Family Research

Neel - Williams

A Note on the Family Name:

My family is adamant about the spelling of our last name. The prevailing opinion has always been that it has always been spelled "Neel" from before the time we arrived in America. While others may use Neal, Neil, Nell, O'Neal, and McNeal, those people either can't spell, just don't care, or are trying to link up with Scottish Houses. I've watched the arguments between my dad and his cousins when one of them would suggest that the Neels came from the MacNeil of Bara clan. What Nonsense!

I was drinking in a pub in St. Mere Eglise France one night, in uniform, when a French guy came up to me and said, "Néel. This is a French name." My buddies had a good time with that. Likewise, I found quite a few in England while stationed there.

We can trace the Neel name back to the American War of Independence. I believe we came from France, moved to the Island of Jersey, and then to the United States. We still pronounce it like the French - Nee-ell.

Hameau Néel, 50630 Le Vast, France

Thomas Neel, 1700-1765, Jersey

John Clayton Neel

John Clayton, my Great-Great-Grandfather, was as far as I could go back for a long time. Family lore has him coming from North Carolina or Virginia to Noxubee County Mississippi, marrying Caroline "Carrie" Lagrone, going back home, returning with a wagon load of furniture and slaves, joining the Confederate Army, raising a company of cavalry, and was killed at the battle of Shiloh, decapitated by a cannonball.

The only absolute historical reference to the man that I have found is this marriage license to Carrie, dated 15 December 1851. I have searched the Confederate Archives in Jackson Mississippi, the rolls of all Noxubee county units, and on the internet. I have come up empty.

There is a J. O. Neal listed on the Macon Mississippi Confederate Monument, erected in 1900. I like to believe this is him, the "J" standing for "John," the "O" a misread cursive "C," and the "Neal" a common misspelling of our family name. In Carrie's Obituary from the Macon Beacon, 1910. her son's name is misspelled, Nicholas Neal. I have found no J. O. Neal in any Noxubee unit, nor have I found one in the Archives for any Mississippi Unit.

As tempting as it is to claim J. O. Neal as John Clayton and it is highly likely that it is, I'm not willing to make that call.

I have searched the Noxubee County cemeteries to no avail. Understandable if he died at Shiloh; Grant had all the dead Confederates buried in Mass Graves, a smart decision made because of the torrential rains after the battle. If he died of Measles, he should be buried somewhere close. I haven't found the Lagrone Cemetery either.

These are not the only problems with the Family Story.

The1860 Census: Where is John Clayton?

The December 1860 Census has Caroline Neel (27), and her children, Nicholas (8) and Molly(6), living with her Father, David Lagrone. There is no mention of John.

I see four possible reasons for this.

John has already joined the cause. Though Mississippi didn't succeed until 9 January 1861, Militia Units, including the Noxubee Rifles and Quitman Light Infantry, were already forming.
John has left for Texas or Arkansas. There was a mass migration from Mississippi in the 1840s and 1850s, to these two places, offering free land. Perhaps the plan was to send for Carrie and the kids when he was settled.
John could have died before 1860. I have one story, from a distant cousin, who says John died of measles. Though I have never, ever heard this from anyone else, I don't completely discount it, because of this census.
Divorce.

Possible References

The Chickasaw County Neel Families

The 1850 Chickasaws County Census shows three Neel families. The household of William and Sarah Neel, from South Carolina, contains John (21) Benjamin (19), Charles (14), and Nancy (1).

Chickasaw County is only three counties northwest of Noxubee.

This seems to be the same family in the 1860 Egypt, Ashley, AK Census. If this is John Clayton, the probable reason for going with his father to Arkansas is that the more people in your family, the more land you received.

Another interesting clue is that there is an Egypt in Chickasaw County Mississippi.

J. C Neel, 7th Texas Infantry

There is a J. C. Neel who joins Company I of the 7th Texas Infantry, formed 2 October 1861. That unit was captured at Fort Donelson. Some members escaped and joined units, Forest's Cavalry, 9th Texas Infantry, or Terry's Texas Rangers. that fought at Shiloh.

In the list of soldiers in the 7th are two with the last name Neel - Matt and John. Both are listed as "Deserted 15 February 1862." This adds up as Nathan Bedford Forest led a breakout from Fort Donalson the day before it was surrendered on 16 February 1862.

"Deserted?" Bull Shit! John and Matt refused to surrender.

This all works well, but how did my John come to be in a Texas unit? I think the answer is Matt. Once the 7th was formed, it traveled by train to Shreveport, LA, and then marched to Memphis. Before marching to Fort Donalson, they lost 130 soldiers to disease. I believe there's a chance that Matt and John, cousins(?), joined this regiment as they marched through Arkansas. There are a lot of Neels in Texas. Perhaps Matt joined there and ran into John in Arkansas.

My Proposed Timeline looks like this:

1813-1814 - Creek War (21,086, 793 Acres ceded to the United States by the Creek Nation)
1820s - Three Neel Brothers (perhaps more . . . and their father and mother) move from South Carolina to Tuscaloosa Alabama (Alabama Feaver)
1829 - John was born in Alabama
1833 - Carrie was born in Alabama
!836 -!837 - Second Creek War (Creek Trail of Tears)
!840s- Neel Brothers move to Chickasaw, Mississippi, David Lagrone moves his family to Noxubee from Perry AL.
1850 Census - John in Chickasaw, Caroline in Noxubee, both with parents
On or about 11 December 1851 - John (22) and Carrie (18) Married
18 September 1852 -Nicholas born in Macon, MS
4 June 1854 - Mollie Born
1860 Census - John in Egypt Arkansas, Caroline and kids with her Father in Noxubee
2 October 1861 - 9 February 1862 - John joins 7th Texas Infantry
15 February 1862 - John breaks out of Fort Donalson with Nathan Bedford Forest
16 February 1862 - Fort Donalson Surrenders. Three hundred 7th Texas men were sent to prison where 69 died. John and Matt Neel are listed as "Deserted."
John Joins 9th Texas Infantry
6 - 7 April 1862 - John is one of 9th Texas soldiers killed at Shiloh, 14 KIA, 11 Missing.
1880 - John's father, mother, and mentally challenged brother, Charles, are living in Union Parish Lousiana. John's brother Benjamin S. Neel survives the war and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Chickasaw County, MS.

The Search for Caroline "Carrie" Lagrone

We've always known more about Carrie. She is part of the Lagrone Family, well researched and published, for a while, by a professor at Tulsa. He was very clear he didn't want to play when I contacted him. I was smart enough to download all of his files.

The daughter of David and Christina, she had four siblings, William, Adam, Nicholas, and David

Carrie Married John. She had two kids by him, Nicholas and Molly. She married James Frank Lindley after the war, 29 June 1865. They had a rough time of it. Their daughter, Arabella, died at 2-years -old, they had a stillborn daughter two years later, and their son, John (named after John Clayton?) died at 9-years-old.

I found her obituary a few years ago saying she was "buried Salem." it took me a long while to figure out which "Salem" She is buried at Salem Methodist Church, on Highway 14, west of Macon, Mississippi.

Though they died months apart, James and Carrie are buried in different cemeteries. James, his sister, their daughters, their son, and their Granddaughter Effie, Nicholas' daughter, are all buried in Mohegan Cemetery (Also called Card Cemetery) East of Highway 45.

Another puzzle.

The Missing Mrs. Neel

My brother, Jim, once told me of a photo of a beautiful young woman that hung in Grandmother Neel's house until the day she died. When he asked about it, Grandmother told him it was his grandfather's first wife and that she had died young. This was confirmed by our uncle, Neely Vaughn Johnson, at Uncle Tommy's funeral, in Jan 2022.

Knowing how much Grandaddy loved her, Grandmama Neel promised that the photo would always hang in her house.

Jim thinks he remembers that she died in the 1918 Flu Epidemic.

All of this was news to me. I told him I'd look.

right off the bat, I found is a marriage Record from Henry County Georgia for Emmett Conwell Neel and Miss Ruth Elizabeth Clark, who married on 24 April 1917. This fit amazingly well with Emmette's Time-Line but I believed it to be inconclusive.

I thought it compelling that we know a LOT of Clarks in the Sumpter County and Kemper County areas. Two Clark brothers married two of Grandaddy's sisters. Samuel married Mary Alice and Ollie married Edna. So far I have found no connection.

Equally compelling, my aunt is named Myrtle Ruth. Jim seems to remember that she was named after EC's first wife. My cousin, Annelle, daughter of Myrtle Ruth, says she thinks she was named after one of Grandmother Neel's kin. Also, EC's brother, Charles B. Neel, married Annie Ruth Smtlh who died in 1918 at the age of 29. I thought this might be the source of the story.

We asked other cousins, some knew the story, but others, like me, did not. No one knew the name and no one knows what happened to the photo.

One source is not enough.

I need to find a grave but, so far, I've come up empty. Annelle remembers her mom saying that they were married only nine weeks before she died (Around 26 June 1917). I searched in every cemetery around Scooba and Geiger on Find-a-Grave with no success. I've also searched Salem Cemetery in Macon, Mohegan Cemetery off Highway 45 in Noxubee County, Souls Cemetery in Geiger, and Henry County Georgia. I've searched for Ruth Elizabeth Neel and Clark. Ruth and Elizabeth Neel, Ruth and Elizabeth Clark, and R. Neel and Clark.

Find-a-grave is never exhaustive. Finding it may require a hunting trip.

Note: Later Information proves this was a lot of wasted time; most likely, they lived in Georgia at the time.

Finding her death record or a newspaper obituary would be good. You'd think there would be a list of people who died in the pandemic, but, not that I can find. No Luck so far.

There are a number of Ruth Clarks in Georgia Census reports. One is a match and I'm accepting it, a 1910 Henry County report listing the family of James W. Clark (Find-a-grave Memorial # 28872709) and Mary S. with three kids, William M, Ruth (born January 1892), and Helen. They are buried at Masters Cemetery, DeKalb County. The 1920 Census of that family lists only Helen and her parents in the household, which fits. I found her brother's family in the 1930 Census. He (31603969 Find-a-Grave) and his wife are buried at Bethel United Methodist Church Cemetery, Scarbrough Cross Roads, Henry County, GA.

There is no Ruth Clark or Ruth Neel listed in these cemeteries.

Questions remain. How did the boy from Alabama meet this girl from Georgia? How and when did she die? Did he go in the Army before or after she died?

First-hand accounts are always best, so we're looking for the letters from WWI.

I do not want this lady to disappear in history.

"If you stay in Larissa, you will find peace. You will find a wonderful woman, and you will have sons and daughters, who will have children. And they will all love you and remember your name. But when your children are dead, and their children after them, your name will be forgotten." ~ Thetis to her son, Achilles

EC Neel and RE Clark

1910

1920

1930

January 2023

I had the information all along and missed it. The Emmette (called Em) Conwell Neel who married Ruth Elizabeth Clark in Henry County, GA is my guy and she is the Missing Mrs. Neel. I went back in search before my Ancestry subscription ran out and found EC Neel's Draft Registration Card (which I already had). It lists his name (spelled correctly), his birthdate (check), born in Binnsville, Mississippi (check), and list his occupation as a salesman at Stockbridge Mercantile, Stockton, Georgia.

THAT'S why he is in Georgia and how he meets the lovely Miss Ruth Clark.

Here is my proposed timeline for the two of them:

January 1892 - Ruth is born
15 August 1894 - Em is born
1915 (Around) - Em moves to Georgia in his 20s
24 April 1917 - Em (22.8) and Ruth (25.4) are married
18 May 1917 - Congress passes the Selective Service Act
5 June 1917 - Em registers for the Draft, Lists "Wife Dependent" as his exemption to service

*My first cousin, Annell, says that she thinks she remembers her mom (Myrtle Ruth) saying Em's first wife died nine weeks after the wedding = June 1917

*Ruth dies between the time he registered and the time he enlists.

27 May 1918 - Em Enlists in the Army Medical Corps
2 October 1918 - The Influenza Epidemic hits Camp Gordon and spreads across Georgia
11 November 1918 - Armistice
2 August 1919 - Em is Discharged
12 January 1920 - Em living in Sumter, Alabama with his Father, Nicholas.
24 April 1922 - Em marries Myrtle Wicks Williams

Draft Registration

My Grandmother Neel's grandfather Williams was also an enigma. His name was Gershom Kelly Williams. He married Buena Vista Mustin. She s buried in Carrollton Alabama, but he is not buried next to her.

I think I have found him.

There is a G. K. Williams buried at the Texas National Cemetery in Austin. His record shows the he was born in 1846 in Alabama, a year before Buena Vista. He served with the 16th Confederate Cavalry Regiment until the end of the war. He moved to Texas in 1869 and died at the Austin Confederate Home in 1913. He would have been 16 in 1862, so I'm guessing he joined in 63 or 64 and was assigned to the 16th.

This all fits well, except that Felto Hill Williams was born in Alabama 1873. Sadly, there is no other G. K. Williams that I can find anywhere.

His father and mother are buried in Carrolton, Alabama, as is his son Felto, but where is he? I guess it is plausible that he and BV were in Texas together and she came back to Alabama pregnant. There is another marriage in 1882 to a Templeton, so, there could have been a divorce. In one tax record, he may be listed as G K Williams REV.

In December 2022. I rejoined Ancestry for a month to look for Gershom, among others.

I found an application for a Confederate Pension for GK Williams, in his own handwriting, which told most of the story and I am now prepared to say that this is my guy.

Gershom Kelly Williams was born in Alabama in 1946.

He is listed as the son of Curtis Thomas Williams and Catherine Lacey in the 1850 and 1860 Alabama Census.

He joined the Confederate Army in Pickens County, Alabama, in 1862 or 1863 (at 16 or 17) and was assigned to the 16th Confederate Cavalry, Pillow's Brigade (unfortunately), later assigned to C. G. Armistead's Brigade. In those units, he would have fought in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. He was most likely surrendered and paroled about 14 May 1865, in or around Carrolton, Alabama.

He married Buena Vista Mustin (BV). She was born in 1847. I have found one unofficial record stating they were married on 23 October 1867, which sounds about right. I don't know where this originated.

He states in 1912, in his affidavit, that he moved to Texas in 1871 and had been there continuously since. One of his references states that he moved there in 1872.

Their son, Felto Hill Williams, was born on 30 November 1873 in Alabama, which is still confusing. Either Felto was conceived and born in Texas, conceived in Texas and BV returned to Family in Alabama for the birth, or Gershom left for Texas around March or after in 1873.

His mother died 1893, BV died in 1915 and Felto died in 1934.

His father, mother, wife, and son are all buried in Carrolton Alabama, which leads me to believe that he left them or that he and BV divorced. Perhaps he went to Texas, searching for his fortune and never finding it, never returned.

Gershon died on 4 July 1913 and is buried at the Texas State Cemetery, in Arlington. In his pension records, he states in a follow-up letter, that he needs the pension because he is very ill and has no money. I don't think he ever received his pension and he died as a resident of the Confederate Home. I believe he died a penniless and lonely old man.

Nicholas Clayton Neel-Georgia Ann Byrd

Nicholas settled in Binnsville, Mississippi, in Kemper County, near Scooba. He was a member of Binnsville Methodist Chursh and ran a store in the town. He moved the family to Geiger Alabama around 1915.

Nicholas C

with Emmette W, 1924

Georgia Ann

Georgia Ann Byrd Neel with her children

Edna, Byrd, Mamie

Charlie, Eugene, Bud, Emmette, Malcolm

Felto Hill Williams - Martha Christine Cook

I know nothing about these two except that, by my mother's account, Granny Williams never had a kind word for her and treated Mom as if she was not good enough for her grandson.

If this was true and this is the only account of this woman's life, I'm OK with that. Sucks to be you, Martha.

Felto is listed as a Book Keeper for Sam Mills in the 1910 Pickens County Census, but out of work. The 1930 census lists him as a Newspaper Reporter.

They are buried in Carrollton Cemetery

Emmette Conwell Neel - Myrtle Wicks Williams

Emmette Conwell was a farmer and Postmaster for the Geiger Alabama area. He and wife Myrtle once ran Neel Eats, a small restaurant in town owned by his brother Mal.

He was a Nurse in WW-I and may have been married prior to Myrtle.

Myrtle Wicks Williams was a housewife and raised five children.

Emmette died in 1949 of a heart attack at the young age of fifty-four.

Myrtle, continued to live in Geiger until 1981, dying at eighty-one.

They are buried at Soul's Cemetery in Geiger.