Nesbitt Memorial Library Journal, Volume 8, Number 2, May 1998 Page: 53

The Angus McNeill Family

As Angus broadened his interests into land speculation, he widened his
acquaintances with influential men. One such person was Robert H. Adams, a lawyer,
Mississippi representative in 1828, and United States senator at the time of his death in
1830. Adams was also the father of Rebecca Jane, who married Angus in Natchez on
February 4, 1829." Angus and Rebeccca McNeil became the parents of three children:
Henry Cameron (born February 22, 1833), Mary Walker (born ca. 1834), and Angus, Jr.
(born July 11, 1836), all born in Natchez, Mississippi.'2
By 1830, Angus McNeill had also become involved in banking. While
the Bank of Mississippi had been the main financial institution, in 1830 the eastern Missis-
sippi legislators managed the passage of a bill that annulled the bank's charter. (It was
revived two years later and reopened as the Agricultural Bank of Natchez.) James Wilkins
then led a movement that resulted in the chartering of the Planter's Bank of Natchez, soon
to become the largest banking institution in Natchez. The Mississippi government was
deeply involved in this bank, since two-thirds of its capital was subscribed by the state. In
1831, three state commissioners were named to negotiate the sale of state bonds for the
establishment of the Planters Bank of the State of Mississippi. Angus McNeill was one of
those three commissioners. Apparently it was Angus McNeill who, in 1834, became
involved in a brawl over politics and the bank. The Jacksonians had lost much support,
and at the United States District Court meeting in Natchez a fight broke out. McNeill
knocked down J. F. H. Claiborne, a leading Mississippi politician and writer. The brawl
had little effect on either man, for later a call for a Democratic State Convention was held,
and Claiborne was nominated for Congress from the State at Large, without opposition."
During this time of the late 1820s and early 1830s, Angus continued to
live in Natchez, where he was in partnership with Thomas Bernard. Later he was part
owner of a company named Chewning, McNeill, Wilkerson (and sometimes just McNeill
and Wilkerson). Through this company Angus developed his association with Robert
"Honest Bob" Wilson and Robert J. Walker.14 The company eventually went bankrupt,
11 Betty Couch Wiltshire, comp., Marriages and Deaths from Mississippi Newspapers (Heritage
Books, n. d.), vol. 3, p. 13.
12 Registar of The Parish of Christ Episcopal Church, Matagorda, Texas 1839-1870, a copy of
which can be found in the Clayton Library in Houston, Texas, or xerographic copy of the relevant page in
McNeill Family File, Archives of the Nesbitt Memorial Library, Columbus.
13 J. F. H. Claiborne, Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State with Biographical Notices of
Eminent Citizens (Spartanburg, South Carolina: The Reprint Company, 1978), pp. 410, 415-423.
14 James L. Glass, "The Original Book of Sales of Lots of the Houston Town Company from 1836
Forward," The Houston Review, vol. 16, 1994, pp., 167-183; Claiborne, Mississippi as a Province, Terri-
tory, and State, pp. 415-423. Robert Wilson later moved to Houston and became a partner with the Allen
brothers. Robert J. Walker, a lawyer from Pensylvania and a partisan of Jackson, developed strong connec-
tions in the banks and politics. He was also connected with James Bowie in speculation of wild lands, in sugar
and cotton plantatons, and in slaves.

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