Jane Strange McNeill was born in 1821 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, the daughter of Elizabeth Kirkland and George McNeill, a prominent merchant. She married John McAden Rose, 25 April 1844, and raised a large family.
James Hipkins McNeill was born in Fayetteville 23 (or 25) May 1825, the son of Minerva Hipkins and George McNeill. He attended the University of North Carolina, Yale University, and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He graduated from Delaware College and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1848. He filled several positions in the Presbyterian Church in New Jersey and North Carolina. McNeill served as a cavalry officer in the Confederate Army and was killed at the Battle of Five Forks near Petersburg, Virginia, 31 March 1865.
From the guide to the James Hipkins McNeill Papers, 1840, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)
