Benjamin Neill (1820 - 1894)

Born 10 Aug 1820 in MAGHARALAGGAN, COUNTY DOWN, Ireland

Husband of Francessa (Mc Roberts) Neill — married 1 Jun 1849 in Loughinisland, Downpatrick, County Down, Ireland

Descendants

Died 1 Aug 1894 at age 73 in Miltonvale, CLOUD CO, KS

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Biography

Birth

Benjamin Neill was born on 10 Aug 1820 in MAGHARALAGGAN, COUNTY DOWN, Ireland, son of James (Neill) O'Neill (~1783 - 1849).

Siblings

1. Annie (Neill) Mc Craig ( ? )
2. Joe Neill ( ? )

Marriage

Benjamin (28) married Francessa Mc Roberts (15) (1833 - 1875) on 1 Jun 1849 in Loughinisland, Downpatrick, County Down, Ireland.

Children

1. James Neill (1850 - 1916)
2. Catherine (Neill) Barber (1852 - 1937)
3. Anna Jane (Neill) Woodruff (~1854 - 1928)
4. Margaret Neill (1856 - 1878)
5. Matilda Neill (1858 - 1881)
6. Francessa (Neill) Shay (1860 - 1906)
7. Elizabeth Neill (1862 - 1943)
8. Sarah (Neill) Anderson (1865 - 1909)
9. Joseph Neill (1867 - 1933)
10. Mary (Neill) Clegg (1869 - 1955)
11. George Neill (1871 - 1948).

Death

Benjamin died on 1 Aug 1894 in Miltonvale, CLOUD CO, KS aged 73.

Burial

He is buried in MILTONVALE CEMETARY, Miltonvale, KS.

Note

Note: Sailed on the steamship AETNA in April 1870 from Liverpool to New York.

The Benjamin Neill, Francessa McRoberts Neill family hails from County Down about 20 miles South of Belfast. They and their ten children sailed on the steamship Aetna from Liverpool to New York in 1870. Ben and his friend/employee Dave Ferguson and the family rented a dairy farm sixty miles from Buffalo and thirty nine miles from Erie, New York. The youngest of the Neill children was born in New York. After farming the rented dairy in the incredible cold of upstate new York for two years, Ben, James and Dave Ferguson headed to the end of the railroad in Kansas at Clay Center, then went twenty miles further to homestead land of their own. This was on September 3, 1873. The rest of the family except the three oldest daughters, arrived on the train in Clay Center, Kansas on New Years Day, 1874. The book "A BIT O' THE OLD SOD" written by Fannie Smith Palmer, daughter of Elizabeth, the seventh child of Ben and Francessa chronicles the life and times of Ben, Francessa and the children including the eleventh child, in frontier Kansas.

Sources

• Source: "Ireland Civil Registration, 1845-1913," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL3W-GHJ2 : 30 January 2020), James Neill in entry for Benjamin Neill and Frances McRobert, Marriage 01 Jun 1849, Loughinisland, County Down, Ireland;

*Source: "Ireland Civil Registration, 1845-1913," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL3W-GHJL : 30 January 2020), Benjamin Neill and Frances McRobert, Marriage 01 Jun 1849, Loughinisland, County Down, Ireland; citing General Register Office, Dublin; FHL microfilm 101,305.