Franklin County

Pioneer Families of Franklin County Virginia

by M. Wingfield

John Dillard was born in 1783, and married Matilda Hughes, daughter of Colonel Archelaeus Hughes and Mary (Dalton) Dillard.

Jacob McNeal, Sr., pioneer ancestor of the McNeils of Franklin (born Jacob Ireson, but assumed the name of his mother's 2nd husband), was born June 1759 near Harper's Ferry. The Christian name of his father is not known. His mother was Mary, daughter of William (born 1723; died 1822) and Molly (Daton) Hughes. Welch emigrants who settled in the Capon Valley section of Frederick County. Mary Hughes Ireson, widow, married Thomas McNeel.