Rev. George McNiel

I've been trying to find information about my first American McNiel ancestor. His line seems to be clouded in mystery prior to his birth in Lanarkshire, Scotland in 1720. I found an old discussion on ancestry.com that points out Thomas McNiel, who married Hannah Parsons, was George and Mary's youngest son, not his father, as I had thought.

I'm always excited to get some new piece of clarification. Though this bit means I know less about George than I thought. Though not much less, since I new nothing about Thomas and Hannah.

Aha!

I've been working on the Shoemate line recently. William Bonner Shoemate is the earliest confirmed relative I've found - and that largely from family records and memories. I've followed several different rabbit trails, but could not get any definitive information confirming or negating any one line.

There is a large Shoemate family centered in Bledsoe County, TN. There is a lot of information here. Still nothing confirming William Bonner's parents. I found the Bledsoe County page at FamilyHistory101 which explains that the county courthouse burned down on Dec. 9, 1909. This could explain why there are no marriage records for William Bonner Shoemate and Musie Dora Allison, married in 1875. It seemed as if he appeared our of nowhere. Maybe now I know why!