MacNeill Family Papers, 1789-2012

Collection Number: 05575

Collection Title: MacNeill Family Papers, 1789-2012

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.

Expand/collapse Collection Overview

Size	3.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 600 items)
Abstract	The MacNeill family (sometimes spelled McNeill) owned plantations in Kentucky and Mississippi during the 19th century. Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875) and his immediate family started their plantation home, "Hemphill," in Christian County, Ky. His daughter Martha Rivers McNeill (1827-1887) attended the Nashville Female Academy in the 1840s. His son, Thomas Henry McNeill (1821-1866), bought land in Coahoma County, Miss., to start a second plantation. During the Civil War, Thomas Henry McNeill (1821-1866) served as a second lieutenant in the 18th Regiment, Mississippi Cavalry, Company B. He also had at least one son, Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917), who moved to Chicago, Ill., after the death of his first wife. He lived there with his second wife, Willie Gilmore McNeill (1848-1921). The collection consists of records of the purchase, sale, and upkeep of land and correspondence discussing business, crops, slaves and former slaves, legal concerns, family health, and personal matters, chiefly among the MacNeill extended family. There are also letters exchanged between Martha Rivers MacNeill (1827-1887) and her friends from Nashville Female Academy concerning school, family, and social events. Civil War materials of Thomas Henry MacNeill include an order to purchase mules and wagons for the Army of the Mississippi; a notice to attend the trial of the steamer Blue Bird under arrest at Helena, Ark.; and cotton receipts, including one for $30,000 for cotton taken by the U.S. government. Other materials include World's Fair keepsakes from events Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917) attended in Chicago; portraits of family members and images of their homes; a scrapbook of Quigley House in Mobile, Ala.; land surveys; legal documents; and genealogical research on the Boddie and MacNeill families. Also of note are two books self-published by the family, "Trials and Triumphs: The MacNeill Family History" (2012) and "Malcolm G. MacNeill, Sr.: A Life Well Lived" (2012), which discuss important events in their history and Malcolm G. MacNeill's (1928-2011) life.
Creator	MacNeill (Family : MacNeill, Malcolm, 1796-1875)
Curatorial Unit	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language	English

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Restrictions to Access: No restrictions. Open for research.

Restrictions to Use: No usage restrictions.

Copyright Notice: Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], in the MacNeill Family Papers #5575, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information: Received from Joan G. MacNeill in August 2013 (Acc. 101866).

Sensitive Materials Statement: Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

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Processed by: Ashlyn Velte, July 2015

Encoded by: Ashlyn Velte, July 2015

Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, November 2020

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

Expand/collapse Biographical Information

The MacNeill family (sometimes spelled McNeill) of Christian County, Ky., and Mississippi begins largely with Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875), the youngest son of Henry MacNeill (1755-1820) and Dorothy Pryor MacNeill (1755-1824) of Person County, N.C. Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875) moved to Christian County, Ky., where the family purchased a plantation that became known as "Hemphill." He married five times, his last wife being Catherine Boddie Bell MacNeill (1805-1876). Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875) had at least two children: Thomas Henry McNeill (1821-1866) and Martha Rivers McNeill (1827-1887).

Thomas Henry McNeill (1821-1866) eventually moved away from "Hemphill" to Mississippi and purchased land there. His marriage to Rebecca Tuck McNeill (1824-1859) resulted in many children, including Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917) and Alexander McNeill, who graduated from Lake Forest University. Thomas Henry McNeill served as a second lieutenant in the 18th Regiment, Mississippi Cavalry, Company B.

Martha Rivers McNeill (1827-1887) attended the Nashville Female Academy in Tennessee. In 1848 she married Wiley Perry Boddie, the brother of her father's fifth wife. Boddie worked for a time in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Boddie's had at least one child together: Lucie Williams Boddie (1854-1931). Lucie Williams Boddie married into the Anderson family.

After the Civil War, Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917) remained in Mississippi with his first wife, Eliza Burke (1845-1880). After her death he moved to Chicago, Ill., where he married Willie Gilmore McNeill (1848-1921) in 1883. She was the daughter of George W. and Caroline Gilmore of Mississippi. During his time in Chicago, Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917) attended the unveiling of Confederate monuments and the opening of the Columbian Field Museum and the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Around this time he also vacationed with his family in the Great Lakes. Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917) had at least one son with Willie Gilmore McNeill (1848-1921): Frank Rivers McNeill (1885-1977).

Frank Rivers McNeill (1885-1977) attended Hogsett Military Academy in Kentucky in 1898. He married Ann Lee and with her had a least one child, Malcolm G. MacNeill (1928-2011), in Florida. Malcolm G. MacNeill (1928-2011) eventually returned to North Carolina.

See "Trials and Triumphs: The MacNeill Family History" by Kaylynn L. Washnock and Joan MacNeill for more family biography.

Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The MacNeill Family Papers (sometimes spelled McNeill) document family plantation business concerns and social lives in Christian County, Ky. and Mississippi during 19th century. Included are records of the purchase, sale, and upkeep of the land. Early documents, 1820s-1870s, concern the family of Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875) and include correspondence, chiefly between him and Boddie, Lancaster, Anderson, Caruthers, Lynch, Grant, Burke and Tuck family members. Letters discuss slaves, business, crops, legal concerns, marriages, and other social events. Letters exchanged between Martha Rivers MacNeill (1827-1887) and her friends from Nashville Female Academy concern school, family, and social events. Civil War materials of Thomas Henry MacNeill include an order to purchase mules and wagons for the Army of the Mississippi; a notice to attend the trial of the steamer Blue Bird under arrest at Helena, Ark.; and cotton receipts, including one for $30,000 for cotton taken by the U.S. government. Materials, 1870s-1910s, chiefly concern the family of Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917). Correspondence discusses familial business, financial, and legal matters, as well as updates on health, weather, and social events. Other materials in the collection include portraits of family members and their homes; certificates and diplomas; land surveys; keepsakes from the Chicago World's Fair and the Columbian Field Museum; legal documents concerning property and estates; a scrapbook of Quigley House in Mobile, Ala.; and genealogical research on the Boddie and MacNeill families. Also of note are two self-published books entitled Trials and Triumphs: The MacNeill Family History (2012) and Malcolm G. MacNeill, Sr.: A Life Well Lived (2012) that were compiled by the family. They discuss important events in their history and Malcolm G. MacNeill's (1928-2011) life using images, scans of documents, and letter transcriptions.

Contents list

Expand/collapse Series 1. Correspondence, 1804-1920s.

300 items.

Arrangement: by family member.

Box 1 Folder 1	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Business and personal correspondence, 1826-1840s
Box 1 Folder 2	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Business and personal correspondence, 1820s-1840s
Box 1 Folder 3	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Business and personal correspondence, 1830s-1850s
Box 1 Folder 4	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Business and personal correspondence, 1840s-1855
Box 1 Folder 5	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Business and personal correspondence, 1850s
Box 1 Folder 6	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Business and personal correspondence, 1850s-1870s
Box 1 Folder 7	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875), 20 October 1857 Letter regarding the death of a family member.
Box 1 Folder 8	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Correspondence with Catherine Boddie Bell McNeill (wife), 1850s
Box 1 Folder 9	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Letters to Catherine Boddie Bell McNeill (wife), 1851-1868
Box 2 Folder 10	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Letters to his children, 1840s-1850s
Box 2 Folder 11	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Letters from his children, 1830-1840 Chiefly letters from his son Thomas Henry MacNeill.
Box 2 Folder 12	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Letters from his MacNeill nephews, 1830s-1860s Of particular interest are his letters from H. McNeill, who discusses court cases, slaves, and crops.
Box 2 Folder 13	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Letter to Lemuel MacNeill, 1826
Box 2 Folder 14	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Letters from family members, 1830s-1850s Includes letters from Ann "Nancy" Terrell Lynch (sister-in-law), Anna Eliza Lancaster (Ann's daughter), and Elizabeth Rivers MacNeill (daughter).
Box 2 Folder 15	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Letters from Samuel Lancaster (brother-in-law), 1835-1846
Box 2 Folder 16	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Miscellaneous letters from relatives, 1830s-1870s Includes letters from Anderson, Lynch, Grant, Burke, Tuck, and Caruthers families, all of whom are related to Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875) through marriage.
Box 2 Folder 17	Martha Rivers McNeill (1827-1887): Letters from friends and family, 1840s Chiefly from her time at Nashville Female Academy in the 1840s. Includes letters from Anna Maria Melville and from M.C. Patterson.
Box 2 Folder 18	Martha Rivers McNeill (1827-1887): Letters from Cora Thomas Calhoun Marable, 1846-1848
Box 2 Folder 19	Martha Rivers McNeill (1827-1887): Letters from Mary Ann Bostick, 1840s Bostick was a friend of Martha's from the Nashville Female Academy.
Box 2 Folder 20	Martha Rivers McNeill (1827-1887): Letter from Jane E. Grider, 1848
Box 2 Folder 21	Martha Rivers McNeill (1827-1887): Letters from Elizabeth Jane "Lizzy" Peck, circa 1846
Box 2 Folder 22	Martha Rivers McNeill (1827-1887): Letters from Bethunia Perkins Smith, 1846-1848
Box 2 Folder 23	Martha Rivers McNeill Boddie (1827-1887): Letters from family, 1850s-1880s
Box 2 Folder 24	Martha Rivers McNeill Boddie (1827-1887): Correspondence with family, 1870s Chiefly regarding business, insurance, and loans.
Box 2 Folder 25	Lucy Williams Boddie Anderson (1854-1931): Correspondence with family, 1870s-1900s Chieffly regarding business, insurance, and loans.
Box 3 Folder 26	Martha Rivers Boddie (1894-1931), 1870s-1910s Personal correspondence about family visits, health updates, weather, and social events; also includes some of the last letters received by her mother, Martha Rivers McNeill Boddie (1827-1887).
Box 3 Folder 27	Martha Rivers Boddie (1894-1931), 1910s Personal correspondence about family visits, health updates, weather, and social events; also includes letters from suitors.
Box 3 Folder 28	Thomas Henry McNeill, 1862-1866 An order to purchase mules and wagons for the Army of the Mississippi; a notice to attend the trial of the steamer Blue Bird under arrest at Helena, Ark.; and cotton receipts, including one for $30,000 for cotton taken by the U.S. government.
Box 3 Folder 29	Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917): Letters from Willie Gilmore McNeill (wife), 1880s-1900s
Box 3 Folder 30	Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917): Letters from his children, 1890s-1900s
Box 3 Folder 31	Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917): Correspondence with friends and family, 1890s-1900s Includes business letters and responses to inquiries about families' former slaves. McNeill wrote to the National Baptist Convention to inquire about George Harris and Minerva McNeal, who had been enslaved by his father. It appears that McNeill was seeking information about their memories of the Union Army taking cotton from the family.
Box 3 Folder 32	Willie Gilmore McNeill: Letters from her children and friends, 1880s-1890s
Box 3 Folder 33	Wiley Perry Boddie: Correspondence with family and friends while in Colorado Springs, Colo., 1880s-1910s Chiefly regarding business; personal letters concern children, health, and crops back home.
Box 3 Folder 34	George Boddie (1856-1929): Letters from family and friends, 1880s-1900 Regarding health, social events, and weather; also includes some business letters about real estate, bank, and legal concerns, and one political letter about the voting process for the county.
Box 3 Folder 35	George Boddie (1856-1929): Correspondence with family and friends, 1900s-1910s Letters from family and friends regarding health, social events, and weather. One political letter about the voting process for the county. Also includes some business letters concerning real estate and financial and legal interests.
Box 3 Folder 36	Miscellaneous Boddie family letters, 1890s-1910s
Box 3 Folder 37	Miscellaneous McNeill family letters, 1804-1920s (bulk 1890s-1920s)

Expand/collapse Series 2. Other Papers, 1789-2012.

200 items.

Oversize Paper Folder OPF-5575/1	Mississippi plantation survey, 1857
Box 4 Folder 38	MacNeill financial materials, circa 1840s-1860s Receipts and other records.
Box 4 Folder 39	Other financial papers, 1850s-1920s
Box 4 Folder 40	Mississippi Public Land Grant, 1840
Box 4 Folder 41	Mississippi plantation survey, 1857
Box 4 Folder 42	Miscellaneous legal papers, 1840-1883
Box 4 Folder 43	Estate of Henry McNeill, circa 1820
Box 4 Folder 44	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Last Will and Testament, March 1875
Box 4 Folder 45	Eneus Africanns, 1920s
Box 4 Folder 46	Boddie estate sale in Kentucky, 1970s Sale was executed by the heirs of Catherine Boddie Bell MacNeill (1805-1876), last wife of Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875)
Box 4 Folder 47	Scrapbook of Quigley House, Mobile, Ala. Includes photographs of and an essay on the home of George W. Gilmore and Caroline Francis Jones Gilmore in 1860.
Box 4 Folder 48	Civil War remembrance documents Includes illustration of Jefferson Davis from messages and papers of the Confederacy, Willie Gilmore McNeill's certificate from Daughters of the Confederacy, poems and newspaper clippings.
Box 4 Folder 49	Confederate Monument Banquet menu, 1895
Box 4 Folder 50	Dedication ceremonies at Oakwood Cemetery and the Confederate Monument, 1865 Includes a letter dated 15 March 1898 from the Maine Monument Fund Committee, and other letters, programs, and pamphlets related to the dedication of the Maine Monument and Confederate Monument.
Box 4 Folder 51	Calling cards
Box 4 Folder 52	Willie Gilmore: Autograph book, 1869
Box 4 Folder 53	Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917): Illinois National Guard orders, July 1877
Box 4 Folder 54	Alexander McNeill: Diploma, Lake Forest University, 1885
Box 4 Folder 55	Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917): Notebook, 1881-1883 ; Correspondence, 1897-1898, 1921
Box 4 Folder 56	Malcolm G. McNeill (1928-2011): School materials, Also includes a life insurance document.
Box 5 Folder 57	Miscellaneous Includes a catalogue of shoes, some undated correspondence, and a newspaper clipping about Richmond P. Hobson.
Box 5 Folder 58	Naval commission by President James Polk, 1847
Box 5 Folder 59	Frank McNeill: School books, circa 1896 Fractions book and Harvard School report cards.
Box 5 Folder 60	Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917): Keepsakes from the opening of the Columbian Field Museum, 1894
Box 5 Folder 61	Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917): Ribbons from the Chicago Southern States Association, 1895
Box 5 Folder 62	MacNeill family genealogy Copies of research conducted by the family.
Box 5 Folder 63	McNeill family genealogy Includes photographic prints of cemetery gravestones and monuments.
Box 5 Folder 64	Elmwood Cemetery Photographic prints of McNeill family plot in historic cemetery; also includes a diagram of the family plot.
Box 5 Folder 65	MacNeill family genealogy Family tree tracing the MacNeill family back to Scotland.
Box 5 Folder 66	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Biography from the "History of Christian County, Ky" Also includes biography of Henry MacNeill (1755-1820).
Box 5 Folder 67	Thomas Henry MacNeill genealogy
Box 5 Folder 68	MacNeill family genealogy: Correspondence, 1960s
Box 5 Folder 69	Boddie family, Christian County, Ky.
Box 5 Folder 70	MacNeill family genealogy, 1895-1910
Box 5 Folder 71	McNeill family genealogy
Box 5 Folder 72	Boddie family genealogy, 1847
Box 5 Folder 73	Boddie family genealogy, 1850s-1910s
Box 5 Folder 74	Thomas Rivers will (copy), 1789
Box 5 Folder 75	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875): Estate settlement, 1875
Box 5 Folder 76	Boddie property lease, 1927
Box 6 Folder 77	"Malcolm G. MacNeill, Sr.: A Life Well Lived" by Malcolm MacNeill, Joan MacNeill, Jill Ingram and Kaylynn Washnock, 2012 A book created by the MacNeill family commemorating the life of Malcolm G. MacNeill (1828-2011). Includes photographs, letter transcriptions, and personal accounts of his life compiled from MacNeill Family Papers.
Box 6 Folder 78	"Trials and Triumphs: The MacNeill Family History" by Kaylynn L. Washnock and Joan MacNeill, 2012 A book of photographs, document scans, and letter transcriptions compiled from MacNeill Family Papers.
Museum Item MU-5575/1	Wooden stakes

Expand/collapse Series 3. Photographs, 1890-1900.

60 items.

Image Box 1 Image Folder PF-05575/1	Malcolm MacNeill (1796-1875) home Pictures of the house built in 1821 in Christian County, Ky.
Image Box 1 Image Folder PF-05575/2	Photographs 1861-1890s Portrait of Horace Tucker in Confederate Army uniform, portraits of MacNeill family men and women, snapshot of an unidentified family, panorama of football game, and silhouettes by C.D. Ruggles at Inter-State Expo in Chicago, Ill.
Image Box 1 Image Folder PF-05575/3	Portraits, 1890s Portraits of W. A. Giles, Alexander H. Revell, Geo. B. Swift, Wm. T. Baker, Ferdinand W. Peck, and Gor. J. P. Altgeld.
Image Box 1 Image Folder PF-05575/4	Portraits, 1890s Portraits of L.J. Gagr, Rs. J. Stewart, E. H. Lawrence, William H. Harper, and two unknown men.
Image Box 1 Image Folder PF-05575/5	Miscellaneous family snapshots,
Image Box 1 Image Folder PF-05575/6	Hemphill Plantation, Christian County, Ky., 1898
Image Box 1 Image Folder PF-05575/7	Family portraits, circa 1898 Includes two portraits of Frank Gilmore (1850-1928); four portraits of Frank Rivers McNeill (1885-1977); a portrait of Estella "Stella" McNeill (1871-1970) with her daughter Mildred McNeill (1903-1990); and three portraits of the family vacationing on Lake Michigan in 1898.
Image Box 1 Image Folder PF-05575/8	Portraits of Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917) and Willie Gilmore McNeill, circa 1870-1900
Image Box 1 Image Folder PF-05575/9	Willie Gilmore McNeill, 1880s-1890s Image taken in Rabun County, Ga.
Image Box 1 Image Folder PF-05575/10	MacNeill family on vacation, 1898
Oversize Image Folder OP-PF-5575/1	Family portraits, 1895 Malcolm McNeill (1846-1917) and his wife Willie Gilmore McNeill (1948-1921) at the Chicago World's Fair in 1895; Thomas Henry McNeill (1821-1866) and his sons; Caroline Gilmore (1816-1905), Frank Rivers McNeill (1885-1977), and Willie Gilmore (1848-1921). There is also a photograph of the Gilmore family home on Government Street, Mobile, Ala.

Expand/collapse Items Separated

Photographs (PF-05575/1-10, OP-PF-05575/1)
Oversized paper (OPF-05575/1)

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Collection Number: 05575 Collection Title: MacNeill Family Papers, 1789-2012