Thomas Neal Jr (1735 - 1799)

Born 9 Feb 1735 in Sherston Magna with Sherston Parva, Wiltshire, England

Husband of Sarah Susannah (Harrell) Neal — married 1754 in Bertie, North Carolina

Descendants

Died 2 Dec 1799 at age 64 in Warren, Georgia, United States

Biography

Soldier Thomas Neal Jr served with South Carolina Militia during the American Revolution.

Thomas Neal Jr is a DAR Patriot Ancestor, A081815.

Thomas Neal was born in 1735 in England to Thomas Neal and Mary Hyatt Long. He was baptized 9 Feb 1735 in Sherston Magna, Wiltshire.^[1] He may have had at least 7 siblings: William Hyatt, Mary, Ann, Betty, Eleanor, Sara, and Alice.

There is a record of a Thomas Neal, as a bonded passenger to America, dated 1741, arriving in Virginia. It could be his father, but there does not appear to be any evidence that his father emigrated to America. He would have only been about 7 years old in 1741.

He appears to have settled first on the north side of the Tar River in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.

He married about 1754 Sarah Harrell, daughter of Abraham and Mary Guin of neighboring Bertie Co. [The date is based on son David b. 21 Jan 1755.]

On 22 Feb 1755 Thomas Neal of Edgecombe sold to John Spell of Edgecombe for 20 lbs proc money 50 acres on Indian Creek at the head of Bearskin Swash, on the north side of Tar River^[2] and apparently moved at that time to Bertie Co. A patent entered July, 10, 1777, to Martin Garner refers to Thomas Neal’s land at Roquist Pocoson in Bertie Co. ^[3] Roquist Pocoson is just west of Windsor, the county seat, thus near the Harrells on Flag Run.

Sarah’s father died in 1755, but she is not named in the will, presumably because she received her portion when she married. On June 30, 1758, both Thomas Neal and Sarah (S) Neal signed when [brother] John Harrell distributed the livestock, slaves and money.^[4]

On 10 Sep 1764 in Edgecombe Co. Sarah and [brother] Zachariah Harrell put up the £50 bond for his marriage to Martha Everit of same county. ^[5]

At somepoint they moved to South Carolina [sons David, Thomas, and Samuel are said to have been born in Bertie Co. 1755-1762, per their profiles] and joined the High Hills of Santee Baptist Church in present Stateburg, Sumter County, a congregation formed in 1772. A website with a list of constituents gives Thomas Neal (100 acres on Jumping Run 1757, 50 acres on Stevens Creek 1763, 150 acres near High Hills of Santee on both sides of Long Branch of Black River 1767, and 150 acres in 1772),^[6] implying he had land there as early as 1757. He would have been about 22 years old in 1757. [Could this be his father?] Sarah's brother Zachariah Harrell is shown with 350 acres on east side of Wateree both sides Gum Swamp but no date is given.

He served as a Revolutionary Soldier in South Carolina as Capt. He would have been about 30 years old at the time the Revolutionary War started. (NSSAR Patriot & Grave Record P-255024)

After the Revolution they moved to the southern Piedmont Plateau of Georgia, settling in that portion of Wilkes Co. that became Warren Co. in 1793. In 1790 Wilkes Co., Lower District, he signed a petition, 5 Apr 1790, to the Governor and Council from inhabitants of the Lower District of Wilkes County recommending George Weatherby to serve as justice of the peace.^[7] In 1794 he is on the Tax List for Neals District, Warren County.^[8] He may have moved into the Wilkes County, Georgia area about 1785 (about age 50) and was inducted into church membership at Long Creek Baptist Church in Warren County before 1799. Long Creek Church having been established about 1786 and Warren County in 1793.

Thomas passed away in 1799 in Warren County at the age of 64. It is not known where he is buried. It appears some of his extended family members may be buried in Warrenton Cemetery in Warren County. Letter of Testamentary petitioned Dec 1799 and granted on 11 Feb 1800 to David Neal for Thomas Neal, dec'd. in Warren County, Georgia.

He had at least 6 children:

1. David Ferdinand Neal
2. Thomas Neal
3. Samuel Neal
4. Opra Neal
5. John Neal
6. Joel Neal

Other possible children:

1. James Neal
2. Harrell Neal

Research Notes

• Profile originally had: "He married two sisters: Susannah Harrell first, then Sarah Harrell, probably about 1754 in South Carolina (their parents may have been Stephen and Martha Harrell of England). He would have been about 19 years old in 1754." [His wife Sarah did have a sister Susannah but she was single in 1768 when her father's estate was settled.]

• There is no record of a Thomas Neal receiving a patent to land in either Bertie or Edgecombe Counties NC. so he would have purchased.

• Fact: Residence (1790) Lower District, Wilkes County, Georgia (petition from inhabitants of the Lower District of Wilkes County recommending George Weatherby to serve as justice of the peace)

• Fact: Residence (1798) Warren County, Georgia

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J35J-S5P
2. ↑ Edgecombe Co NC Deed Bk C p. 344.
3. ↑ LAND PATENT BOOK 66 PAGES 288, Grant No. 188. https://www.nclandgrants.com/grant/?mars=12.14.32.1020&qid=628069&rn=1
4. ↑ Original estate papers in NC State Archives.
5. ↑ Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/7311107:60548?tid=&pid=&queryId=eb7e0ec957dd7603767086d37e5fe071&_phsrc=FsW1&_phstart=successSource
6. ↑ High Hills of Santee Baptist Church and Its Branches http://www.usgenwebsites.org/SCSumter/highhillschurch.html
7. ↑ https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=2234&h=171905&tid=&pid=&queryId=f012307ffb168bb5cbd95652d22f849b&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Uog4&_phstart=successSource
8. ↑ https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=3542&h=3889864&tid=&pid=&queryId=f012307ffb168bb5cbd95652d22f849b&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Uog3&_phstart=successSource

• FamilySearch PID: KNSV-W94
• "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JQF9-QJG : 11 February 2018, Thos. Neal in entry for Mary Neal, 06 Aug 1751); citing , index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,040,587.
• * Ancestry.com. Georgia, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999. entry for Thomas Neal, 1794, Warren County, Georgia.
• Ancestry.com. Georgia, Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. entry for Thomas Neal, 1798, Warren County, Georgia.
• * Ancestry.com. U.S. Census Reconstructed Records, 1660-1820 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. entry for Thomas Neal, 1790, Wilkes County, Georgia.
• Ancestry.com. Georgia, Wills and Probate Records, 1742-1992 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. entry for Thomas Neal, 1799, Warren County, Georgia.
• Descendants of THOMAS NEAL, SR. (c 1720 – 1799)
• History of Warren County, Georgia, 1793-1974: Page 39. entry for Thomas Neal.

See Also

• "Public Member Trees", database, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Aug 2019), profile for Capt Thomas Neal Jr.
• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 16 Aug 2019), entry for Capt Thomas Neal Jr https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/KNSV-W94 (PID KNSV-W94); contributed by various users.

Acknowledgement

Neal-2489 was created by Kimberly Faria on 3 Nov 2015. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Kimberly and others.