One of the most often cited figures in lineages from Robeson County is that of "Sailor" Hector McNeill. Hundreds, if not thousands, of persons claim to be a descendant of this enigmatic ancestor.
"Sailor" Hector McNeill Monument in McNeill Cemetery
Often he is referenced as the the Founder of the town of Red Springs; a stone in the town's McNeill Cemetery verifies this claim, but even so that is somewhat a misleading characterization. While he did receive a grant from the King for the land where the town is now located, it was his grandson, "Red" Hector McNeill that was the town's first mayor. The two are often mistaken. He is also frequently mistaken for "One Eye" Hector McNeill (in part probably due to the well-circulated photo of "Red" Hector as mayor) and Colonel Hector McNeill, Loyalist leader in the Revolution. However, these are not the same men.
Most of the "Sailor" Hector McNeill biography comes to us from the work of James Roberts' "Some Descendants of Sailor Hector McNeill." This account describes "Sailor" Hector and his brother "Shoemaker" John McNeill arriving in North Carolina around 1740 with their father, Neill McNeill. The brothers are described as being very young and their mother presumed now deceased in Scotland.
There is a great void in the records for "Sailor" Hector from 1740 until 1771 when he appears in the Bladen Tax Record living with Neill McNeill Snr. [the use of "senior" and "junior" in this time period does NOT always indicate father and son, but that there was an older and younger person in the area with the same name] and John Hart.
So where was "Sailor" Hector in the interim?
James Roberts writes that "Sailor" Hector McNeill was shanghaied in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent twelve years sailing around the world with the Royal Navy. Mabel Lovin, another researcher, has written that he was also shanghaied, but from Wilmington, North Carolina. Annie Culbreth Gaitley, a descendant of "Sailor" Hector McNeill, told Roberts she believed Sailor Hector McNeill escaped [author's note: or released from] his forced indenture in Virginia, and found his way to our ancestral Culbreaths living there. After several years of searching, I believe Aunt Annie was the closest to the truth and here's why, and I ask the reader's patience as I go through my theory.
"Sailor" Hector McNeill and his wife, Mary McNeill [maiden name to be proposed shortly] , had the following children: Isabella (married a Daniel Buie), Catherine (unmarried), William "Little Billy" (married Jane McNeill), Mary "Polly" McNeill (married Camp/Kemp Culbreth), Malcolm Culbreth McNeill (married Ruth FitzRandolph), and an unknown daughter who died young. All of these children were born between 1775-1790.
It is this writer's proposition that Mary McNeill, wife of "Sailor" Hector McNeill, was a Culbreath herself. To my knowledge, this has never been published or presented in written form. One living Culbreth cousin has informed me that Annie Culbreth Gaitley told him as a boy that "Sailor" Hector McNeill's wife was a Culbreth, and her name was "Annie." I accept this as truth, but defer to fluidity of names of the time, where Polly is short for Mary is short for Marian/Marianne [Annie?] which comes to us from Marron, a Gaelic version of Sarah. See how it gets confusing real fast!
I'll jump back to the children of "Sailor" Hector McNeill and Mary [Culbreath] McNeill. Malcolm Culbreth McNeill? Okay that one is obvious. Middle names did not become common for the masses until about 1850. Yet, this Malcolm McNeill, and his son William McNeill are almost always listed with the middle initial "C." It is so frequent, it's probably safe to drop the "almost" and just say "always." This presents an interesting hypothesis, could the Malcolm C. McNeill have been an orphan from a family of Culbreaths adopted by "Sailor" Hector or was the name just that important to the family. Then there's the daughter, Mary McNeill, who marries Camp/Kemp Culbreath from Mecklenburg County, Virginia. I find it very strange that Camp/Kemp packed up his bags, traveled two hundred miles, and married a complete stranger. In this time period, land and property, were too valuable to let just anyone into the family!
Now, if the reader is still with me, I'll present further evidence to my claim.
Let's go to William Culbreath of Mecklenburg County's 1787 will. He's Camp/Kemp's grandfather, by son, Thomas Culbreath. In his will, he lists his daughter, Mary McNeill. Who the hell is she? There are several candidates bouncing around Mecklenburg County at the time; notably a John, a Daniel, and a Malcolm McNeal. However, I have been unable to find these McNeal's in the area later and it's likely they, along with some of the ancestral Culbreaths traveled to Georgia and Tennessee.
This brings me to what is actually written in William Culbreath's will, specifically for the slave Hannah to go to William's daughter, Mary McNeill, following the death of William's wife, Margaret. I then turned to "Sailor" Hector McNeill's 1803 will. There with the land, home, and all the household property is a slave named Hannah. Please note as I write about Hannah as property, I am not condoning this terrible period of history nor being flippant about the forced servitude of apeople or a person. [Note: I caveat this that Hannah was a very popular name for female slaves.] Now, I go to "Sailor" Hector's wife, Mary McNeill, and her 1819 will. Mary gives "my negro woman Hannah" [I find the use of "my" verses the articles "a" or "the" interesting] to son Malcolm C. McNeill and son-in-law Camp Culbreath.
Finally, examining the US Census records, we find the following :1820 US Census lists Kemp Culbreath with 1 Female Slave over 45, the 1830 US Census lists Kemp Culbreath with 1 Slave between 55 and 99, and the 1840 US Census lists Kemp Culbreath with 1 Female Slave between 55 and 99. Then in 1850, the US Government conducted a Slave Schedule as part of the census, and there appears a 100 year old black female belonging to Kemp Culbreath in Robeson County. Is this Hannah? I believe so.
So where does that leave us with Sailor Hector McNeill? This writer believes it proves a relationship between said McNeill and the Mary McNeill found in William Culbreath of Mecklenburg's will. It further supports that "Sailor" Hector McNeill probably did spend some time in Virginia, probably in the French Indian War, in which William Culbreath did fight. It could indicate that "Sailor" Hector, and possibly his father, Neil McNeill [McNeale], did spend time in Virginia before settling in Bladen [now Robeson] County. This period would account for their absence in the historical record of the area.
And yes, if the reader has connected the dots, Camp Culbreath married his first cousin, the daughter of his aunt Mary Culbreath and "Sailor" Hector McNeill, Mary McNeill.