NeilyWorld      Neily Genealogy

        Most persons known having the surname NEILY or NEILEY in North America, and some NEELYs in the U. S. A., about 1000 in total, are from the same common immigrant ancestors, Joseph and Mary Neily, who came from the north of Ireland to Nova Scotia about 1765, settling in Annapolis County about 1768. They were Protestant and are sometimes described as 'Scotch-Irish', but I have found no identifiable records for them yet in Ireland (or in Scotland). These are our ancestors and their lines are the subject of most of these notes.

        However, nearly all NEILLYs, NEALYs, NEALLYs, NEALLEYs, NEELEYs and most NEELYs are from different immigrant ancestors, notably: Joseph Andrew and Margaret Nealley, "Scotch-Irish" Presbyterians from Bellecarry, County Derry, who settled in New Hampshire in 1728; Thomas and Agnes Neely, from Ulster, who settled in Chester Co., Pennsylvania before 1730, leaving descendants in that state and the Carolinas; and James and Ann Neely, and James' brother Edward and his wife Susanna (Goldsmith) Neely who both came to New York from Co. Galway before 1766, and soon moved to Virginia and Kentucky. All these and other spellings are pronounced as though spelled "Neely" and that appears to be the commonest spelling of the name in Ireland. Some other students (Symonds, n.d., and Neely, 1959) have concluded that the Thomas Neely who went to Pennsylvania from Ulster before 1730 was the Thomas O'Neill mentioned in O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees as a son of Art O'Neill of the royal house of Ulster who emigrated to America, but I do not know of the basis for this conclusion.

        For our own NEILY immigrant family, little documented information is available. Mr. William A. Calnek collected information on pioneer families of Annapolis County, N. S. in the period 1870-1892, and these were organized and edited by Judge Alfred W. Savary with the help of William E. Chute and published (at least the first two generations) as part of Calnek's History of the County of Annapolis five years after the author's death. This indicates that the immigrant Joseph Neily was born "in the north of Ireland", that the family arrived in Nova Scotia about 1765, spent some time near Windsor, where one of them worked for John Clark and married his daughter Jane, and they moved to Annapolis Co. (Wilmot Twp.) in 1768, except for Martha. "Joseph Kneely" was officially granted the 440 acres of lot 34 of Wilmot, extending from the Annapolis River north to Lily Lake, on 10 December 1774 by Governor Francis Legge, the same date as grants to his neighbours Francis and William Burns. Martha stayed with her "newly wedded" husband (married before coming to N. S.), Belfast native James Reagh, on a farm that he bought in the Ardoise Hills, on the old Halifax Road, until his death about 1780, when (with four children) she rejoined her mother and brothers (and sister?) in Wilmot. Her brother Robert had lived on the land grant adjacent to Joseph's "awhile" (he is shown as there on a 1770 map), but "then removed to Walton, Hants County". Robert's land grant (lot 35) had been taken over by Timothy Saunders, and it was granted to him 5 April 1787. By 1790 the widow Martha had married this neighbour.

        Unfortunately, Calnek and Savary rather badly mixed up the Joseph and John Neilys, and it was not until the wills were found in the N. S. Archives, that we were able to correct this (Neily, 1986). That of Joseph, Sr., (1777) appears to be the oldest surviving will from the Wilmot Township (see Appendix 1). A clarification of the first two generations follows. This is based mainly on the wills of Joseph, Sr. (1777) and John (1821), land grants and some information from Calnek and Savary. In the first generation it may be that Martha should be third or fourth instead of fifth. Few birth dates are known, so sequences are uncertain, based on things such as marriage dates, order mentioned in will, etc.)

Generation 1

N1 Joseph NEILY * m. Mary _____?__, had children:

        * This is the most widely used spelling for the name, although it was "Neiley" in Joseph, Sr.'s will, "Kneely" on his land grant, and probably "Neely" (as it is pronounced) in Ireland; Joseph, Sr., could not write, so there was a good chance that it changed from the original. Some of the "North Kingston Neilys" , notably George (N4-2-5-4), Inglis (N4-2-5-7), William Wallace (N5-2-5-8-3), and William M. (N4-2-5-9) adopted the spelling "Neiley", generally followed by their descendants, and another branch, descended from George E. Neily (N5-2-5-1-4), uses "Neely". The spellings "Nealy", "Neilly", and other forms are often found in documents or directories, but , as far as I know, were not used by members of this family.

Generation 2

**N2-2 John NEILY, b. 1745? m. (?~1767) Jane CLARK, had children:

        John married Jane, daughter of of John and Lydia (Green) Clark(e), pioneer settlers of the Windsor, N. S., area, who reportedly came to that area from the north of Ireland with one of Alexander McNutt's settlement expeditions about 1761. Jane's brother John Clark came to own extensive properties in what is now Hants County, and, judging from the records pertaining to him in the land registry, must have acted something like a modern real estate agent, as well as being involved in the gypsum trade.

        John and Jane Neily lived on his father's land grant in Brooklyn (Lower Middleton), Annapolis Co. (Wilmot Township), where they continued the work of developing a farm from the wilderness. Calnek notes that he was "a most valuable pioneer in the work of cultivation in this region", (although he may have been referring to John's father Joseph).

        Again, most of the information that we have for this generation comes from their estate documents. John's will, dated 29 March 1817, provided that all his personal property go to his "dearly beloved wife Jane Neily", as well as the "sole use and occupation of all and every part of my landed estate" for the rest of her life. On her death, the southern part of the property, (apparently all the cleared portion) from the Annapolis River north to "the rear boundary of the clear field on the plain", and the full width of the grant, was to go to Peter, with the rest of the property to be sold with the proceeds divided equally among the other children, including a share for "Jane Neily, the daughter of my deceased son William Neily". An inventory of the late John Neily's property was made on 10 November 1821 and it gives some insight into what their life was like. It included the following: 1 pair of oxen, 11 cows, "the half of 21 head of cattle undivided", 17 tons of hay, 10 bushels of oats, 4 bushels of peas, flax, 1 plough, 1 ox-cart, 1 ox yoke, 1 draught chain, half of 9 hogs undivided, 1 grindstone, 150 lb. cheese, 125 bushels of potatoes; 3 beds and bedding, 1 "burrow" (?barrow), 6 Windsor chairs, 6 common chairs, 1 round table, 1 candle stand, 2 table "linnings", 1 copper kettle old, 1 small tea kettle, 1 grid iron, tea ware, cheese tub 2 parts, 1 tray, 1 tin pan, 30 lb. wool, 15 lb. woolen yarn, "linning" yarn, 1 tub, 1 old casket, 1 barrel, 60 sheep, 18 lambs, 1 colt, 1 mare. Jane, who was born 10 Dec. 1776 (fide S. Benoit), lived only about one more year, dying before June 1822. Her property, when inventoried 19 July 1823, was valued at over 808£. Their place of burial is unknown.

Generation 3

N3-2-1 Margaret NEILY, b. 177?  m. (1795, Sept. 23) 1) Robert MOUNTFORD or MUMFORD, we have no definite record of children for them, nor of what happened to Robert Mountford, but some records of Elizabeth Mumford, who married John P. Best in Aylesford Twp. about 1825 refer to her as Elizabeth Truesdale, so it seems likely that she was their child.

N3-2-2 Jane NEILY, b. 177?  m. (1802, Nov. 18) John WEST, and had children:

N3-2-3 Mary NEILY, b. 177?  m. (1804) Joab BAKER, and had children:

N3-2-4 Joseph NEILY, b. 1777/8, March 18  m. (1805, Feb. 20) Catharine DURLAND, and had children:

N3-2-5 John "Jack" NEILY, b. 1779/80  m. (1803, Nov. 10) Elizabeth DURLAND, and had children:

N3-2-6 William NEILY, b. 178?  m. (18??) Rachel FALES, and had one child:

N3-2-7 Robert NEILY, b. 1784, Oct. 16  m. (1807, Mar. 29)   1) Sophia MORSE, and had children:

N3-2-8 Peter NEILY, b. 178?  m. (1811, Mar. 21) Ann WILSON, and had children:

N3-2-9 George NEILY, b. 1787?  m. (1812, Oct. 17) 1) Elizabeth GATES, and had children:

N3-2-10 Frances NEILY, b. 17??  m. (1812, Apr. 1) Zebina "Bine" ROACH, and had children:

N3-5-1 Joseph REAGH, b. 1766, (bp. Oct. 26)  m. (1803?) Ann 'Nancy' (HAWKESWORTH) MCBRIDE, and had children:

N3-5-2 Mary "Polly" REAGH, b. 17??  m. (1794, Mar. 22) John BAKER, Jr., and had children:

N3-5-3 Catherine REAGH, b. 177?  m. (1797, Mar. 9) Jonas WARD, Jr., and had children:

N3-5-4 John REAGH, b. 1773, Nov. 28  m. (1804, March 18) Sarah Gates, and had children:

N3-5-5 Timothy SAUNDERS, Jr., b. 1791  m. (1811, Oct. 9) 1) Bathsheba SPROUL, and had children:

N3-5-6 {Rev.} Henry SAUNDERS, b. 1793  m. (1817, Nov. 13) Sarah RANDALL, and had children:

N3-5-7 Hannah SAUNDERS, b. 1795  m. (18??) Eliphalet BANKS, and had children:

N3-5-8 Frances SAUNDERS, b. 1797  m. (1810, Oct. 25) James GRIMES, and had children:

N3-5-9 David SAUNDERS, b. 1799  m. (1818, Mar. 12) Elizabeth RHODES*, and had children:

        * She is called "Elizabeth Bass" by the Wilmot Township Book, and since she was apparently born in 1795/6 (gravestone) and her mother Lydia BASS married William Rhodes in 1797, she may have continued to use the Bass name before her marriage. Her mother was a direct descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of the Mayflower.

N3-5-10 Obadiah SAUNDERS, b. 1800  m. (1821, Jan. 11) Catherine RHODES, and had children:

N3-5-11 Robert SAUNDERS, b. 1??? 

        An outline of descendants and a Neily index have been prepared, although they are not yet in a format suitable for this website. If you are interested please contact me for more details. Many have helped with information on their immediate families, but special thanks goes to Frances Lourie-Nixon, Jessie M. Belcher, Edgar Marshall, Cdr. David C. Neily, USN, Joyce Neely, Catherine E. Neily, Edward S. Gray, George T. Stoddart, and the late Bill Woodbury for major contributions.

        These notes are based on the best information available to me at the date of the latest revision, and any updates, additions, or corrections would be welcome at the above address (or telephone 902-765-2455 or e-mail Neilygene@hotmail.com); please identify your sources if your information differs from mine. It is hoped that a real family history can be developed, so photos and details on all lines would be welcomed.

        Taken from microfilm in Provincial Archives of Nova Scotia by Wayne Neily. Original spelling and errors retained as closely as could be determined. This draught appears to be in the handwriting of David Randal. Joseph's mark resembles a cursive z. Missing pieces are indicated in square brackets. These are taken from a copy made by Justice Joseph Winniett of the Surrogate Court (also in Archives and Probate court files) with improved spelling and punctuation added. In the copy "Rebecker" and "Mathar" are given as "Rebeccah" and "Martha".

        This will was proved before Justice Winniett on 23 August 1777 with the three witnesses swearing that they were present when the deceased executed and signed this will.