Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/217

 McNeill

MacNEVEN

1897-98, and was an associate founder and direct- oi" of the Atiti-Teueraent-House league in 1891. He was associate editor of the Labor Standard, Paterson, N.J., and Fall River, Mass., and editor of the Home Journal, Paterson, N. J., 1880-83 ; and was proprietor and editor of the Labor Leader, Boston, 1880-8'i He is the autlior of : His- tory of Co-operation in Massachusetts (1876); The Slave of Fortune (a novel, 1881); The Labor Move- ment, the Problem of a Day (1886); History of the Shoe Makers' Unions (1890); The Eight-Hour Primer (1890); History of Development of the Shoe Industry (1896); Tlie Story of a Silver Dollar, a Study of Accidents and Accident Insurance (1900).

McNeill, George Rockwell, educator, was born in Fayette ville, N.C., July 1, 1854 ; son of the Rev. George and Maggie (Gilbert) McNeill. He was graduated from Davidson college, N.C, in 1874, and was married Dec. 23, 1875, to Mrs. Julia V. Marlin. He was principal of a private school in Rowan county, N.C, 1873-81 ; principal of the male academy at Reidsville, N.C, 1883-89 ; president of Lafayette college, Alabama, 1889- 95 ; president of the Alabama educational associa- tion in 1895 ; president of Isbell Female college, Talladega, Ala., 1895-98 ; again president of La- fayette college, 1898-1900 ; studied history and geography in Europe and made an extended tour through the Continent and in Great Britain in 1900 and was elected superintendent of the city scliools of Dothan, Ala., in 1900.

McNeill, Wiinam Qibbs, engineer, was born in Wihnington, N.C, Oct. 3, 1801 ; son of Dr. Donald and (Gibbs) McNeill. His pater- nal great grandfather, a member of the Highland clan, after distinguishing himself at the battle of Culloden, immigrated to America in 1746, and set- tled in North Carolina on the Cape Fear river. William Gibbs McNeill received his early educa- tion in Newtown, Long Island, N.Y., with the intention of entering the Episcopal Theological seminary. He was graduated at the U.S. Mili- tary academy in 1817, served on topographical duty in the engineer corps, 1817-33; was promoted 2d lieutenant of artillery, March 1, 1818- 1st lieutenant, Dec. 4, 1819; and 1st lieutenai'r. of the first artillery on the reorganization of he army, June 1, 1831. He was promoted assistant topographical engineer with the rank of captain, Jan. 27, 1833 ; served on the survey of the Chesa- peake and Ohio canal, 1834-36 ; of the Kanawlia, James and Roanoke rivers in Virginia in 1837 ; of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad in 1837 ; and was a member of the board of civil engineers during the construction of the road, 1837-30. In November, 1838, in company with Capt. George W. Whistler and Jonathan Knight, he was sent by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad company to

examine the railroad system of Great BriuJn, and there consulted with Thomas Telford, liuut^u Stephenson and other leading engineers. He was chief engineer of the Baltimore and Susquehanna railroad, 1830-36 ; Paterson and Hudson River railroad, N.J., 1831-34; Boston and Providence railroad, 1833-35 ; Providence and Stonington, 1832-37 ; Taunton and New Bedford railroad in 1835 ; of railroads in Florida and Alabama in 1834 ; of the Fayette ville and Yadkin railroad, N.C, in 1835; the Long Island railroad. New York, 1835-36, and of tlie Boston and Albany, 1836-40. He was bre vetted major, Jan. 27, 1883, for faithful service ten years in one grade. He resigned from the U.S. army, Nov. 23, 1837, to become chief engineer of the state of Georgia, and he surveyed the route for a railroad from Charleston, S.C, to Louisville, Ky., and thence to Cincinnati, Ohio, 1837-40. He was president of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal company, 1842-43. In the conflict between the rival state govern- ments in Rhode Island in 1842, he was commis- sioned major-general of the state militia and conducted the military movements that crushed the incipient rebellion, May 28, 1842. He was chief-engineer of the Brooklyn navy yard dry dock, 1842-45, and was removed by President Polk, and when the war with Mexico broke out he was refused a commission in the army. He visited Europe in 1851 in the interest of American mining, and in 1853 failing health de- cided liim to return home. He was made a mem- ber of the Institution of Civil Engineers of Lon- don, May 4, 1852, the first American to be so honored. He married Maria Matilda Common. He died in Brooklyn, N.Y., Feb. 16, 1853.

MacNEVEN, William James, physician, was born at Ballynahinch, county Galway, Ireland, March 21, 1763. He was graduated from the University of Vienna, M.D., 1784; settled in practice in Dublin, Ireland, where he took a lead- ing part in the revolution by joining the United Irishmen, and about 1792, at the instance of Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Arthur O'Connor, he became one of the five directors of the society. He was arrested, March 13, 1798, and imprisoned until 1803. On his release he made a tour of Switzerland and in 1803 entered the French army as captain of an Irish brigade with the assurance that the French intended to invade Ireland. Disappointed in this, he resigned his commission and in the summer of 1805 settled in New York city. He was married in 1810 to Jane Margaret, daughter of Samuel Riker of Newtown, Long Island. He was professor of obstetrics in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1808-11 ; of chemistry 1811-16, and of chemistry and materia medica, 1816-26. He was the first scientist to establish a chemical laboratory in New York.