McNEAL, DAVID

David J. McNeal (alternative spellings include McNeil, McNeill and McNiel) was born in the vicinity of Fayetteville, NC, likely in Cedar Creek Township of Cumberland County, NC, on 17 September 1890.¹Birthdate: David McNeal headstone: Geer Cemetery (800 Colonial St, Durham, NC), photographed by Nicholas Levy, 29 Jan 2020. Used by permission.

Cedar Creek: 1900 US Census Cedar Creek: Year: 1900; Census Place: Cedar Creek, Cumberland, North Carolina; Roll: 1191; Page: 12; Enumeration District: 0020; FHL microfilm: 1241191. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/56944386:7602 : accessed 8 Jan 2023. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls. His parents were James McNeal (b. ~1858) and Mary Hatwood McNeal (b. ~1861).²Parents’ names: David McNeal marriage license: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/7279001:60548 : accessed 8 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. James was the son of Aaron McNeal and Hester McCall.³James McNeill marriage license: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/7258037:60548 : accessed 8 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. Aaron had died before the marriage of James and Mary in 1875 in Cedar Creek, Cumberland County, but Hester was still living. Mary was the daughter of Charles (Jim) Hatwood and Kate Edwards. Charles had died before the marriage of James and Mary in 1875, but Kate was still living as late as 1891, the date of Mary’s second marriage.⁴James Young marriage license: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/4563039:60548 : accessed 9 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC.

James and Mary McNeal had at least three other children: James Jr (b. 1878), Josephine (b. 1880), and Martha (b. 1882) but possibly more born between 1880 and David’s birth in 1890.⁵James Jr. and Josephine: 1880 US Census Cedar Creek: Year: 1880; Census Place: Cedar Creek, Cumberland, North Carolina; Roll: 960; Page: 413C; Enumeration District: 059. Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. All use is subject to the limited use license and other terms and conditions applicable to this site. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/14407401:6742 : accessed 8 Jan 2023. Original data: Tenth Census of the United States, 1880. (NARA microfilm publication T9, 1,454 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Martha: 1900 US Census Cedar Creek: Year: 1900; Census Place: Cedar Creek, Cumberland, North Carolina; Roll: 1191; Page: 12; Enumeration District: 0020; FHL microfilm: 1241191. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/56944386:7602 : accessed 8 Jan 2023. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls. David’s father passed away before David’s first birthday, and his mother remarried, to a man named James (a.k.a. Duncan) Young, on 30 May 1891 in Cumberland County.⁶Duncan Young marriage license: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/9702218:60548 : accessed 17 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. David’s mother had at least four more children with Duncan Young: Clara (b. 1893), Charles (b. 1895), William (b. 1896) and Pattie/Elizabeth (b. 1903). This blended family can be found in the 1900 Census living in Cedar Creek Township of Cumberland County under the surname Young.⁷Pattie can be found in the 1910 US Census Wilson: Year: 1910; Census Place: Wilson Ward 1, Wilson, North Carolina; Roll: T624_1137; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 0117; FHL microfilm: 1375150. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/175889598:7884 : accessed 9 Jan 2023. Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: https://www.archives.gov/research/census.

The rest of the family is shown in the 1900 US Census Cedar Creek.

At some point after 1900 his mother’s marriage to Duncan Young became estranged, with Duncan marrying another woman in 1907.⁸Duncan Young marriage license: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/5041320:60548 : accessed 17 Jan 2023. Original data:North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. Mary and her children from both marriages had relocated to Wilson, NC by the 1910 Census, but were still using the surname Young and not McNeal. David was working as a laborer in a tobacco factory.⁹1910 US Census Wilson.

Shortly after the 1910 census, it appears members of the McNeal family came to Durham, with Mary and son Charles listed in the Durham City Directory starting in 1911-12.¹⁰Durham, NC Directory 1911-1912 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1911-1912) p. 203, McNeal surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25154 : accessed 11 Jan 2023). David first appears with his mother in the 1917 Durham City Directory at 509 Elliott Ave., where his mother ran a boarding house until her death in 1931.¹¹Durham, NC Directory 1917 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1917) p. 300, McNeal surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25155 : accessed 11 Jan 2023).

Mary’s death:  North Carolina State Archives; Raleigh, North Carolina; North Carolina Death Certificates. Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1276734:1121 : accessed 11 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. Subsequent directories and census records show that David’s brother James, sister Martha, half-siblings William and Elizabeth, and possibly other family members were also in the Durham area at some point. Much of the neighborhood the family lived in, known as Johnson’s Bottom, has since been paved over with the Durham Freeway (Hwy 147). It was located roughly between Mangum and Roxboro Streets, underneath and just south of the freeway, and had some notoriety in the white newspapers of the time.¹²“A bad section,” according to the local newspaper: “Big Raid Is Made by City Police on Whiskey Dealers,” The Herald-Sun (Durham, NC), 18 Nov 1928, p. 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/788434864 : accessed 17 Jan 2023.

David registered for the draft for WWI in 1917 from Durham; however, much of his registration information appears inconsistent with other research findings, including a birthdate in 1887, a birth location of Chattanooga TN and his status as married.¹³Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/16196747:6482 : accessed 17 Jan 2023. Original data: United States, Selective Service System. World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. M1509, 4,582 rolls. Imaged from Family History Library microfilm. This registration lists him as a short and stout man with brown eyes and black hair, working as a laborer for Dixon (the 1917 Durham City Directory lists one potential Durham employer, the Dixon Bros. grocery on Vickers Avenue).¹⁴Durham, NC Directory 1917 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1917) p. 55, Dixon surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25155 : accessed 17 Jan 2023). In June of 1918, David was sent to Camp Zachary Taylor in Louisville KY and placed as a private in Company 8 of the 2nd Development Battalion of the 159th Depot Brigade.¹⁵Camp Taylor: https://louisvillefuture.com/archived-news/the-history-of-camp-taylor-from-wwi-military-camp-to-working-class-neighborhood/ : accessed 17 Jan 2023.

Assignment: “United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS1Y-KS1R-4?cc=2968245 : 8 August 2019), > image 1 of 1; citing NARA microfilm publication 76193916 (St. Louis: National Archives and Records Administration, 1985). The Development Battalions of WW1 were “a combination of a remedial physical training battalion and a ‘medical holding’ unit and a general training unit for service members who were not currently fit for full military service.”¹⁶https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/540pxe/does_anyone_have_information_on_the_7th/ ; accessed 17 Jan 2023. David was honorably discharged in September 1918 after only 2 months due to 10% disability, and returned to Durham.¹⁷Ancestry.com. North Carolina, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/49028:61958 : accessed 17 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919. Salt Lake City, UT, USA: FamilySearch, 2019.

In October of 1920, David was mentioned in an article in the Durham Morning Herald that discussed the plight of African-American veterans of WWI, and mentioned a serious heart condition that David had developed from his service.¹⁸“Ex-Service Man Is Campaign Booster,” Durham Morning Herald (Durham, NC), 31 Oct 1920, p. 2. https://www.newspapers.com/image/788348128/ : accessed 17 Jan 2023. In November of 1920, David married Rebecca Daniel in Durham. The marriage application was made by William Young, likely David’s half-brother. Rebecca was the daughter of William and Susan Daniel of Philadelphia PA.¹⁹Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Marriage Records, 1741-2011 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/7279001:60548 : accessed 17 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina County Registers of Deeds. Microfilm. Record Group 048. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, NC. In the 1922 Durham City Directory, David and Rebecca are listed living separately on Elliott Street: David at 112 and Rebecca at 509.²⁰Durham, NC Directory 1922 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1922) p. 342, McNeal surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25156 : accessed 17 Jan 2023.

After 1920, everything we know about David is filtered through the prism of white newspapers’ racially-inflected reporting on Black criminality. He faced an array of charges in the span of two years, some of which were recounted in the local papers. David died on 5 December 1922 of a gunshot wound sustained in a gun battle with Charles Arrant, editor of Durham’s Standard Advertiser, the African American newspaper that would later be purchased by Louis Austin and rebranded as The Carolina Times. The gun battle was reportedly over a woman that Arrant had raised and whom David was courting, a Miss Rosa Lee Walters. Arrant died on site, and David died two days later in Lincoln Hospital.²¹Gunfight: “Negro Editor Killed in Gun Duel; Dave M’Neill Injured,” Durham Morning Herald (Durham NC), 4 Dec 1922, p. 7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/788345604/ : accessed 17 Jan 2023.

Death: “Family Troubles Were Ironed Out,” Durham Morning Herald (Durham NC), 6 Dec 1922, p. 8. https://www.newspapers.com/image/788345840/ : accessed 17 Jan 2023.

David’s death certificate lists him as buried in Fayetteville in his native Cumberland County.²²David McNeal death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Deaths, 1906-1930 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/997555:60090 : accessed 18 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina, Deaths, 1906-1930. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. However, his remains must have been relocated to Geer Cemetery at some later point in time and the headstone erected. His headstone incorrectly lists his death a year (to the day) later than it occurred.

Rebecca lived in Durham through at least 1926, but it is uncertain what became of her after that.²³Hill Directory Co.’s (Incorporated) Durham, NC City Directory 1926 (Durham, NC: Hill Directory Company, 1926) p.360, McNeal surname; digital image, “North Carolina City Directories,” DigitalNC (https://lib.digitalnc.org/record/25133 : accessed 18 Jan 2023). David’s mother Mary lived in Durham until her death in 1931 from stomach cancer. Her death certificate lists her as buried in Fayetteville, NC, with the informant listed as Clara Johnson of Fayetteville, likely David’s half-sister.²⁴Mary McNeal death certificate: Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1276734:1121 : accessed 18 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina. David’s half-brother Charles died in Durham in 1936, leaving a son, Charles McNeal Jr.²⁵Charles Young Sr. death certificate (corrected): Ancestry.com. North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/1216516:1121 : accessed 20 Jan 2023. Original data: North Carolina State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics. North Carolina Death Certificates. Microfilm S.123. Rolls 19-242, 280, 313-682, 1040-1297. North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina.

Charles Jr.: 1930 US Census: Year: 1930; Census Place: Durham, Durham, North Carolina; Page: 21B; Enumeration District: 0010; FHL microfilm: 2341421. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/77190211:6224 : accessed 18 Jan 2023. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls. Charles Sr. was also buried in Fayetteville. There is no indication that David had any children or direct descendants.

BORN: 17 September 1890.²⁷David McNeal headstone.

DIED: 5 December 1922.²⁸David McNeal death certificate.

BIRTH PLACE: Cedar Creek Township of Cumberland County, NC.²⁹1900 US Census Cedar Creek.

DEATH PLACE: Durham NC.³⁰David McNeal death certificate.

SPOUSE: Rebecca Daniel.³¹1930 US Census.

PARENTS: James McNeal and Mary Hatwood.³²David McNeal marriage license.

CHILDREN: N/A

OTHER FAMILY:  Half-brother Charles Young Sr.³³Charles Young Sr. death certificate.

FAMILY BURIED IN GEER CEMETERY: N/A

OCCUPATION: Laborer.³⁴David McNeal death certificate.

CHURCH: N/A

AFFILIATIONS: N/A

ADDRESS: 112 Elliott.³⁵Durham City Directory 1922.

MILITARY SERVICE: Honorable discharge, 1918.³⁶World War I Service Cards.