1.20.2013

Baptism of George McNeill in Scotland

I haven't found anything new in quite a while, but I'm working on plans to go to Scotland this year or next, so I checked our ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk. There I found a baptismal record for George McNeill. He was baptized on July 7, 1723 in Govan Parish, Glasgow. He is the son of Duncan McNeill and Margaret McLease. It was the only George McNeill (of any sept) that I found between 1700 and 1730. I can't find any corroborating information, though, or any information about Duncan or Margaret McNeill. I'm hopefully that this is the George who sailed from Glasgow to North Carolina and became a Baptist minister, having been Presbyterian in Scotland. He spelled his name McNiel. I'd love to know why. I'd also like to find evidence of his training and/or ordination in Scotland. I've searched the Church of Scotland historical records available online through the Princeton library, but there is no George McNeill or McNiel. By the way, I'm convinced that Thomas McNiel who married Mary Hannah Parsons is George's son, not his father. Multiple online records repeat the claim that Thomas is the father, but multiple repetitions do not make it correct!