Pocahontas County, West Virginia Biography of NATHAN CLAWSON MCNEIL This file was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/pocahont.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 616 NATHAN CLAWSON MCNEIL. No matter what notable achievements a man can justly claim as personal he always cherishes a feeling of pride in those of an honorable an- cestral line. Thus Nathan Clawson McNeil, prominent lawyer, state senator and concerned with many leading interests in Pocahontas County, counts as one of his most valued assets his direct descent from Thomas McNeil, that sturdy character of over 150 years ago who was known as the pioneer of Swago. Thomas McNeil was of Scotch parentage and possibly of Scotch birth. He was one of the earliest of the pioneers to brave the rigors and perils of the frontier west of the Alleghany Mountains. About 1770 he entered 300 acres of land in Pocahontas County, now West Virginia, defended his claim with fearless courage, and was one of the first in his section to improve land and cultivate it profitably. His wife, Mary Ireson McNeil, was of no less rugged a type than himself, and in their pioneer home of primitive con- struction they reared a family of six children with habits of industry that have been characteristic of the McNeils ever since. Jonathan McNeil, the eldest of his parents' children, spent his life as a farmer. He married Phoebe Moore, who was a daughter of Moses Moore, and they had four chil- dren: John, William, Moore and Preston. Mrs. McNeil was born February 13, 1774, and was thirteen years old at the time of the celebrated raid, which she remembered well. Other occupations carried on by Jonathan McNeil were milling and powder making, while his wife was an expert in weaving and fulling cloth. William McNeil, son of Jonathan and Phoebe McNeil, and grandfather of Nathan Clawson McNeil, was well and favorably known over what is now Pocahontas County as one of the early and well informed school teachers. He married Nancy Griffey, of Franklin County, Virginia, and they made their home on a part of the old McNeil home- stead. They became the parents of seven children: Jona- than, James, Claiborne, Moore, Jane, Elizabeth and Agnes. Claiborne McNeil, of the above family, spent the greater part of his life near Buckeye, in his native county, where he was held in esteem as a man of sterling character. To his marriage with Elizabeth Adkinson the following chil- dren were born: Charlotte (Mrs. Joseph Pennell), Joshua B., D. T. and Nathan Clawson. Nathan Clawson McNeil was born in a log cabin at Buck- eye Cove, Pocahontas County, West Virginia, November 7, 1865, the youngest of his parents' four children. He at- tended the public schools and the high school at Hillsboro, and then entered the law department of the University of West Virginia, from which he was graduated in 1888. Later he took special courses in law under John B. Minor, which was a great privilege, as Professor Minor was one of the most brilliant instructors in the university. Mr. McNeil was admitted to the bar in 1890, and prior to the establish- ment of the county seat at Marlinton, engaged in practice at Huntersville, the old county seat. He lived at other points in earlier life, having taught school in the county for six years, beginning at the age of seventeen, but has maintained his home at Marlinton since leaving Huntersville. In Mr. McNeil his fellow citizens found not only an able lawyer but a broad-minded man of affairs, vitally interested in the welfare of county and state, a man who has been very prominent politically and one who has never failed to consider a public office as a public trust. For fourteen years he served as chairman of the Republican County Executive Committee, and was elected a member of the State Senate. He served with honor and efficiency in the sessions of 1907-1909, taking a very active part as chair- man of the committee on election and privileges, at a time when it was one of the most important committees in the Legislative branch. He managed the campaign of Hon. Nathan B. Scott for the United States Senate and made the nominating speech. Mr. McNeil was the father of the first state game law. On November 15, 1904, Mr. McNeil married Miss Ruth Young, a former pupil. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. He is a Knight Templar Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine.