William Neill was born December 7, 1807 in Ayr, Scotland to John Neill and Margery Ferguson.
Mary Lawrence was born July 6, 1811 in Coshocton, Ohio to John Lawrence and Rachel Anne Payne.
They were married September 13, 1832. in Coshocton, Ohio, at the home of her parents. William was 24 and Mary was 21 years old.
William and Mary had ten children- 5 boys and 5 girls (one boy, Emmens, died at age 1 month). The family at first lived in Coshocton, but in the 1840s, William, Mary, son John Andrew, and daughters Jane, Margery, and Rachel journeyed to Texas by flatboat.
“They had come down the Ohio River on a flatboat in 1847, across Kentucky and Illinois and then down the Mississippi River crossing Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. They arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi River at New Orleans, La. where they transferred to a sailing ship and headed across the Gulf of Mexico toward Texas. They were caught by a severe storm in the Gulf and totally wrecked the ship near the mouth of the Brazos River of Texas. It was with great difficulty that the passengers were saved. After suffering many hardships and privations, they traveled with their wagons and arrived in Seguin in 1847. They settled in Seguin, Guadalupe County, Texas on January 29, 1849”
Traveling by Flatboat engraving by Alfred R. Waud
“After reaching the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the family took passage on board a vessel destined to land them at Indianola, on the coast of Texas. Owing to severe storms in the Gulf, the vessel attempted to run into the port of Galveston, but having no pilot they could not get in. The storm increasing in fury as they proceeded, their vessel was driven in shoreward and beached at the mouth of the Brazos River. This occurred in October, 1848. The passengers were taken off the wrecked vessel by Capt. Madison of the wrecking crew, who treated them with great kindness, and with whom the Neill family remained until they got passage on a small steamer up to Brazoria. From Brazoria they came by wagon to Seguin, reaching this place in January, 1849.”
According to the National Weather Service, a hurricane hit the “lower coast of Texas” on October 17, 1848. It is possible that the Neills traversed the country only to enter the Gulf of Mexico in the midst of a hurricane.
“October 17th, 1848: A hurricane struck the Lower Coast. Brazos Santiago Island was under two feet of water. Several vessels were lost near Point Isabel. Tides were reported as high at Corpus Christi... This storm relieved “spotty drought conditions” along the Middle Texas coast...”
The family settled in Guadalupe County, Seguin, Texas in 1848. William was a blacksmith.
WC Baxter was William’s nephew. The Texan Mercury Vol. 1 No. 18 Ed. 1 Saturday, January 21, 1854
William and Mary had eleven children: John Andrew, Margery, Jane, and Rachel were born in Ohio. Nancy, Henry Clay, William Harrison, Agnes Lawrence, George Albert, Emmens, and Hellen were born in Texas.
According to local Seguin historian Willie Mae Weinert, “Uncle Billy Neill” was “quite a character about town” and “could eat more sardines than any six men in town.” (Willie Mae Weinert, Seguin Enterprise, 1938).
William died May 26, 1880 in Seguin. Mary died January 7, 1901, also in Seguin.
