[an error occurred while processing this directive]

[ Home Page | First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page ]

Descendants of Charles McNeil


25. HOMER H.7 MCNEIL (ALBERTUS JAMES6, JAMES5, SAMUEL4, ARCHIBALD3, CHARLES2, POSSIBLY ARCHIBALD1)47,48,49 was born March 26, 1856 in Davenport, Iowa50, and died April 03, 1942 in Phoenix, Arizona51. He married CAROLYN JANE MORRIS52,53 November 24, 1885 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona54, daughter of WILLIAM MORRIS and ELIZABETH LARRABEE. She was born January 27, 1866 in Healdsburg, California55,56, and died June 22, 1948 in Prescott, Arizona57.

Notes for H
OMER H. MCNEIL:
      Homer was named for the birthplace of his father, James McNeil, in Homer, New York.     
      Homer & Carolyn Morris were married in the Methodist Church in Phoenix, Arizona. They are both buried in the McNeil family plot in Greenwood Cemetery in Phoenix, near W. Van Buren and the I-17 Freeway, along with several other family members.
      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 California, 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, Arizona. 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, and seed money from Homer. 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, in the 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, Arizona.
      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, Arizona, 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 was in partnership with his son Bill.
      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.
      In the 1880 Census, Homer, his sister Cora, and his Parents, "Albertis" and Minnie, are living in Carson City, Nevada.
      In the 1900 census for Phoenix, Homer is living with his wife "Carrie" and 6 children. His son, William Wood McNeil, had died the year before.
      On the 1910 census, Homer is living with his wife and children Mabel, Carrie, Helen, Dix, Fred, Burton, and father-in-law, William Robertson Morris. Homer's occupation is listed as Merchant and Stationer.
      In the 1920 census, Homer & Carolyn and their children Carrie, Fred, Burton & William Seeley, were living in Tolleson, Arizona. Homer's occupation is merchant of a general mercantile store.

From "The Arizona Republic," November 23, 1935:

      "H.H. MCNEILS CELEBRATE GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY TOMORROW

      "Residents of Phoenix for the past 54 years, Mr. and Mrs. H. H. McNeil, 2022 North Eighth Street, will celebrate their golden wedding anniversary tomorrow. They will hold a reception for their many friends from 4 to 9 p. m. in the home of a daughter, Mrs. Mable Fetter, 379 Orme Avenue.
      "As a pre-celebration a family dinner party will be held at 2 o'clock this afternoon in the home of another daughter, Mrs. P.K. Tompkinson (sic), 350 North 16th Avenue.
      "Mr. McNeil's life had been been connected intimately with newspaper and job printing work. He came to Phoenix from San Franciso in 1881 to publish the old Phoenix Gazette, selling it seven years later to establish the H. H. McNeil Printing of Office Supply Company, which was located opposite the court house building on West Washington Street for many years.
      "Caroline Jane Morris came to Phoenix from California with her parents shortly afterward. Her father, William R. Morris, served as Justice of the Peace in Phoenix for many years and held other official position in the territory. The couple was married in the Methodist Parsonage on West Jefferson Street.
      "Following their wedding, Mr. and Mrs. McNeil lived in a frame house on West Monroe Ave, where the Grimshaw-Acton Mortuary Building now stands. In 1890 they purchased the lot at the corner of Van Buren Street and Fourth Avenue, where they resided for the next 21 years. Weinick's Market now is located at that corner.
      "Of their six children living, William and George McNeil, Mrs. Fetter and Mrs. Tompkinson (sic) reside in Phoenix and the Rev. Fred A. McNeil, several years vicar of St. Andrew's Episcopalian church, is now in charge of the denomination's Indian School at Fort Defiance.
      "Mr. McNeil is still active as a printer, maintaining his office on West Washington Street. He sold out the H. H. McNeil Company in 1911.
      "One of the souvenirs of the occasion, Mrs. McNeil unearthed recently is one of the original announcements of the wedding, which her husband printed in his own plant."


     

More About H
OMER H. MCNEIL:
Burial: April 1942, Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona58,59
Cause of Death: cerebral hemorage
Fact: Helped start 1st volunteer fire department in Phoenix

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, California, 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, between 1882-1883. Her father signed the record of her marriage to Homer, since he was the Maricopa County Recorder at that time.
      One of her granddaughters described Carolyn as "a little bit of a thing, with a tiny, tiny waist." She is said to have loved to play Bridge and other card games.

More About C
AROLYN JANE MORRIS:
Burial: June 1948, Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona60,61,62
Cause of Death: heart disease
Fact: 1882, came to Phoenix, age 16
     
Children of H
OMER MCNEIL and CAROLYN MORRIS are:
  i.   MABLE BEEBE8 MCNEIL63, b. October 16, 1886, Phoenix, Arizona64; d. April 1983, Castro Valley, Alameda, California64; m. WILLIAM KAY FETTER65, October 15, 1913, Phoenix, Arizona65; b. September 06, 1887, Sunbury, Pennsylvania66; d. April 1987, Goleta, Santa Barbara, California66.
  Notes for MABLE BEEBE MCNEIL:
      Mabel and Kay were married at the home of Mabel's sister, Helen McNeil Seeley, in Phoenix. I discovered this from a letter written by Helen to her brother, Fred McNeil.
      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 brother, Bill McNeil, in 1942. A receipt for that purchase is in the possession of Kathy McNeil Beaudry.
      After her husband retired, Mabel and Kay moved to California.
      Mabel's middle name comes from her paternal grandmother, Eunice Amanda Beebe McNeil.

  Notes for WILLIAM KAY FETTER:
After finishing school, Kay was employed by the Pennsylvania Railroad in Sunbury and Altoona, Pennsylvania, 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 MCNEIL, SR.67, b. July 27, 1888, Phoenix, Arizona; d. January 26, 1960, Chicago, Illinois; m. RUTH GOODFELLOW PATTON67, December 23, 1918, Phoenix, Arizona; b. July 01, 1888, Bisbee, Arizona67; d. October 03, 1967, Phoenix, Arizona.
  Notes for GEORGE MORRIS MCNEIL, 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 MCNEIL67, b. November 04, 1890, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona68; d. July 1991, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona68; m. PHILLIP KIRKPATRICK TOMKINSON, 1920, Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona; b. August 29, 1891, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania69; d. December 15, 1949, Fort McDowell, Arizona.
  Notes for CARRIE ELIZABETH MCNEIL:
      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, Arizona, to marry Phil Tomkinson.
      For her 100th birthday, Meme was interviewed by the Phoenix Gazette, the paper her father had owned from 1881-1888. Her son Fred Tomkinson & his wife Mildred 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. Pictures and stories were shared, and a great time was enjoyed by all.
      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 MCNEIL:
Burial: July 1991, Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona70,71

  Notes for PHILLIP KIRKPATRICK TOMKINSON:
      After to coming Arizona with his family, Phil was employed for a number of years as a miner at Canon, Arizona. 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. 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.
     
The obituary of Phil, from one of the Phoenix newspapers:

                        "TOMKINSON FUNERAL HELD

      Funeral services for Phillip Kirkpatrick Tomkinson, 58, supervisor of water production for the City of Phoenix for the past 22 years, who died yesterday at Mesa District Hospital, were to be conducted this afternoon at A. L. Moore and Sons Mortuary.
      The Reverend Morton T. Kelsey of Trinity Cathedral was to officiate. Cremation was to follow at Greenwood Memorial Park.
      Mr. Tomkinson had been a resident of Arizona for the past 43 years. He was in charge of water production for the city at Fort McDowell. He served during World War I with the Army, and during World War II with the Navy.
      He was a native of Pennsylvania.
      Survivors are his wife, Carrie of Fort McDowell; three sons, Fred, Phillip K., Jr., and Robert D. Tomkinson, all of Phoenix; two sisters, Mrs. Sidney Fritche, Chino Valley, and Mrs. Isabelle Julinell, Scarsdale, N.Y.; a brother Francis, Merchantville, N. J.; and four grandchildren."

  More About PHILLIP KIRKPATRICK TOMKINSON:
Burial: December 1949, Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona71,72

  iv.   SAIDEE HELEN MCNEIL73, b. July 18, 1892, Phoenix, Arizona73; d. October 23, 1915, Phoenix, Arizona73,74; m. WILLIAM HANSEL SEELEY75,76,77, October 15, 1911, Phoenix, Arizona78,79; b. September 1887, Indiana, probably in Marion County80,81; d. Aft. 1930, probably Seattle, Washington82.
  Notes for SAIDEE HELEN MCNEIL:
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 kidney infection. While not usually fatal in healthy adults, it finally took her life in 1915. In early photos taken after her son's birth, Helen was in a wheelchair, and looked "puffy." After her death, her son went to live with her parents, and was adopted by them shortly thereafter.
Helen is buried in the McNeil family plot in Greenwood Cemetery in Phoenix, Arizona, next to her parents and her brother Dix.

  More About SAIDEE HELEN MCNEIL:
Burial: October 1915, Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona83,84,85,86
Fact: had complications from Childbirth

  Notes for WILLIAM HANSEL SEELEY:
      According to second-hand family lore, Bill felt burdened by an invalid wife and baby son, so he abandoned them in late 1913 or early 1914. He registered for the draft for WW I in Juneau, Alaska in 1914. In my father's "baby book," someone had written that, at age 14 months, my father's first sentence was, "Papa gone." My father said that he wrote a letter to his birth father once, but that he never received an answer.     
      I haven't discovered yet why Bill came to Phoenix. In the 1910 census he was still in his home state of Indiana, working as a pharmacist. When he and Helen married, Bill was working at the Adams Pharmacy in Phoenix.

A news article in the FAIRBANKS DAILY TIMES, dated September 13, 1916 reads:
      "William H. Seeley has purchased the stocks of the Owl and Winn Drug stores in Juneau, and will consolidate the stores in the present location of the Owl Drug company at the corner of Second and Seward streets."

      By the 1920 census, Bill was living in Seattle, WA, still working as a pharmacist. He was single at that time. In the 1930 census, he was still in Seattle, married to a woman named Lucile and had an eight year old son named Robert, who was born in Oregon. Bill's occupation was commercial artist at that time.

  Marriage Notes for SAIDEE MCNEIL and WILLIAM SEELEY:
      Helen and Bill were married at the home of Helen's parents, at 345 W. Van Buren Street in Phoenix.

  v.   HOMER DIX MCNEIL87,88, b. July 01, 1895, Phoenix, Arizona88,89; d. September 11, 1923, Prescott, Arizona90.
  Notes for HOMER DIX MCNEIL:
      Homer went by his middle name "Dix," the birth surname of Homer McNeil's step-mother, Cora Dix.
      Dix served in the Army, in France, during World War I, from 1916-1918. When he left the service, he was a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers. While stationed in Washington D.C., he contracted tuberculosis, from which he never recovered. He was eventually hospitalized in the V.A. Hospital at Fort Whipple, part of Prescott, Arizona, ninety miles north of Phoenix. His occupation is listed as "salesman" on his death certificate.
      Dix never married or had children.

  More About HOMER DIX MCNEIL:
Burial: September 1923, Greenwood Cemetery, Phoenix, Arizona91
Cause of Death: Tuberculosis
Fact: Bet. 1916 - 1918, 2nd Lt., Army Corps of Engineers
Fact 3: never married
Fact 4: occuoccupationvaniation on autopsy - salesman
Medical Information: contracted during WWI, in Washington D.C.

  vi.   WILLIAM WOOD MCNEIL, b. October 29, 1897, Phoenix, Arizona; d. March 12, 1899, Phoenix, Arizona.
  vii.   FREDERICK ALBERTUS MCNEIL, SR.92, b. May 28, 1900, Phoenix, Arizona93; d. July 13, 1983, Phoenix, Arizona93; m. ELISABETH BEECHER, April 21, 1931, Hastings, Nebraska; b. January 18, 1900, North Platte, Nebraska94; d. March 28, 1982, Phoenix, Arizona94.
  Notes for FREDERICK ALBERTUS MCNEIL, 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 Episcopalian 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 New York 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, Arizona. Fred returned to Phoenix in 1963, to start Trinity Church in Kearney, Arizona. 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.

From "The Star," Wednesday, June 3, 1970

      "FRED'S BOYS GET TOGETHER FOR CAMP ALLAH REUNION

      "Way back in 1920-24, the Rev. Fred McNeil was a YMCA counselor at summer camp and for a time, a full time Y Employee.
      "Many of the Valley's leading citizens were among 'Fred's boys' in Camp Allah, during the years it was located in The Garden of Allah, below Wickenburg, on the Hassayampa River, and in the next two years at a location outside Prescott, in the Bradshaw Mountains, on Wolf Creek.
      "The third reunion of 'the boys' was held in the McNeil home, 5721 W. Heatherbrae, last week. There were 18 attending, including Fred Riggins, Dr. Phillip Rive, Charles Osborn; some of those who couldn't be present but attended previously were Barry and Bob Goldwater and Gov. Jack Wiliams. There are engineers, an oral surgeon, a pharmacist, an official of the Internal Revenue bureau.
      "The group plan to reunite every fall, with the next reunion planned for this Nov. 30.
      "Father Fred was first vicar of St. Andew's Church in Phoenix, and is now associate emeritus of St. Andrew's in its permanent location at 63rd Avenue and Camelback, Glendale."

  Notes for ELISABETH BEECHER:
      Known in the family as "Aunt Patty."

  More About ELISABETH BEECHER:
Cause of Death: heart disease

  viii.   BURTON BENNETT MCNEIL95, b. July 04, 1902, Iron Springs, near Prescott, Arizona96; d. March 13, 1929, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona96; m. SARAH ETTA RAY96, March 1926, Florence, Arizona96; b. August 30, 1909, Notasulga, AL96; d. May 30, 1991, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona96.
  Notes for BURTON BENNETT MCNEIL:
as told to Donna McNeil Bogard by Aunt Meme (Carrie McNeil Tomkinson) and related to the author:

      During the summer of 1902, when Meme was sixteen, she accompanied her mother siblings to their summer home in Iron Springs, near Prescott, Arizona. Meme didn't know her mother was pregnant, until she saw her unpacking a layette for the upcoming birth. When Carolyn went into labor, her doctor was summoned from Phoenix. 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 had insisted she wait on him.
      According to Donna, her father worked as a printer in Phoenix.

  More About BURTON BENNETT MCNEIL:
Cause of Death: spinal meningitis

  ix.   WILLIAM SEELEY MCNEIL97,98, b. October 07, 1912, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona98; d. January 1994, Mesa, Maricopa County, Arizona99; m. (1) EVELYN CHRISTINE DOWNEY100, June 06, 1937, Phoenix, Arizona100; b. May 05, 1917, Kingsville, Kleburg County, Texas101; d. February 18, 1975, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona102; m. (2) ELAINE MILLAR, Private; b. Private.
  Notes for WILLIAM SEELEY MCNEIL:
      Bill McNeil was born William Hansel Seeley, Jr., and was adopted by his maternal grandparents, Homer and Carolyn McNeil, in 1915, after the death of Bill's mother, Helen McNeil Seeley. At that time his name was changed to William Seeley McNeil.
      Bill was a printer all his life, working first for his father, then as a partner with his father. After his father Homer's death, Bill bought his father's half-interest in the printing business from his mother, Carolyn McNeil, and his sister, Carrie "Meme" McNeil. He and his first wife, Evelyn, lived next door to the print shop, at least until 1944. It is not known what happened to that business or when they moved to their home on Pierce Street in Phoenix.
      Bill next went to work for Valley National Bank, in the print shop. In the 1950's, Bill & Evelyn started their own printing business, Printing by McNeil, which they ran for several years. After some financial set-backs Bill went to work for Arizona Public Service Company, in their printing department. He retired from APS in October 1977, having worked their for 19 1/2 years.
      During his lifetime, Bill enjoyed "rock hounding" and jewelry making, stamp and coin collecting, painting and writing poetry. He was also interested in HAM radio. He enjoyed bowling and won many trophies for his efforts. In the mid-1950's, Bill was taking flying lessons, with an eye to getting his private pilot's license. He gave up that goal when his best friend, Bill Carson, died in a small-plane crash about 1958. The two men had been friends since Kindergarten.
      He was living with his daughter, Martha McNeil Helms, when he died.

  More About WILLIAM SEELEY MCNEIL:
Burial: Unknown, cremated, ashes in possession of Kathy McNeil Beaudry
Cause of Death: stroke

  Notes for EVELYN CHRISTINE DOWNEY:
      Evelyn came to Mesa, Arizona, from Texas between 1918-1919. In the 1920 census, taken in January of that year, she is living with her mother, Grace Carter Downey, a widow, and her maternal grandparents, John Q. Carter, and Elizabeth Blansit Carter. Her grandparents were farmers. Her father died when she was a baby, and nothing is yet known of him.
      After her mother re-married, to Roscoe Lloyd Mills, Evelyn remained living with her grandparents and other family members, until age five. Her step-father died of tuberculosis some in 1925. In 1927, Evelyn's mother went into a sanatorium to treat her own case of tuberculosis, from which she didn't recover. She died in July of 1929. During her illness, Mrs. Mills placed her children in an orphanage, where they stayed there until after her death.
      When Evelyn was twelve, she was fostered to Miss Katherine Christy, a school teacher at the Adams Elementary school. Evelyn lived with "Aunt Kate," until her marriage to Bill McNeil in June of 1937. Her brother, Lloyd Mills, was adopted by a single women, May Noble, when he was about seven. Her sister Frances lived in a succession of foster homes.
      After graduating from Phoenix Union High school, Evelyn attended Phoenix College. During the early part of her marriage, she worked with her husband in the printing business. When Bill McNeil again had 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. It was a job she thoroughly enjoyed.
      Evelyn was an avid bowler, and won many trophies. She liked to read, sew, garden and play "Yahtzee." After she died, her children found a letter from First National Bank, congratulating her on winning first place in a city-wide essay contest, and awarding her a savings account with a deposit of $10.00. She was ten years old when she won the prize.

  More About EVELYN CHRISTINE DOWNEY:
Burial: Unknown, cremated, ashes strewn in South Mtn. Park, Phoenix, Arizona
Cause of Death: rupture of abdominal aortic aneurism

  Marriage Notes for WILLIAM MCNEIL and EVELYN DOWNEY:
      Attending the bride was Frances Noble, Evelyn Downey McNeil's younger sister.




[ Home Page | First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page ]

Description | How to Order | Samples | Free Demo | Quotes and Reviews | Books
Home | User Groups | Mail List | Add-Ons | Support

© Copyright 1996-2007, The Generations Network.