Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#447
MACAY AND MCNEELY FAMILY PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Papers of the Macay and McNeely families of Rowan
County, N.C. Prominent family members included Spruce
Macay (1755-1808), lawyer and judge, and his sons Alfred
(d. 1827) and William Spruce (d. ca. 1861). Also
represented is Robert W. McNeely, son of William Spruce
Macay's widow, Mildred Ann Hunt Macay, and her second
husband, William G. McNeely.
Materials up to 1820 consist chiefly of legal papers
and a few letters of Spruce Macay and his second wife,
Elizabeth Haynes Macay. There are also materials
relating to several of his children, especially his son
Alfred. Papers for 1827-1856 deal chiefly with William
Spruce Macay and include cor- respondence, legal
documents, and financial papers, some relating to his
brother Alfred's estate. Correspondence is primarily
about family affairs. Material dated 1861-1877 concerns
members of the Macay, McNeely, and Hunt families, and
includes a few letters from Meshack F. Hunt, 1st
lieutenant in the 5th Infantry, N.C. State Troops; a
muster roll of Co. G., 54th Regiment, N.C. State Troops;
and other items relating to the Confederate Army.
1880-1918 items are chiefly papers of McNeely family
members and include documents relating to their efforts,
1891-1892, to claim land on Manhattan Island, New York
City, through their relationship to the Edwards family.
In addition, there is material concerning the naval
service of Robert W. McNeely, including letters
describing his trips to the Azores, the British Isles,
the Caribbean, Greece, the Mediterranean, Palestine, and
Turkey, and letters from Cuba during the
Spanish-American War. There are also letters of
Robert's wife Marie Calhoun Butler McNeely, who
travelled with him to posts in the Orient, 1902-1908,
and wrote of her experiences there. Volumes include a
lawyer's fee book, 1759-1774, and Rowan County
plantation, merchant, and household accounts and slave
records beginning in 1791.
Online Catalog Terms:
Accounting--Books of account.
Azores--Description and travel--19th century.
British Isles--Description and travel--19th century.
Caribbean Area--Description and travel--19th century.
Claims against decedents' estates.
Confederate States of America. Army--North Carolina State
Troops, 5th Regiment.
Confederate States of America. Army--North Carolina State
Troops, 54th Regiment.
Confederate States of America. Army--Officers--Correspondence.
Edwards family.
Estates (Law)--New York--History--19th century.
Estates (Law)--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Hunt family.
Hunt, Meshack F.
Lawyers--North Carolina--History--19th century.
Macay, Alfred, d. 1827.
Macay family.
Macay, Spruce, 1755-1808.
Macay, William Spruce, d. ca. 1861.
McNeely family.
McNeely, Robert W.
McNeely, Marie Calhoun Butler.
Mediterranean Region--Description and travel--19th century.
Orient--Description and travel--19th century.
Palestine--Description and travel--19th century.
Plantations--North Carolina--Rowan County.
Rowan County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Slave records--North Carolina.
Soldiers--United States--Correspondence--History--War of 1898.
Turkey--Description and travel--1821-1900.
United States. Navy--Sea life.
Voyages and travels--19th century.
Women travelers--Correspondence.
Size: About 300 items (1.5 linear feet).
Provenance: Gift of Fanny McNeely of Salisbury, N.C., before
1940 and in 1952.
Access: No restrictions.
Processing Note: Items separated include: volumes S-5, S-6, S-9 and
photographs P-447/1-10.
This collection was rehoused under the
sponsorship of a grant from the National
Endowment for the Humanities, Office of
Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1992.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Biographical Note
Series Descriptions
Series 1. Loose Papers
Series 2. Volumes
Series 3. Pictures
INTRODUCTION
Biographical Note
The papers deal chiefly with members of the Macay and McNeely
families of Rowan County, N.C. There are also a number of items of
members of the Hunt and Edwards families to whom the Macays and
McNeelys were related. Material up to around 1820 consists of
legal papers and a few letters of Spruce Macay (1755-1808), North
Carolina lawyer and judge, and his family, including his second
wife Elizabeth Haynes Macay (his first wife was Fanny Henderson
Macay) and several of his children, including Betsy, Alfred, Fanny,
and William Spruce.
William Spruce Macay married Mildred Ann Hunt, sister of Meshack
and Mary Hunt. Their daughter was Annie Cremona Macay, who married
Stephen F. Lord in 1875. After William Spruce Macay's death around
1861, Mildred Ann married William G. McNeely. Their children were
Fanny, Robert Whitehead, Meshack Hunt, and Thomas Chalmers. Robert
married Marie Calhoun Butler of South Carolina in 1900.
For more genealogical information, see correspondence for
1880-1892 and undated materials.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Loose Materials
1746-1918. About 290 items.
Series 1.1. 1746-1865
About 125 items.
Materials up to 1820 consist chiefly of legal papers and a few
letters of Spruce Macay and his second wife, Elizabeth Haynes
Macay. There are also materials relating to several of his
children, especially his son Alfred. Papers for 1827-1856 deal
chiefly with William Spruce Macay and include correspondence, legal
documents, and financial papers, some relating to his brother
Alfred's estate. Correspondence is primarily about family affairs.
Material dated 1861-1865 concerns members of the Macay, McNeely,
and Hunt families, and includes a few Civil War items.
Materials include the following:
10 March 1746: Indenture for sale of land in Petersburg, Va., by
Thomas William to Anthony Haynes and William Eaton.
1761 and 1783: Indentures for sale of lands in Rowan County, N.C.,
to Haynes family members.
13 July 1785: Letter from William R. Davie to Spruce Macay about
Macay's marriage to Fanny Henderson and other
matters.
1786-1800: Papers relating to Spruce Macay's purchases of land
and slaves in Rowan County and slaves and to his
marriage to Elizabeth Haynes in 1794 and the
settlement of Haynes family estates; a 1796 letter
from Macay to Elizabeth while he was travelling the
law circuit that discusses General and Mrs. Allen
Jones and Mrs. Davie; and an 1800 letter from
Archibald Henderson in Philadelphia discussing
family matters and politics.
1801-1808: Chiefly legal documents relating to sales of lands
in Rowan County.
1809-1825: Macay family items, including a deed of gift from
Betsy Macay to William Macay for slaves, a list of
slaves allotted to family members in Spruce Macay's
will, and several other family wills; an 1809
letter from J. Franklin of Washington, D.C., to Jo.
Williams of Surry County, N.C., on political issues
and an invention for making cotton cards; Rowan
County land sale indentures; testimony of S. P.
Simpson(?) about a dispute over a Fourth of July
celebration in an unspecified town; and an 1823
copy of Spruce Macay's 1808 will.
1827-1856: Items relating chiefly to William Spruce Macay,
including correspondence about family affairs, with
discussion of the settlement of his brother
Alfred's estate, the activities of Fanny Macay, and
the desire of Spruce Macay's brother James Macay of
Butts County, Ga., for William's help in moving
back to North Carolina. In 1827, there are letters
relating to William's attendance at the American
Literary, Scientific, and Military Academy in
Middletown, Conn. Financial papers include bills
of sale for slaves, bills and receipts for goods
and services, and records of cotton sales. There
are also deeds for the purchase and sale of lands
in Rowan and Cabarrus counties, N.C.; documents,
1842-1849, relating to the settlement of debts owed
by Macay to Thomas Ruffin of Orange County and
others; and an 1847 document granting permission to
Macay to operate one pair of "improved Vertical
Reacting Water Wheels" on Grants Creek, Rowan
County. There are also two 1848 letters from E. B.
Hunt of Jonesville, N.C., to his daughter Mildred,
wife of William Spruce Macay, and legal papers
relating to transactions of several unrelated Rowan
county residents.
7 March 1861: Map and description of William and Ann McNeely's
share of William Spruce Macay's estate.
3 April 1863: Note to Ann McNeely of Salisbury, N.C., from W. T.
Gilmore about the sale of cotton and the purchase
of a house servant.
1861-1865: Letters from Meshack F. Hunt, 1st lieutenant in the
5th Infantry, N.C. State Troops; a muster roll of
Co. G., 54th Regiment, N.C. State Troops; and a few
other items relating to the Confederate army.
Undated materials include a list of slaves with a record of meat
and meal given them.
Folder 1 1746-1794
2 1795-1805
3 1806-1830
4 1831-1844
5 1845-1856
6 1861-1865
7 Undated before 1866
Series 1.2. 1866-1918
About 160 items.
Material dated 1866-1877 concerns members of the Macay, McNeely,
and Hunt families and focuses on family matters. 1880-1918 items
are chiefly papers of McNeely family members, including documents
relating to their efforts, 1891-1892, to claim land on Manhattan
Island, New York City, through their relationship to the Edwards
family. In addition, there is material concerning the naval
service of Robert W. McNeely, including letters describing his
trips to the Azores, the British Isles, the Caribbean, Greece, the
Mediterranean, Palestine, and Turkey, and a few letters from Cuba
during the Spanish-American War. There are also letters of
Robert's wife Marie Calhoun Butler McNeely, who travelled with him
to posts in the Orient and other areas, 1902-1910, and wrote of her
experiences there.
Materials include the following:
1866: Three certificates relating to granting Ann McNeely
for her participation in the Civil War.
December 1873: Letter from Richard C. Gwyn in Elkin, N.C. to Ann
McNeely about a mining venture in which her father
had invested.
1880-1892: Chiefly correspondence among members of the McNeely
family and their relatives concerning their
relationship to the Edwards family. Members of the
Edwards family in several states were claiming a
large portion of New York City and land in several
other states on the basis of their relation to an
Edwards ancester who had a 99-year lease to these
lands. Most of this correspondence is from
1891-1892 and involves Harry L. Edwards, a lawyer
of New Orleans, and Thomas C. McNeely, an employee
of the Central Railroad and Baking Company of
Georgia. Their letters of November 1891 summarize
the issues involved in the claim.
1893-1897: Chiefly letters from Robert W. McNeely in the U.S.
Navy to his sister Fanny McNeely. Most of the
letters were written while he was on cruises to the
Azores, Madeira, the Caribbean, the British Isles,
and the Mediterranean. He also wrote detailed
reports of visits to Palestine, Turkey, Greece, and
Italy. He also discussed Navy policy and life
aboard ship, particularly in the letter dated 15
April 1895. In 1896, there are two letters to him
from Hunt family members discussing their
activities.
1898-1899: Letters include a few from Robert W. McNeely to
Fanny McNeely while he was on ship around Cuba
during the Spanish American War. There are also a
few letters from others to Robert and Fanny about
family history.
1900-1910: Letters include several written home by Marie
Calhoun Butler McNeely who was travelling with her
husband Robert W. McNeely in the Orient and the
Mediterranean.
1911-1918: Several letters to and from Fanny McNeely about
family history. In 1912, there is a letter from
Robert W. McNeely to Fanny about his activities as
naval attach‚ in Buenos Aires.
Undated materials include a few clippings and family letters.
Folder 8 1866-1889
9 1891
10 1892-1895
11 1896
12 1897
13 1898-1899
14 1900-1912; 1918
15 Undated after 1865
Series 2. Volumes
1759-1872. 9 items.
Volumes include a lawyer's fee book, 1759-1774, and Rowan County
plantation, merchant, and household accounts and slave records
beginning in 1791.
Folder 16 Volume 1: Lawyers' account book, 90 pp.,
1759-1774, owner unknown. Fees and the nature of
each case are listed under clients' names. Note
that the blank pages in the middle of the volume
are sewn together.
Folder 17 Volume 2: Account book, 57 pp., 1791-1829 and
1856, containing a number of types of entries
written in several different hands. Entries for
1791-1807, probably made by Spruce Macay, are
inventories of land, slaves, household furnishings,
and books; accounts of crops and expenses at
Radford, Belfield, and Milford planations; and
blacksmith shop accounts. In 1811, there is a
slave list, and, for 1815, records of a mill,
probably relating to Alfred Macay. Entries,
1827-1829 relate to Alfred Macay's estate. The
1856 entry is a slave list.
Folder 18 Volume 3: Account book, 74 pp., 1830-1855 and
1867-1868. Early entries are accounts of William
Spruce Macay, including an 1842 list of slaves.
Later entries include brief accounts of the
purchase and sale of food, wood, and other items.
Pasted on the inside back cover is a list of Macay
family members with death dates.
Folder 19 Volume 4: Day book, 207 pp., 1833-1834, owner
unknown, listing sales of general merchandise in
Salisbury, N.C.
Folder 20 Volume S-5: Account book, 133 pp., 1834-1846, of
William Spruce Macay, containing records of the
purchase of goods and services, including work done
at saw mills, cotton gins, and flour mills. There
are also cotton crop records and slave accounts.
Folders 21-22 Volume S-6 and Volume 7: Account books, 237 pp.
and 299 pp., 1835-1841 and 1845-1856, of William
Spruce Macay, containing blacksmith, mill, wood
shop, and other accounts. Note that original page
numbering in volume 7 is off due to missing and
blank pages.
Folders 23-24 Volume 8 and Volume S-9: Account books, 108 pp.
and 143 pp., 1856-1864 and 1856-1872, with entries
relating to Macay and McNeely family members.
Included are accounts for the purchase of wood,
food, clothing, and blacksmith services.
Series 3. Pictures
1860s. 10 items.
Photographs, chiefly in carte-de-visite format, that were
probably purchased by family members.
P-447/1 Robert E. Lee, 1860s.
/2 John Cabell Breckinridge, 1860s.
/3 Ambrose Powell Hill, 1860s.
/4 John Hunt Morgan, 1860s.
/5 Jefferson Davis, 1860s.
/6 John R. Bowie, ca. 1860.
/7 Unidentified Confederate general (possibly William
Feimster Tucker), 1860s.
/8 Unidentified young man, 1860s.
/9 Unidentified young man, 1860s.
/10 Reproduction of drawing of Confederate battle
flags, 1860s.