Genealogical and Family History
of the
STATE OF MAINE

Compiled under the editorial supervision of George Thomas Little, A. M., Litt. D.

LEWIS HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY
New York
1909.

[Please see Index page for full citation.]

[Transcribed by Coralynn Brown]

[Many families included in these genealogical records had their beginnings in Massachusetts.]

McNELLY The authorities on Irish genealogy state that Colla-da-Crioch, who is number 85 on the "O'Hart" pedigree, had a son named Fiachra Casah, who was the ancestor of O'Niallain; and that this latter name has been anglicised Nallin, Nealan, Meiland, Neylan, Nellan, Neyland, Newland, Niland, Nally and McNally, of which last McNally is a variation of recent date. The arms of the family Nealan are: Sable two unicorns passant in pale argent horned and hoofed or. Crest: A dexter hand erect, couped at writs, grasping a dagger all proper. (I) Michael McNally was either pure Scotch (Scot!!) or Scotch-Irish, probably the latter. From the best evidence now obtainable it seems that he was born in Ireland about 1752 and came to America with his parents, sailing from Cork and landing at Philadelphia. They settled in Pennsylvania. (duhhh!) Evidently the father wa a man of some means, as Michael had a fair education. The earliest knowledge we have of Michael backed by documentary evidence is the record of his enlistment in the Pennsylvania state regiment of artillery, May 13, 1777, as a gunner. In the published rolls of the state his name appears in Capt. Bernard Ronan's company of artillery. The lat appearance of his name is Jan. 1, 1781, in connection with the revolution, when he received depreciation pay. Late in life he was a pensioner and the U. S. pension rolls of 1840 give him as "aged 88 years." Many of his stories of army life are still current among his descendants, who say that after leaving the army he served on an armed vessel, but whether a man-of-war or a privateer is unknown. About 1784 he came to Maine and settled in the Kennebec country, but what were his reasons for leaving Pennsylvania and his family are not known. In 1785 he married Susan Pushaw, who was born about 1768, daughter of Abram and Margaret (Parris) Pushaw, of Fairfield, and settled in Winslow, now Clinton. Here on the banks of the Sebasticook he built a log cabin and made a home for his family. Nine children had been born when, in 1811, the mother was taken away by death. Upon the outbreak of the war of 1812 Michael's martial spirit was aroused, and although a man of sixty years he enlisted at Clinton, May 17, 1813, in Capt. Crossman's company of the Thirty-fourth Regiment, U.S. Infantry, and marched to the frontier. He received a severe wound in the collarbone at Armstrong, Lower Canada, in Sept., 1813, while serving in detachment under the command of Lieut.-Col. Storrs. He was mustered out in July, 1815. For this service he received a pension. About 1830 Michael McNally married Mrs. Jane (Varnum) Harriman, of Pittsfield. There were no children by this marriage. He spent the last years of his life with his sons Arthur and William. He died in Benton, July 16, 1848, aged, it is thought, about ninety-six. He was a man of superior education and strong intellectual powers. Children: Betsey, Nancy, John, Lucy, Arthur, William, Isabel, Susan and James. (II) William, sixth child and third son of Michael and Susan (Pushaw) McNelly, or McNally, was born in Clinton, April 24, 1799, and died in Benton, Dec. 6, 1886. He settled in Benton after marriage and spent his life as a cultivator of the soil. He married, in Clinton, in 1820, Martha Roundy, who was born Sept. 13, 1803, died in summer of 1903, daughter of Job and Betsey (Pushaw) Roundy, of Clinton. She lived to the age of ninety-nine years and almost to the last retained a vigorous mind and body. It is from her recollections that most of our knowledge of Michael McNelly is obtained. On her ninety-fifth birthday, one hundred and seven of her descendants took dinner with her and were photographed in a group. Another picture of five geneartions was also made, including Martha McNelly, aged ninety-five years; William McNely, aged seventy years; Rosina Libby, aged forty-six; Grace Hinds, aged seventy-two years; and Margaret Hinds, aged one year. Children: Henry, Isabel, Phebe, William, Hazen, Temple, Francis, Job, Merritt and Martha. (III) William (2), fourth child and second son of William (1) and Martha (Roundy) McNelly, was born in Clinton, May 13, 1828. He has spent most of his life farming and lumbering. In 1854 he went to California and remained there four years, engaged in mining. Upon his return to Clinton he continued as a farmer and lumberman until 1872, when he moved to Waterville, where he worked as a carpenter in the shops of the Maine Central Railroad Company. After the death of his wife and the marriage of his children he gave up his house and went to Caribou. After his second marriage (1891) he moved to Massachusetts. A few years later he returned to Benton and is now (1908) living there on a farm. He married (first) in Clinton, Oct. 27, 1851, Fannie Hodgdon, who was born July 27, 1830, and died June 5, 1885; she was the daughter of Thomas S. and Lydia (Libby) Hodgdon. He married (second), in 1891, Mrs. Harriet (Warren) Longfellow. Children, all by 1st wife: 1. Rosina Hodgdon, born July 22, 1852, married George Libby, and lives in Boston, Mass. 2. Perley Lamont, born Sept. 8, 1860, married Emma Hamilton and lives in Caribou. 3. Carrie Althea, born June 1, 1862, married Wallace J. Boothby and resides in Bangor. 4. Lillian Etta, mentioned below. 5. Ada May, married Sept. 1, 1868, Charles E. Marston, and lives in Augusta. (IV) Lillian Etta, fourth child of William (2) and Fanny (Hodgdon) McNelly, was born in Clinton, April 19, 1865, and married, in Waterville, April 4, 1888, Charles Addison Bean.