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Descendants of Charles McNeil

Generation No. 6


17. SYDNEY ADOLPHUS7 MC NEIL (ABRAHAM ARCHIBALD6, WILLIAM5, ARCHIBALD4, ARCHIBALD3, CHARLES2 MCNEIL, UNKNOWN1 MC NEIL) was born August 31, 1837 in Bridgeport, CT, and died December 18, 1904 in Bridgeport, CT. He married (1) ADELAIDE HUMISTON. She died 1883 in Bridgeport, CT. He married (2) FLORA EVANS Aft. 1883.

Notes for S
YDNEY ADOLPHUS MC NEIL:
      Twin brother of Augustus. He was a tow boat captain, and the Lighthouse Keeper in Bridgeport Harbor, CT. Subject of painting of Lighthouse, being relieved during a storm.

The following individuals are buried in Sydney McNeil's plot:
Addie Bell McNeil, 1 yr. old, buried 1870
George M. Evans, 52 yrs, buried 1923
Adelaide McNeil, 38 yrs, buried 1883 (his first wife)
Sybil L. Evans, 50 yrs, buried 1895
John Evans, 77 yrs, buried 1920
     
Child of S
YDNEY MC NEIL and ADELAIDE HUMISTON is:
  i.   ADDIE BELLE8 MC NEIL, b. 1869, 1870.


18. MARY HOYT7 MC NEIL (ABRAHAM ARCHIBALD6, WILLIAM5, ARCHIBALD4, ARCHIBALD3, CHARLES2 MCNEIL, UNKNOWN1 MC NEIL) was born December 12, 1840 in Bridgeport, CT, and died 1872 in Bridgeport, CT. She married MR. UNDERHILL.

Notes for M
ARY HOYT MC NEIL:
Mary and her infant are both buried in her father's plot.
     
Child of M
ARY MC NEIL and MR. UNDERHILL is:
  i.   MINOTT OSBORNE8 UNDERHILL.


19. ARCHIBALD7 MC NEIL V (ABRAHAM ARCHIBALD6, WILLIAM5, ARCHIBALD4, ARCHIBALD3, CHARLES2 MCNEIL, UNKNOWN1 MC NEIL) was born July 02, 1843 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and died September 1926 in Bridgeport, CT. He married JEAN MCKENZIE CLANRANALD October 21, 1881 in New York City, NY, daughter of GEORGE CLANRANALD and ELIZA MC KENZIE. She was born Abt. 1863, and died Abt. 1961 in CT.

Notes for A
RCHIBALD MC NEIL V:
After finishing his education, he entered the ship chandlery business with his brother, Charles Hubbell, in Bridgeport. In 1876 they moved the business to New York. In 1888, the New York business was discontinued, and he returned to Bridgeport, and engaged in the coal trade with his 3 sons. He was prominent in local affairs and politics, and was a CT state senator from 1902 to 1910.

from notes of Rod McNeil, Oct. 1999:
Built a summer house in Watch Hill, RI. Lived in Bridgeport on Stratford Ave.
Archibald, the 10th child, received his early education in Sellick's School, Bridgeport, then attended Thomas School in New Haven, and Hopkind Grammar School in New Haven, graduating in 1860. He was a charter member & president of the Eclectic Club, Seaside Club & Algonquin Club, also its president. Was Commodore of Bridgeport Yacht Club.

Notes for J
EAN MCKENZIE CLANRANALD:
from notes by Rod McNeil, Oct. 1999:
Jean was 18 years old and living in a Catholic Orphanage in New Rochelle, NY, when she met Arch on a blind date. After marriage, they first lived in NYC, then moved to Bridgeport, CT, the birthplace of her husband. She was a widow for the last 40 years of her life, but remained active, playing bridge into her late nineties.
     
Children of A
RCHIBALD MC NEIL and JEAN CLANRANALD are:
  i.   ARCHIBALD8 MC NEIL VI, b. June 01, 1883, New York City, NY; d. December 31, 1975, Palm Beach, FL; m. ANN ORR, 1925.
  Notes for ARCHIBALD MC NEIL VI:
After finishing school in 1901, he entered his father's business in Bridgeport, CT. He was also prominent in local politics and civic activities. He was a state Senator from the 22nd District of CT. He was also a member of the Elks Lodge #36 In Bridgeport, and served as Exalted Ruler of the lodge in 1910.

notes from Rod McNeil, Oct., 1999
He was elected Senator of CT for 3 terms, serving from 1912-1920. With his brother Kenneth, he published and owned the Connecticut Daily News, The Bridgeport Post, Bridgeport Telegram and Standard American. He was a Democratic Committeeman for CT and was listed in "Who's Who in America." He was also Police Commissioner for the city of Bridgeport, CT, a member of Everglades Club, Lacoquelle Club, honorary member of Old Guard of Palm Beach, and was on Franklin D. Roosevelt's staff when Roosevelt was Assistant Sec'y of the Navy during WW I I.

  ii.   KENNETH WYLIE MC NEIL, b. September 14, 1885, Bridgeport, Connecticut; d. 1964, Palm Beach, FL; m. QUEENIE BEATRICE HALL, November 1907, New York City, NY.
  iii.   RODERICK CLANRANALD MC NEIL, b. March 29, 1888, Bridgeport, Connecticut; d. June 1952, Palm Beach, FL; m. MILDRED HERMANN, June 09, 1917, Shippan Pt., Stamford, CT; d. Palm Beach, FL.
  Notes for RODERICK CLANRANALD MC NEIL:
He was the general manager of Archibald McNeil and Company, the business operated by the sons of Abraham Archibald McNeil.

notes from Rod McNeil, Oct. 1999
As a young man Rod was interested in sports, including racing automobiles, showing horses, and racing sailboats. He took over the McNeil brothers coal business from his father in Bridgeport, CT, was a member of BPOE & the Old Guard Club in Bridgeport, CT, and the Pequot Yacht Club in Southport, CT. He donated the Pequot Cup to be raced for by Juniors on Western Long Island Sound about 1920.
He moved his family to West Palm Beach, FL, in 1924, and engaged in the construction and land development business. The family spent summers in Southport, CT, where they were active in sailing out the Pequot Yacht Club.



20. ALBERT BEEBE7 MC NEIL (ALBERTUS JAMES6, JAMES5, SAMUEL4, ARCHIBALD3, CHARLES2 MCNEIL, UNKNOWN1 MC NEIL) was born August 11, 1850 in Sandusky, OH, and died January 14, 1932 in King's Daughter's Home, Oakland, CA. He married SARAH ELIZABETH HOLLAND November 30, 1882 in Evergreen, CA. She was born November 19, 1859 in Newark, NJ, and died November 12, 1943 in King's Daughter's Home, Oakland, CA.

Notes for A
LBERT BEEBE MC NEIL:
from notes compiled by Neil Fetter:
After finishing school, Albert worked in Chicago. In mid-1876 he moved to CA, locating first in San Francisco, and later in San Jose. On March 1, 1879, he and his brother Homer started a label printing business in San Francisco, later moving it back to San Jose. On January 1, 1881, he bought out Homer's interest in the business. He continued in the printing business in San Jose and San Francisco until he died, in 1932.
     
Children of A
LBERT MC NEIL and SARAH HOLLAND are:
  i.   BERT HOLLAND8 MC NEIL, b. November 19, 1884, Newark, NJ; d. March 15, 1911, King's Daughter's Home, Oakland, CA.
  Notes for BERT HOLLAND MC NEIL:
      Bert was active in his father's printing business in San Francisco. It was at that plant that he suffered an accident which caused the infection that ultimately led to his death. His obituary does not indicate a wife or children.
      He is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in San Jose, CA.

  More About BERT HOLLAND MC NEIL:
Burial: Oak Hill Cemetery, San Jose, CA

  ii.   FLORENCE AMANDA MC NEIL, b. August 30, 1885, San Jose, CA; d. March 1984, Berkeley, CA39; m. JAMES EDGAR SULLIVAN, February 02, 1913, San Francisco; b. March 20, 1888, Orinda, CA; d. July 14, 1953, Orinda, CA.
  Notes for FLORENCE AMANDA MC NEIL:
Was married at St. Stephens Episcopal Church in San Francisco.

  iii.   RALPH MC NEIL, b. January 28, 1888, San Jose, CA; d. January 28, 1888, San Jose, CA.
  Notes for RALPH MC NEIL:
Died at birth, buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, San Jose, CA.

  iv.   SARAH BEEBE MC NEIL, b. June 09, 1889, San Jose, CA; d. June 03, 1989, Alameda, CA; m. (1) FOREST WEST SMITH; d. September 02, 1956, Paradise Park, CA; m. (2) JOHN LAWRENCE SULLIVAN, November 25, 1909, San Francisco, CA; b. April 13, 1876, Orinda, CA; d. August 28, 1928, Berkeley, CA.
  Notes for SARAH BEEBE MC NEIL:
      I found Sarah's d.od. info in the Social Security Death Index, under the name Sarah Smith, the surname of her second husband.

  v.   PAUL MC NEIL, b. October 02, 1891, San Jose, CA; d. December 1891, San Jose, CA.


21. CHARLES HENRY7 MC NEIL (ALBERTUS JAMES6, JAMES5, SAMUEL4, ARCHIBALD3, CHARLES2 MCNEIL, UNKNOWN1 MC NEIL) was born October 31, 1851 in Sandusky, OH, and died August 16, 1921 in Rochester, NY. He married JENNIE ROGERS. She died February 26, 1921 in Rochester, NY.

Notes for C
HARLES HENRY MC NEIL:
from notes compiled by Neil Fetter:
Charles lived for a time in Chicago, according to Homer's diary. An entry dated Dec. 1873, reads, "Charley left for Chicago." From later entries it appears that he left Chicago for CA. In June 1880, he and his brother James left San Francisco for Phoenix, where Charles worked as foreman for the "Herald," a Republican paper which had been running for about nine months. On October 28, 1880, Charles started the "Arizona Gazette," as a rival paper to the Herald and a Democratic paper, the "Expositor." In the spring of 1881, Charles' brother Homer bought his interest in the Gazette, and Charles moved to New York state, where he lived until his death.
     
Children of C
HARLES MC NEIL and JENNIE ROGERS are:
  i.   HATTIE BELLE8 MC NEIL.
  ii.   ALBERT W. MC NEIL.


22. JAMES HERBERT7 MC NEIL (ALBERTUS JAMES6, JAMES5, SAMUEL4, ARCHIBALD3, CHARLES2 MCNEIL, UNKNOWN1 MC NEIL) was born October 05, 1853 in Sandusky, OH. He married CATHERINE LOUISE SPRINGER November 16, 1877.

Notes for J
AMES HERBERT MC NEIL:
From notes in Homer's diary, we know that James was in Chicago for a few months in 1874. Then, he and his father, Albertus J., went to CA on June 16, 1876. Then, in June of 1880, he and his brother Charles left San Francisco for Phoenix. A later entry by Homer tells us that "James H. McNeil left Phoenix on July 2, and his family left July 6, 1884, all going to San Francisco."
     
Children of J
AMES MC NEIL and CATHERINE SPRINGER are:
  i.   HOMER HERBERT8 MC NEIL, b. July 16, 1878, San Francisco, CA; d. May 27, 1954, Alameda County, CA40; m. CLARA FRICK; b. January 08, 1880, NY; d. August 10, 1947, Alameda County, CA40.
  Notes for CLARA FRICK:
      In the death record from CA, Clara's father's surname is listed as Pleitz.

  ii.   HATTIE SPRINGER MC NEIL, b. December 1882, Phoenix, Arizona; d. August 1972, Winchester, VA; m. MISTER LANDIS.
  Notes for HATTIE SPRINGER MC NEIL:
note from Kathy:
I got the date of death from SSN death index.

  iii.   FANNY ADELL MC NEIL, b. February 24, 1886, San Francisco, CA.


23. HOMER H.7 MC NEIL (ALBERTUS JAMES6, JAMES5, SAMUEL4, ARCHIBALD3, CHARLES2 MCNEIL, UNKNOWN1 MC NEIL)41,42,43 was born March 26, 1856 in Davenport, Iowa44, and died April 03, 1942 in Phoenix, Arizona45. He married CAROLYN JANE MORRIS45,46 November 24, 1885 in Phoenix, Arizona47, daughter of WILLIAM MORRIS and ELIZABETH LARRABEE. She was born January 27, 1866 in Healdsburg, CA48,49, and died June 22, 1948 in Prescott, AZ49.

Notes for H
OMER H. MC NEIL:
      Homer McNeil & Carolyn Morris were married in the Methodist Church in Phoenix, AZ. Homer & Carolyn are both buried in the McNeil family plot in Greenwood Cemetery in Phoenix, near W. Van Buren and the I-17 Freeway.
      From his diary we learn that Homer arrived in Chicago on June 4, 1873. He left for Davenport, IA in March, 1877. On December 4, 1877, he left Davenport for CA, arriving in San Francisco on December 13th. On March 25, 1878, he moved to San Jose and started the newspaper, "Republic," which was published until July of that same year. In March, 1879, Homer and his brother Albert went into the drug label printing business. Homer continued in that business until January of 1881, when he sold his interest for $3,500. In April 1881, he left San Jose for Phoenix, AZ. On May 7, 1881, he bought a half-interest in the "Arizona Gazette," from Buckey O'Neil, a famous Spanish-American War hero. Charles McNeil and Bucky O'Neil had started the paper, with assistance from their father, Albertus James McNeil. On May 2, 1882, Homer bought out Charles' interest in the paper for $1,300.
      Also from his diary, we learn that in 1882, Homer bought the west half of block 95, City of Phoenix, and built a house and barn, cleared the land, and planted trees. In May, 1884, he incorporated the Gazette Printing & Publishing Company for $10,000. His diary states, "I got $6,000 for the plant and took $3,000 in stock."
      On April 12, 1887, Homer sold the Gazette to Thomas E. Farish and A.B. Fickas. For a while after that, he was interested in a gold mining operation, which later went bankrupt. He paid for those costs by selling off many acres of land he owned in Cave Creek, AZ.
      Soon after, he returned to the printing business in San Francisco, San Jose and Fresno, until 1890, when he returned to Phoenix and opened his own printing plant. For a time in the early 1920's, Homer also operated a general store in Tolleson, AZ, at that time a mostly-farming community west of downtown Phoenix. He then returned to Phoenix and operated a printing businesses there until his death. In the late 1930's, Homer took his son Bill Seeley McNeil as a partner.
      Like many of the McNeils before him, Homer was an active member of the Masonic Order, and the Order of the Elks.
      The Phoenix History Museum has on display one of the printing presses owned by Homer. There is also a photo available of Homer and his workers, from the press room of the Phoenix Gazette.
(from Internet records:)
      In the 1880 Census records for Nevada, Homer, his sister Cora, and his parents, "Albertis" and Minnie, are all listed as living in Carson City. Also listed in Carson City, NV, is someone named "Kate McNeil." It is not known if she is a relative, or someone totally unrelated, but there were only 5 McNeils listed for Carson City in 1880.

More About H
OMER H. MC NEIL:
Burial: April 1942, Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, AZ50
Fact 1: Bet. 1881 - 1887, owner/editor of Phoenix Gazette
Fact 2: Helped start 1st volunteer fire department

Notes for C
AROLYN JANE MORRIS:
from her newspaper obituary: June 22, 1948
"Mrs. Carolyn Morris McNeil, 82, died last night at the Pioneers home where she had been a guest since December 6, 1947, entering from Phoenix.
Mrs. McNeil was born in Healdsburg, CA, January 27, 1866. She went to Phoenix in 1882. She was a member of the Phoenix Chapter No. 5, Order of the Eastern Star.
She is survived by a son and two daughters; Fred McNeil, Mount Pleasant, IA; Mrs. W.K. Fetter and Mrs. Tomkinson, both of Phoenix.
The body was sent to Phoenix for burial."
     
Carolyn came to Phoenix at age 16, to live with her father. Her father signed the record of her marriage to Homer, since he was the County Recorder at that time.

More About C
AROLYN JANE MORRIS:
Burial: June 1948, Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, AZ50
Fact 2: 1885, father signed her marriage license
     
Children of H
OMER MC NEIL and CAROLYN MORRIS are:
  i.   MABLE BEEBE8 MC NEIL50, b. October 16, 1886, Phoenix, Arizona51; d. April 1983, San Leandro, California51; m. WILLIAM KAY FETTER52, October 15, 1913, Phoenix, Arizona; b. September 06, 1887, Sunbury, PA53; d. April 1987, California53.
  Notes for MABLE BEEBE MC NEIL:
Mabel and Kay were married at the home of Mabel's sister, Helen McNeil Seeley, in Phoenix.
Mabel was cremated, and her ashes were scattered over Muir Woods, in accordance with her wishes.
She was a public notary, and notarized many family documents, including the sale of the Homer McNeil printing business to her adopted brother, Bill McNeil, in 1942.
After retiring, Mabel and Kay moved to CA.


  Notes for WILLIAM KAY FETTER:
After finishing school, Kay was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad in Sunbury and Altoona, PA, until moving to Phoenix with his family, in 1919. In Phoenix, he went to work as a clerk for R.G. Dun and Company, and its successor, Dun & Bradstreet. He worked there, as the manager of the Phoenix Office, until his retirement in 1952.

  ii.   GEORGE MORRIS MC NEIL, SR.54, b. July 27, 1888, Phoenix, Arizona; d. January 26, 1960, Chicago, IL; m. RUTH GOODFELLOW PATTON, December 23, 1918, Phoenix, Arizona; b. July 01, 1888, Bisbee, AZ; d. October 03, 1967, Phoenix, AZ.
  Notes for GEORGE MORRIS MC NEIL, SR.:
George McNeil was in military service in World War I. After the war he returned to Phoenix, where he was employed in the printing trade, mostly with the Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette. At the time of his death, he was en route to a Veteran's hospital in Virginia, but died on the train in Chicago.

  iii.   CARRIE ELIZABETH MC NEIL54, b. November 04, 1890, Phoenix, Arizona55; d. July 1991, Phoenix, Arizona55; m. PHILLIP KIRKPATRICK TOMKINSON, 1920, Prescott, Arizona; b. August 29, 1891, Philadelphia, Pennslvania; d. December 15, 1949, Fort McDowell, AZ.
  Notes for CARRIE ELIZABETH MC NEIL:
      The family called her "Meme," the name her adopted brother Bill McNeil gave her in his infancy. She would hold out her arms to him and ask, "Do you want me?" He would hold his arms up to her and say, "Me, me." The nickname stuck for the rest of her life.
      Meme defied her parents' wishes when she eloped to Prescott, AZ, to marry Phil.
      For her 100th birthday, she was interviewed by the Phoenix Gazette, the paper her father ran from 1881-1888. Fred & Mildred Tomkinson hosted a party for her at their home in Phoenix. It was a wonderful get-together, attended by some relatives who hadn't seen each other for years.
      According to Kay Harrold, Meme didn't like men with beards or moustaches because she didn't like her maternal grandfather, William R. Morris.
     

  More About CARRIE ELIZABETH MC NEIL:
Burial: Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, AZ

  Notes for PHILLIP KIRKPATRICK TOMKINSON:
      Phil was in the military in WW I & WW II. After to coming AZ, he was employed for a number of years as a miner at Canon, AZ. He also did some prospecting on his own. The family then moved to Phoenix, and he worked for the Salt River Valley Water Users Association - City of Phoenix. For many years prior to his death, he was the supervisor of the water intake pumping station on the Verde River on the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation, northeast of Scottsdale. He was employed at that job when he died.
      Phil and his wife, Meme, are both buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Phoenix, near Van Buren and the I-17 freeway.

  More About PHILLIP KIRKPATRICK TOMKINSON:
Burial: Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, AZ

  iv.   SAIDEE HELEN MC NEIL56, b. July 18, 1892, Phoenix, Arizona56; d. October 23, 1915, Phoenix, Arizona56,57; m. (1) WILLIAM HANSEL SEELEY58,59,60, 1911, Phoenix, AZ61,62; b. September 1887, IN, probably in Marion County63,64; d. Aft. 192965, October 11, 1911, Arizona.
  Notes for SAIDEE HELEN MC NEIL:
Helen never recovered from the complications of giving birth to her only child, William Hansel Seeley, Jr., in October, 1912. In her weakened condition, she contracted Bright's Disease, a type of chronic nephritis (kidney infection]. While not usually fatal in healthy adults, it finally took her life in 1915. After her death, her son went to live with her parents, and was adopted by them shortly thereafter.
A copy of a letter from Helen to her brother, Fred, is included in this book, written a year after her son, Bill, was born. It is obvious from the content that she was bed-ridden even then, two years before she died.
Helen is buried in the McNeil family plot in Greenwood Cemetery in Phoenix, AZ.

  More About SAIDEE HELEN MC NEIL:
Burial: October 1915, Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, AZ66,67,68
Fact 2: 1915, died of Bright's Disease

  v.   HOMER DIX MC NEIL69,70, b. July 01, 1895, Phoenix, Arizona; d. September 11, 1923, Prescott, Arizona.
  Notes for HOMER DIX MC NEIL:
      Homer was called "Dix," his middle name, by the family. Dix was the birth surname of Homer McNeil's step-mother, Cora Dix.
      Homer served in the Army, in France, during World War I. When he left the service, he was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers. While in the Army, in Washington D.C., he contracted tuberculosis, from which he never recovered. He was eventually hospitalized in the V.A. Hospital at Fort Whipple, a part of Prescott, AZ, north of Phoenix. His occupation is listed as "salesman" on his death certificate. He served in the military from 1916-1918.

  More About HOMER DIX MC NEIL:
Burial: Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, AZ
Cause of Death: Tuberculosis
Fact 2: 1923, died in VA Hospital, Ft. Whipple, Prescott, AZ
Fact 3: never married
Fact 4: occupation on autopsy - salesman
Medical Information: contracted during WWI, in Washington D.C.

  vi.   WILLIAM WOOD MC NEIL, b. October 29, 1897, Phoenix, Arizona; d. March 12, 1899, Phoenix, Arizona.
  vii.   FREDERICK ALBERTUS MC NEIL, SR.70, b. May 28, 1900, Phoenix, Arizona71; d. July 13, 1983, Phoenix, Arizona71; m. ELISABETH BEECHER, April 21, 1931, Hastings, Nebraska; b. January 18, 1900, North Platte, Nebraska72; d. March 28, 1982, Phoenix, Arizona72.
  Notes for FREDERICK ALBERTUS MC NEIL, SR.:
Fred graduated from Phoenix Union High school, then went on to the University of Arizona, in Tucson, and the University of the South. He entered the Episcopal ministry and served in Nebraska, Iowa and Phoenix. He retired from the ministry in Phoenix. During World War II he was an Army Chaplain, and served on troop ships in the Atlantic as well as in camps in England.
Fred was the first native Arizonan to be ordained in the Episcopal Church. He was ordained deacon in 1929 at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Phoenix, and priest on September 21, 1930. One of the guests at his ordination was Miss Elisabeth Beecher, sent by the NY office of the church as a field worker to "see what we could do to be of help to the clergy out there in the wilds."
His first assignment was as vicar of St. Andrew's Mission on the west side of Phoenix. Then he served at the Navajo Mission at Fort Defiance, AZ. Fred returned to Phoenix in 1963, to start Trinity Church in Kearney, AZ. He and his wife then returned to Phoenix in 1967, and to St. Andrew's in Glendale, where Father McNeil assisted as associate rector emeritus until his retirement in 1981. During his time there, the parish built the Christian education facility and parish hall, naming it "McNeil Hall."
In June of 1950, Fred officiated in the Baptism of multiple family members, including Kathy & Mark McNeil, Sharon & Kathleen Bogard, and the Gann children, among others. This took place at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, in downtown Phoenix.

  viii.   BURTON BENNETT MC NEIL73, b. July 04, 1902, in Iron Springs, near Prescott, Arizona; d. March 13, 1929, Phoenix, Arizona; m. SARAH ETTA RAY, March 1926, Florence, AZ; b. August 30, 1909, Notasulga, AL; d. May 30, 1991, Phoenix, AZ.
  Notes for BURTON BENNETT MC NEIL:
as told to Donna McNeil Bogard by Aunt Meme (Carrie McNeil Tomkinson):
During the summer of 1902, when Meme was sixteen, the family went to their summer home in Iron Springs, near Prescott, AZ. Meme didn't know her mother was pregnant, until she saw Carolyn unpacking a layette for the upcoming birth. When Carolyn went into labor, her doctor, in Phoenix, was summoned. He came up by train to deliver Burton, and then stayed for two days with the family. Meme complained about the doctor's presence because her mother insisted she wait on him.
According to Donna, her father worked as a printer in Phoenix. Donna thinks her father died of spinal meningitis.

  ix.   WILLIAM SEELEY MC NEIL73,74, b. October 07, 1912, Phoenix, Arizona74; d. January 1994, Mesa, Arizona; m. (1) EVELYN CHRISTINE DOWNEY, June 06, 1937, Phoenix, Arizona; b. May 05, 1917, Kingsville, Texas; d. February 18, 1975, Phoenix, Arizona; m. (2) ELAINE MILLAR, October 20, 1979.
  Notes for WILLIAM SEELEY MC NEIL:
William Seeley McNeil was born William Hansel Seeley, Jr., and was adopted by his maternal grandparents, Homer and Carolyn McNeil, in 1915, after the death of his mother.
Bill was a printer all his life, working first for his father. For a time, he helped run his father's print shop. After Homer's death, Bill bought the printing business from its owners at that time, his mother, Carolyn, and his (adopted) sister, Meme. He and his first wife, Evelyn, lived upstairs at the print shop. It is not known what happened to the business. He next went to work for Valley National Bank, in the print shop there. In the 1950's, Mr. McNeil started his own printing business, which he ran for several years. After some financial set-backs, he hired a manager to run the business, and went to work for Arizona Public Service Company, in their printing department. He retired from APS in October 1977.
Mr. McNeil enjoyed "rock hounding" and jewelry making. He was also interested in HAM radio, and stamp and coin collecting. He was a fair artist, painting many pictures in his spare time.

  More About WILLIAM SEELEY MC NEIL:
Cause of Death: stroke

  Notes for EVELYN CHRISTINE DOWNEY:
Evelyn came to Mesa, AZ, from Texas some time before 1920. In the 1920 census, she is listed as living with her mother, Grace Carter Downey, a widow, and her maternal grandparents, John I. Carter, and Elizabeth Carter. Her grandparents had been farm laborers, and her mother was listed as such on that census. Her father died when she was a toddler, and nothing is known of him.
After Evelyn's mother re-married, to Roscoe Lloyd Mills, she remained living with her grandparents and other family members, until age five. Her step-father died of tuberculosis some time before 1927. In that same year, Evelyn's mother went into a sanatorium to treat her own case of TB Grace Mills didn't recover from her illness, and died two years later, about 1929. During her illness, Mrs. Mills had placed her children in an orphanage. They stayed there for two years.
When Evelyn was twelve, she was a foster child to Katherine Christy, a school teacher at the Adams Elementary school. Evelyn lived with "Aunt Kate," until 1937, when she married Bill McNeil. After graduating from Phoenix Union High school, she attended Phoenix College for a year. During the early part of her marriage, Evelyn helped her husband in the printing business. When Bill McNeil began his own business in the fifties, Evelyn ran the office, kept the books, and made deliveries of finished jobs. In the mid-1960's, she went to work at Motorola, where she worked until her death.

Evelyn and Bill were both avid bowlers, and won many trophies.

  More About EVELYN CHRISTINE DOWNEY:
Burial: Cremeated, ashes strew in South Mtn. Park, Phoenix, AZ
Cause of Death: rupture of abdominal aortic aneurism




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