My father's mother was Alice McNeil Merriman Glass (she married twice). Her lineage in this country goes back to Samuel MacNeil who moved to Faggs Manor, Chester County, Pennsylvania, from Ireland in 1740. His son, Alexander, married a woman whose parents had moved to New London Township, Chester County, PA in 1740 as well. Alexander had a son named Andrew who also had a son named Andrew. The second Andrew moved to Ohio in around 1840. His son, Sam Adams McNeil, enlisted in the Ohio 31st Regiment in 1861 and served under General Sherman. I have a large family pictue with Sam on one side of the group and my grandmother sitting on her mother's lap next to her father. My father met and married my mother towards the end of World War II and moved into a little farm in Ohio. However, they later moved to Lansdale, PA in 1948 where I was born and raised. It wasn't until after I had moved to Chester County that I learned that it all started there. My great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather, Samuel McNeil, is buried in the Faggs Manor Presbyterian church graveyard just 7 miles from my house. Alexander's in-laws lived in New London Township, where I now live.

Some of the interesting artifacts that we have from this lineage are photos of the 2nd Andrew, Sam McNeil, Charles McNeil, Alice McNeil Glass, and my father Richard Merriman. We also have a family bible in which Sam McNeil wrote about the family line. Among the most treasured are Sam's artifacts from the Civil War, including his separation papers from the army in 1864 and re-enlistment papers, his hand-written memoirs of his service under Sherman including the march to the sea, and a book he published in the 1890's based on his memoirs. You can read his memoirs at the following link:

Sam McNeil's Hand Written Memoirs