Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 8, Number 2, May 1998 Page: 76
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Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal
So many disappointments must have taken a toll on Angus McNeill, and
by March 21, 1881, William Preston Murray had undertaken the task of setting aside the
homestead for the children of Henry C. McNeill. Finally, on June 20, 1882, Angus
McNeill died. A short ambiguous notice of his death appeared in the Colorado Citizen.
"Mr. Angus McNeill, who died at Eagle Lake, in this county, on the 20th inst, was one of
the oldest citizens, having immigrated to Texas in 1835 with the celebrated Col. James
Bowie. He was a man with some eccentricities, with a rich fund of general information,
and many interesting reminiscences of early days in Texas. He had few faults, and those
of injury to himself, and had a large number of friends and acquaintances in the county.
He died in his eighty-sixth year." In fact, he was 76.12
Certainly the notice does not do justice to the man who had been involved
in so many events. But there was really no one left to champion his memory. His four
grandchildren were minors when he died.
Even though William P. Murray had been handling the affairs of the
Henry C. McNeill children, the death of Angus McNeill, who was the court-recognized
administrator, forced him to go to court on July 24, 1862 to protest the naming of Walter
C. Jones as the new administrator. Murray declared that McNeill died before his wife,
and that the wife, Margaret, had died shortly afterward. Since Murray was an uncle of the
children, he asked that he be made administrator. On November 21, 1882, Murray was
named administrator de bonis non, and William Dunovant, William Chumney, and John
Mathews were named appraisers."' A detailed inventory was filed on January 17, 1883.
One entry is particularly interesting. On December 23, 1882, the payment of twenty
dollars for a coffin was recorded. Probably this was the coffin used to bury Angus in July,
but where he was buried is unknown."4
Murray had difficulty providing for the children, and on January 13,
1885, he was given permission to rent the homestead land for farming and to sell mules
and horses that did not belong to the homestead. On September 5, 1885, Murray was
given permission to sell 150 acres of the estate because there were no funds to pay debts
and the "estate is largely indebted." At first the children stayed in Eagle Lake, where they
attended school, but in 1883, Mary McNeill was at school in Huntsville, and in 1884 Belle
McNeill was also going to school in Huntsville. In 1885, Murray, the youngest child, was
going to school in Columbus."' In 1885-1886, Angus, the elder son of Henry C. and
Margaret McNeill, was still in Eagle Lake, when he joined, as a private, the Ficklin
112 Colorado Citizen, June 29, 1882.
113 Probate Records of Colorado County, Texas, Minute Book G, p. 502.
114 Probate Records of Colorado County, Texas, Minute Book G, pp. 528-530.
115 Probate Records of Colorado County, Texas, Minute Book H, pp. 504-511.76
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Nesbitt Memorial Library. Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 8, Number 2, May 1998, periodical, May 1998; Columbus, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth151403/m1/28/?q=nesbitt%2520memorial%2520library%2520journal: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Nesbitt Memorial Library.