in Ray County and died there on April 18, 1845.
John Neel Jr. Family
As noted, John Neel Jr moved with his wife’s family to Adams Co, Illinois after leaving Ray County, and joined the Mormon church in 1840.[19] Their first child, William, was born in Lima, Adams County on 12 July 1839 and sisters Mary Jane and Avarilla followed on 3 April 1841 and 7 May 1843. Mormon church leaders began buying land in Hancock County as a new gathering place for the saints, and at some point, John and his growing family moved there with most of the saints. In 1844, John is living in Carthage, Hancock, Illinois and working at a mill. At this time, Carthage was a hot-bed of anti-Mormon activity, and it’s curious that John would choose to live with his family there rather in Nauvoo. Possibly, the saw mill offered better employment prospects than what he could find further north.[20]
John’s daughter Rachel C. Neel Bills recounted the following about her mother, Clemency, in her application for membership to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers:
“…When a girl she worked in the home of the Patriarch, Hyrum Smith, which was before they came to Utah.[21] Mother was a resident of Carthage when Joseph and Hyrum met their death. The morning after they were killed, she was at the jail and saw their bodies. While there a man rode up on a black horse, went inside the jail, examined the bodies, and then placed his fingers in the wounds, then asked the question, ‘Who will be your leader now?’ Mother replied, ‘The Lord always provides for his own.’ While the firing was in progress, mother became very frightened as father was at the flour mill. She did not think she would ever see him again and she didn’t know when her turn might come.
Contrary to the expectations of non-Mormons in the area, the Smith brothers’ martyrdom on June 24, 1844 did not lead to sharp retribution from the Mormons and there was a short respite in tensions between the Mormons and their neighbours. Perhaps this is why John and Clemency were able to remain at Carthage where their son, John Austin Neel, was born on 9 February 1845.[22] On 17 September 1845, John was ordained a Seventy in the Mormon church.[23]
John and Clemency were endowed in the Nauvoo Temple in early 1846 and soon after apparently moved back to Missouri. On August 5, 1846, William Casper died in Nauvoo and his widow Avarilla took her two youngest children, Lydia and Joshua, back to Missouri. In her history, she relates that her horses had been stolen in the anti-Mormon raiding in Nauvoo, and she had been forced to write to her children still in Missouri asking them to come for her. She states that her sons Thomas and John, and son-in-law John Neel, sent her son Duncan with horses and a wagon for her. From this account we know that John and Clemency had moved back to Missouri. Their fifth child, Lydia Ann, was born 5 February 1848 in Ray County, Missouri; the 1850 Federal Census shows the family living in that county along with Clemency’s mother Avarilla and Avarilla’s sister Elizabeth.
Living in Ray County, with the lingering animosity toward those of the Mormon faith, must have presented challenges to the Neel and Casper families in Ray County. Perhaps their southern origins protected them to some extent. Some time after 1850, the John Neel family and probably Duncan Casper family moved to Lexington, Lafayette County, MO, just south of the Ray county line. Sons Joshua Wriley and Thomas Marion are born on 11 November 1850 and 18 February 1853. A sense of the continuing danger, as well as confirmation of the Neel family’s continued association with the church, can be learned from an article in the church newspaper, the St Louis Luminary,[24] January 24, 1855:
“Baptisms – Mobbing in Lexington Richmond, Mo., Jan 24, 1855”
“Editor Luminary: Since writing to you last from Jefferson, I have passed through many scenes, some pleasant and some unpleasant. The first place that I halted was at Boonville, where I stayed for two or three days. There seemed to be quite an anxiety to hear me lecture in Boonville upon my arrival there; but when those that seemed to be the most anxious in the matter found that my lecturing depended upon their procuring a room for me, they cooled off and said no more. From Boonville I travelled in the stage to Lexington. Upon my arrival at that place, I stopped with some brethren by the names of Casper and Neal. After spending two days there, I baptized four persons on the 17th and four on the 18th. On the night of the 18th a mob assembled around the house of Br. John Neal consisting of ten or a dozen persons and demanded that I should come out to them. This, I, of course, did not do, as I did not have faith to believe that the Lord would protect me if I wantonly throwed myself into their hands…” “ I remain A.L.S.” (St Louis Lum Feb 3, 1855:2)
Perhaps this event helped John Neel and Duncan Casper decide to join their fellow Mormon believers in Utah. Both families joined the John Hindley pioneer company that left in June 1855 from Mormon Grove, Kansas for the long journey across the plains. The company was described as the first to be organized that season from the large number of emigrants encamped at Mormon Grove near Atchison Kansas. Apostle Erastus Snow gave orders that those who were prepared to buy cattle and wagons should make a separate encampment for imminent departure under the leadership of Hindley, a returning missionary. The company, the first to leave that season, consisted of 206 people and 46 wagons when it left Mormon Grove on June 7th. [25] This suggests that John and Duncan were relatively well-off, probably as a result of selling their Missouri holdings. The camp was divided into groups of ten wagons with a captain over each. Ten days after leaving Mormon Grove, a company of U.S. soldiers overtook them bringing a letter from President Snow advising them to remain at Ft Kearney until other companies should arrive in order to travel with them for mutual protection.
Little information about the journey of our ancestors is available, but we know the journey was difficult, with many hardships. A camp journal, compiled by John Parsons, clerk of the company has the following references to the Neel family: “Monday, June 18 Traveling good. Left an ox and nine sheep belonging to Bro. Neal” “Sat. Aug 18 Rolled out in the morning and when about two miles out Bro. Singleton’s man and Bro. Neal’s child died. We stopped and camped.”
The child was Sarah Platte Neel born 18 July 1855 on the plains. According to daughter Rachel Neel Bills, all the children suffered from severe cases of whooping cough during the journey and perhaps that is what caused the death of the baby. The Hindley company arrived in Salt Lake City on September 3, 1855, the first group of emigrants to enter the city that year. The first few years in the valley must have been extremely difficult for the young family. The oxen and two cows died during that first winter, and Rachel says the family nearly starved with John digging up sego lillies and Indian potatoes that Spring to stave off hunger.
The John Neel Jr. family first moved to Ogden where Romania Deseret was born 1 March 1857[26] and then to Mill Creek is Salt Lake City where Rachel Clemency was born 20 February 1860. The Neel family was among the first settlers of Peoa, Summit County, Utah. According to a history of the county:
“In 1860 the first settlers came to Peoa. These early settlers came in covered wagons pulled by oxen. It took them two days to come from Salt Lake City to Peoa. The first stop was on the Summit, which was called the camping grounds. They would stay at the Summit all night and the next day come on to Peoa. These settlers came because they were sent by Brigham Young to colonize this vicinity. Some of these settlers who came with their families were….John Neel. In the early days, all maternity cases were taken care of by midwives.” Clemency Neel is included as one of these midwives.[27]
Clemency Litten Casper Neel died in Peoa, Summit Co., Utah 8 March 1892 and John Neel Jr died there on 2 January 1894. They were sealed in the Endowment House 17 January 1876.
John Neel Jr’s will is dated 1 June 1892 and was probated 20 February 1894 in Summit County. In his will he: “…ordered and directed that a sum of three hundred Dollars be given to (his children) Joshua Wriley Neel, Romania Deseret Beddo and Rachel Clemency Bills to be used by them in doing Temple work for me which I may have left undone.” He also ordered and directed that the sum of $50 be given to the Salt Lake Temple as a voluntary donation.
It is fitting that John would finish his mortal probation by leaving a relatively large sum of money for that era for his children to conduct temple work on behalf of his ancestors and relatives. It is our belief that he would be pleased by the efforts of his descendants to continue to fulfill his last wish.
James Neel
James Neel, the third child and first son of John Neel Sr. and Rebecca Guess, was born 19 December 1803 in Madison County, Kentucky.
James probably emigrated to Ray County, Missouri with other members of his family around 1826. About 1830 we believe he married Lydia Vanderpool, the daughter of his stepmother, Ellender Vanderpool.[28] The couple was soon blessed with children: James Jr. (1832), John (1834), American Ann (1836), Henry (1841), George (1843), and Bathilda (1846).
By 1835 James appears in many county court records, and bought and sold land in many real estate transactions in Ray County, some involving Scott L. Casper, the brother of Clemency Casper Neel and Avarilla Casper Neel.[29]
James was elected a Justice of the Peace for the Crooked River Township, and performed the marriage ceremony of his sister Janet to Phillip McKinney on 25 April 1839 and for Scott Casper to Catherine (Missouri) Clark on 5 January 1843.
Scott Casper died 24 Sep 1844 and David H. Neel was appointed as administrator of his estate. In one document related to this dated April 1845, David is obligated to an administrators bond for $800 with James Neel and Holland Vanderpool as security.[30] In another, David accuses Scott’s widow, who has remarried a McDowell, of concealing goods, chattels or moneys and evidence of debts.
According to family records, Sally Neel, daughter of John Sr and Rebecca, died in 1841. She apparently had a daughter Mary Ann, who was born about 1834. John B. Hines was appointed Mary’s guardian according to a June 1846 probate record[31] and in April 1849 James is bound as the principal and David as security for $100 for the use of Mary Ann.
According to Ray county probate records, James died in early 1850.[32] However, James had not passed from this world, but from Missouri. Lydia Neel apparently did die prior to the family’s departure from Missouri and perhaps the probate records are for Lydia and mistakenly name James. On the other hand, perhaps James wanted it to appear that he had died, possibly to escape creditors or legal problems.
In any event, we know that James and David Hugh left Missouri in June 1850 in the Justus Morse pioneer company. A diary kept by a member of the company, Luke Gallup, says that among the Neal group were David H., James W, and John C; also mentioned are a James Neal Jr and John Neel. The latter two probably are James’ sons who would have been eighteen and sixteen at the time. We do not know who John C. Neal was, although John Jr’s daughter Lydia later married a John Clay Neil. [33]
Gallup writes that the company was soon rent by dissension, primarily because of disagreements over how fast they should travel. Justus Morse resigns as head of the company and the company soon splits. No information is given on how the families divided but Gallup does not mention any Neals again and it is likely they were in a different group from Gallup.
In the 1850 Federal Census for the Utah Territory, James and David H. are living near each other in Utah County. Sally’s daughter Mary, 16 years old, is living with James’ family. They are still living in Utah in 1855, when daughter America Ann marries Asa Boyce in Fillmore, Utah. According to stories passed down through Bathilda’s descendants, James helped set the cornerstone for the “temple,” suggesting he was on good terms with his Mormon neighbors. [34]
James and his extended family, including David Hugh Neel’s family, eventually picked up stakes and moved on to California, apparently to work in the gold fields. James apparently marries before or soon after arriving in California to a woman named Amelia or Mary from Missouri. In the 1860 Federal Census, James is listed as living both in Granite and Consumnes, Sacramento County, working as a miner. In addition to John, Henry, George, and Bathilda from his first marriage, he also has three children additional children, Alonzo, Edward, and Sarah. James dies before the next Federal Census in 1870.
Footnotes
[1] The author is deeply indebted to Fred Neal Spackman and his dear wife, Rowena, for their diligent research on the Neel family over many years. The following accounts, especially on John Neel Jr, borrow heavily on research notes Fred generously shared with me. Thanks Fred.
[2] Recent DNA analysis on a male descendant of Hugh Neel indicates that our Neel ancestors almost certainly originated in Ireland.
[3] Research conducted to ascertain whether any Hugh Neals/Neel were impressed into the British navy have yet to confirm this assertion; this information might be found in British Naval records.
[4] “William Milliken’s List” 1779 tax for Randolph Co, NC Hugh Neal: 1 horse, 3 cattle, total value 130; no land, no Negroes.
[5] 1785 Pittsylvania Co, VA tax records show a Hugh Oneal, 2 whites. In Franklin Co, VA, a Hugh Oneal/Neal/Nale is found in tax, court, and census records from 1788 through 1830. The 1830 Franklin census record show that this Hugh Oneal was born between 1740 and 1750. About 1788 he marries Ann Sheridan and purchases land from her father Philip. He dies around 1836 in Franklin Co with no heirs designated.
[6] LDS film # 25154 pt 2 Madison Co, KY Marriage Records: “marriage to be shortly solemnized between John Neal and Rebekah Gass; consent given by John Guess to John Neal to marry his daughter Rebeckah” 13 June 1798.”
[7] The bondsman for the marriage was Samuel Biggerstaff, who probably also emigrated from North Carolina and may have been acquainted with the Guess family. Some members of the Biggerstaff family were notorious Tories in North Carolina during the Revolutionary War.
[8] John Neal is found in Madison Co, KY tax records in 1800, 1801, and 1802 next to John Guess but disappears from those records until 1811 when he shows up one more time. In the 1810 Federal Census, “John Kneal” is living in Madison Co.
[9] History of Santa Clara County, California. “David H. Neel. Born in Madison county, Kentucky, February 5, 1806. In 1812, his parents moved to Anderson county, where he was educated and followed farming, both stock and agricultural, until he attained the age of twenty years, when he went to Ray county, Missouri, and there engaged in the like pursuit until 1850. In that year he started for California, but remaining eighteen months in Salt Lake City, he did not arrive in San Mateo county, where he settled, until October, 1852. here he resided until 1859, when he became a resident of Santa Clara county, and located on a tract of land one mile north-west from his present home. In 1865 he moved to his present farm comprising one hundred and sixty acres. Married, January 18, 1839, Avarilla Caspar, a native of Richland county, Ohio, who was born March 23, 1820. The following are the names of their children: Anastasia L., Malaira L., William C., Winfield W. W. C., Emigratus, Cyrus Napoleon, Rebecca Jane, Thomas Benton, Roeann Richardson, Stirling C.”
Anderson County was formed in 1827 from parts of Franklin, Mercer, and Washington counties.
Jesse Guess is found in Madison Co, KY tax records for the years 1804, 1805, 1806 and 1811 but not thereafter.
[10] A “John Neal” also shows up in Anderson county tax records from 1827-1837 but he apparently is not our ancestor as this John Neal is still in the county in 1837 when we know John Neel Sr was in Ray Co, MO.
Jesse Guess bought land on Fox Creek in Anderson Co from Joel and Sarah Downey, residents of Vigo, Indiana in Sept, 1828; John Neel Jr’s daughter Anna married William Downey about 1824.
[11] 1830 Federal Census Ray County, MO shows John Neel with 5 male and 4 females dependants.
[12] Ray County, MO marriage records, Book #1, 1820-1844: “I, John Stone, a county of Ray Preacher of the Gospel duly authorized thereto….I do also certify that on the 21st day of September, 1830 I did also join in marriage John Neel to Ellender Vanderpool both of lawful age…”
[13] The regiment was headed by a Captain Pollard; also serving as privates in the regiment from 19 July to 30 September, 1832 were four Vanderpools: John, David, Winendon, and Anthony.
[14] James led 29 men in the 3rd unit, including his father and brother-in-law Holland Vanderpool.
[15] Also serving in this company are future Neel relatives Peter Herrod and Thomas McKinney from Ray County. Janet Neel married Philip McKinney in 1839. Serving as a first sergeant is a “D.G. Neal.” It’s not clear who this is (Daniel Neal?) but he may be related in some way.
[16] Ray County, MO Marriage Records, Book #1, 1820-1844, pg 71: “I do hereby certify that I joined in the bonds of matrimony John Neel and Clemency Casper on the 31st day of December, 1837 according to the Law both of lawful age – Given under my hand this 14th day of February 1838. Signed William Werick – Elder of the Church of the latter day Saints. (It was not until April 26th, 1838 that the full and correct name of the church was given to Joseph Smith; D&C 115); According to the biography of her mother, Avarilla Durbin Casper, Clemency was baptized a member of the church on 18 May 1836 in Ohio; the family moved to Missouri in 1837.
[17] In her autobiography, Avarilla Durbin Casper said “We left Missouri in March, went to Illinois and rented a farm in the neighborhood of Fairfield and stayed one year there, moved to Carthage, stayed one year there, then bought a home in Nauvoo. We moved there in ’41.”
[18] Ray County MO, Deeds D:18 In 1850, Elizabeth McDowell and her husband John are living in Dist 75 in Ray County near her sister Averilla Durbin Casper. 1850 Fed Census, Ray Co, MO p. 304.
[19] History of the Church, Vol 4 p. 233, notes that a stake was organized in Lima, Adams Co, Illinois on October 22, 1840 with Hyrum Smith as the presiding authority. Among the members are John and Clemency Neel and their son William Neel, born on 12 July 1839.
[20] Another account of a Mormon working in a mill at Carthage is found in the biography of Joseph Freeman Phippen. Phippen recounts that he moved from Nauvoo to Carthage after his marriage and was in charge of a saw and grist mill. He moved back to Nauvoo in 1844. Rachel’s account says her father worked at a flour mill. //home.earthlink.net/~wsmittle/Eldredge.htm
[21] Clemency could have worked at the Hyrum Smith home in Lima, Illinois given that both families lived there at the same time.
[22] When John Austin Neel was endowed in the Endowment House on 28 April 1866, he gave Carthage, Illinois as the place of his birth.
[23] Church Historian’s Office
[24] The St Louis Luminary was a weekly newspaper published by the church from 22 November 1854 to 15 December 1855 and was edited by Apostle Erastus Snow.
[25] From “In Heart Throbs” by Kate B. Carter, Vol 4, page 344.
[26] The 1856 Utah census shows the family living in Weber County
[27] “Echoes of Yesteryear” (979.214 H2P, Summit County Centennial History, compiled by Marie Ross Peterson, published by DUP of Summit County in 1947. p. 210
[28] LDS IGI records show a marriage between Lydia Vanderpool and James Neel taking place in Ray County, Missouri. No other records have been found to confirm this marriage and attempts to contact the source of the IGI record have been unsuccessful. Correspondence with other descendants of James and Lydia confirms that James’ wife was named Lydia.
[29] The Ray County Court House, Richmond, Missouri (Index to Circuit Court Record, Vol A, 1821 - 1872)
[30] Ray Co, MO Probate Records, Book B p. 10
[31] Volume 1 General Index to Probate Records 1823 - 1865. 23 day of June, 1846
[32] Genealogical Notes from the Liberty Tribune, 1846 - 1858 publ Liberty, Clay Co., Mo. “Letters of Administration granted in Ray co. estate of James Neel, dec’d. (March 1, 1850) E. A. Lewis, administrator”.
[33] Gallup, Luke William, Reminiscences and Diary, 1842 -- LDS Church Archives, SLC, UT p. 122-141, Justus Morse company of 1850; p. 124 Articles drawn up by members of the company to govern behavior was signed by: David H. Neal, Ja. W. Neal, John C. Neal. Those who did not sign the document for some cause included: John Neal, James Neal, Jr.
p. 125 Discusses two divisions of the wagon; in the second division are Ja Neal, D.H. Neal, J. Neal Jr., John Neal
p. 126 Friday, the 5th "Got a late start on account of lame cattle. The Neals received $2 for the use of 2 horses to hunt lost cattle bgy another com. Road tolerable good yet we got over only 12 mi. Total 212. 13 wagons, 25 men, 35 women and children"
[34] Correspondence with Sean C. Tracy, descendant of Bathilda Neel and Henry Tracy.