James Neal

1832-1902 · Pennsylvania

Born 1832, Indiana County, Pennsylvania

Died 1902

Father: John Niel

Mother: Deborah Pierce

Children include Louisa

James Neal was born on 23 April 1832 in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. He was a son of John Niel, a farmer and miller of West Mahoning Township, and Deborah Pierce. The family wrote its name both ways, Niel and Neal. His father died in 1854, when James was twenty two.

He married Sarah Spencer, who was born in Indiana County on 14 March 1831. The 1900 census dates their marriage to 1856. Three of their children are known. Louisa was born in May 1856, Serena Lucretia in 1867 and Samuel Miles, called Hardy, in 1870.

James was one of at least four brothers who served in the Civil War. Benjamin served more than three years. He married Jane Findley while he was home on furlough, went back to his regiment, and was killed at the battle of Fair Oaks in Virginia. Thomas served as a private in a Pennsylvania regiment and was severely wounded several times. David enlisted in 1864 in Company B of the 206th Pennsylvania Volunteers.

In the summer of 1863 the Union began drafting men. Congress had passed the Enrollment Act that March, and the first names were drawn in July. A James Neal was drafted and mustered into service on 13 July 1863, for three years, as a private in the One Hundred and First Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers. The service dates on his grave memorial match that entry exactly.

The 101st had been raised in western Pennsylvania in 1861. Its original companies were captured at Plymouth, North Carolina, on 20 April 1864, and most of the enlisted men were sent to the prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia. James was carried instead on the roll of the regiment's Detachment, a separate list of drafted men and substitutes. He was discharged by general order on 3 May 1865, when the government began sending its draftees home at the end of the war.

He returned to Indiana County. In 1880 he and Sarah were farming in Banks Township with their two youngest, Serena Lucretia and Miles Hardy. In 1900 they were at Glen Campbell. His daughter Louisa married Alexander T. Fetterman about 1874 and raised a large family near Canoe Ridge. James died on 21 September 1902, aged 70, and was buried in Pearce Cemetery under a tall marble stone. Sarah lived until 13 November 1908 and died at Canoe Ridge. When Louisa died in 1914, her obituary called her "a daughter of the late James and Sarah Neal."

Parents

John Niel 1802-1854 Deborah Pierce 1802-1882

Children

Louisa Neal 1856-1914

Sources

Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, volume 3 (Harrisburg, 1870), page 645; archive.org, historyofpennsyl03bate.

United States census, 1880, Banks Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania (FamilySearch, ark:/61903/1:1:MWFK-X9Y); 1900, Glen Campbell (1:1:M3SB-TL8).

Joshua T. Stewart, Indiana County, Pennsylvania: Her People, Past and Present, volume 1 (Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1913), page 668, sketch of David T. Niel (archive.org indianacountypen01stew).

Find a Grave memorial 84259363, Pearce Cemetery, photograph added by P. Wachob, 21 November 2017.

Samuel P. Bates, History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, volume 3 (Harrisburg, 1870), page 645, roll of the Detachment, One Hundred and First Regiment, and the regiment's history from page 601 (archive.org historyofpennsyl03bate). Find a Grave memorial 84259363. Obituaries of Louisa Fetterman, Indiana Progress, 6 May 1914, and Indiana Weekly Messenger, 13 May 1914. 1880 United States census, Banks Township (FamilySearch 1:1:MWFK-X9Y); 1900, Glen Campbell (1:1:M3SB-TL8). Joshua T. Stewart, Indiana County, Pennsylvania: Her People, Past and Present, volume 1 (Chicago: J. H. Beers, 1913), page 668, sketch of David T. Niel (archive.org indianacountypen01stew). Gravestone, Pearce Cemetery, photographed for Find a Grave memorial 84259363.

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Cite: Heirology, "James Neal (1832-1902)", https://heirology.com/ancestors/james-neal-1832-1902-84b3c8.