Husband Gen. John Neville 1 2
Born: 26 Jul 1731 - Occoquan, VA 1 3
Christened:
Died: 29 Jul 1803 - Montour's Island, near Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 4
Buried: - Trinity Church, Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA
Father: George Neville ( - ) 3
Mother: Ann Burroughs ( - ) 1 3
Marriage: 24 Aug 1754 - Winchester, Frederick Co, VA 5
Wife Winifred Oldham 3 4
AKA: Winnifred Conway 6
Born: 1736 - Winchester, Frederick Co, VA 5
Christened:
Died: 3 Apr 1797 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 5 7
Buried:
Father: John Oldham (1705- ) 5 8
Mother: Anne Conway ( - ) 5 8
Children
1 M Gen. Pressley Neville 4
AKA: Col. Presly Neville 5
Born: 6 Sep 1755 - Winchester, Frederick Co, VA 5
Christened:
Died: 1 Dec 1818 - Clermont Co, OH 4
Buried:
Spouse: Nancy Morgan ( - ) 4 5
Marr: 15 Oct 1782 5
2 F Amelia Neville 2 9
Born: 4 Apr 1763 - Winchester, Frederick Co, VA 3
Christened:
Died: Feb 1849 - Montour's Island, near Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 3
Buried:
Spouse: Maj. Isaac Craig (1741-1826) 9 10 11 12
Marr: 1 Feb 1785 3 9
General Notes: Husband - Gen. John Neville
He was an early acquaintance of George Washington, and served under him in Braddock's expedition against Fort Duquesne in 1755. He subsequently settled near Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia, where he held the office of sheriff. He purchased land in what is now Washington and Allegheny counties, Pennsylvania, on Chartier's creek, then claimed by Virginia, and, erecting a dwelling thereon, removed there prior to the Revolution. He took part in Dunmore's expedition in 1774, and was selected as a delegate from Augusta county to the Provincial Convention of Virginia, which appointed George Washington, Peyton Randolph and other delegates to the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, but sickness prevented his attendance. On August 7, 1775, he was ordered by the Provincial Convention to march, with the military force of which he had command with rank of colonel, and take possession of Fort Pitt. On December 23, 1776, he was commissioned, under Virginia authority, a justice of "Yohoganie" County Court, but, owing to the distracted state of that section over the boundary dispute and his position under Continental authority, as commandant at Fort Pitt, he wisely declined the appointment. He was colonel of the Fourth Virginia Regiment throughout the Revolution, and rendered valuable services in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey and South Carolina. He was elected to the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania from Washington County, November 11, 1783, and two years later to the responsible position of a member of the State Board of Property.
He was a member of the convention that ratified the Federal constitution and of the convention that adopted the Pennsylvania Constitution in 1789-90. In 1791 he was appointed inspector of United States Revenue for the Fourth District of Pennsylvania, at Pittsburgh, and held that position during the Whisky Insurrection of 1794, when his house and other buildings were besieged and burned to the ground by the mob. Judge Wilkeson, in his "Early Recollections of the West", has this to say of General Neville's attitude during the insurrection:
"In order to allay opposition (to the excise law) as far as possible, General John Neville, a man of the most deserved popularity, was appointed inspector for Western Pennsylvania. He accepted the appointment from a sense of duty to his country. He was one of the few men of wealth who had put his all at hazard for independence. At his own expense, he raised and equipped a company of soldiers, marched them to Boston, and placed them, with his son, under the command of General Washington. He was the father of Col. Presly Neville, the brother-in-law of Major Kirkpatrick, and the father-in-law of Major Craig, both of them officers highly respected in the western country. Besides Gen. Neville's claims as a soldier and patriot, he had contributed greatly to relieve the sufferings of the settlers in his vicinity. He divided his last loaf of bread with the needy; and in a season of more than ordinary scarcity, he opened his fields to those who were suffering with hunger. If any man could have executed this odious law, General Neville was that man".
He was appointed agent for the sale of lands at Pittsburgh under the Act of Congress, passed May 18, 1796. He died on Montour's Island, now Neville township, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, July 29, 1803, and was buried at the First Presbyterian Church, Pittsburgh, where a tombstone, erected to his memory, bears a lengthy inscription, in part as follows: "During his long life he filled many important offices both civil and military, in the former he was virtuous and disinterested, in the latter patriotic and brave. He enjoyed the friendship and confidence of the illustrious Washington. The day of his death witnessed the most pleasing tribute that can be paid to the memory of a mortal-the sincere regrets of his friends and the tears of the neighboring poor".
General Neville was, however, a consistent member of the Protestant Episcopal church, and built a church of that denomination at his own expense, on the site later occupied by church of Woodville.
He made large entries and purchases of land on Chartiers creek, and built a house there, into which he was about to move when the Revolutionary troubles began. He was elected a delegate to the provincial convention of Virginia, which appointed George Washington, Peyton Randolph and others to the first continental congress, but was prevented by sickness from attending. On Aug. 7, 1775, the provincial convention of Virginia ordered him to march with his company and take possession of Fort Pitt. He was colonel of the 4th Virginia regiment in the Revolution, subsequently he was a member of the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania, and of the Pennsylvania convention which ratified the federal constitution. He was also a member of the convention which formed the constitution of Pennsylvania. General Neville was a descendant of the earl of Warwick (Neville), the king-maker of England. In 1791, at the urgent solicitation of President Washington and Secretary Hamilton, he accepted the appointment of inspector of the revenue in the fourth survey of the district of Pennsylvania, which he held until the fiery ordeal of the whiskey insurrection had passed. In May, 1793, congress passed material modification to the law, but all to no purpose. The excitement increased; not only were collectors visited with violence, but those who complied with the law. The adversaries of the law went so far as to burn the barns and tear down the houses of the collectors and others, and threaten with death those who should disclose their names. So strong was the public feeling that one word in favor of the law was enough to ruin any man. It was considered as a badge of toryism. No clergyman, physician, lawyer or merchant was sustained by the people unless his sentiments were in opposition. On July 16, 1794, a band of about forty individuals attacked the mansion of Gen. John Neville, chief inspector of western Pennsylvania, situated eleven miles southwest of Pittsburgh. It was defended by Major Kirkpatrick, a brother-in-law, with eleven men from the garrison at Pittsburgh. The attack was previously made with small arms, and the house having been set on fire, the garrison was obliged to surrender. One of the insurgents was killed.
General Neville was one of the most zealous patriots of the Revolution, and a man of great wealth and unbounded benevolence. During "starving years" of the early settlement in that region, he contributed largely to the necessities of the suffering pioneers, and, when necessary, he divided his last loaf with the needy. In accepting the office of inspector of the revenue, he was governed by a sense of public duty, doing so at the hazard of his life and the loss of all his property. All his Revolutionary services and his great popularity were insufficient to shield him from public indignation, and his hospitable mansion was consumed to ashes in the presence of hundreds who had shared his bounty or enjoyed his benevolence. The story of this insurrection has in it more of thrilling interest than the best of the historical novels, for the greatest men in the land, from President Washington down, were concerned in it. Among these were Albert Gallatin, Senator Ross and Gen. John Neville; in fact, all the men of note in the State. General Neville was appointed agent at Pittsburgh for the sale of lands, under act of congress, of May 18, 1796, entitled: "An act for the sale of the lands of the United States in the territory northwest of the Ohio," etc. General Neville built, at his own expense, the first Protestant Episcopal church west of the Allegheny mountains, in 1790. At that time there was no parish, or, in fact, Episcopal diocese in Allegheny county, the country thereabout being included in the territory under the New York diocese. With the founding of the St. Luke's, as it was called from the first, of Chartiers, Allegheny county, a parish was carved out, and Rev. Francis Reno was brought on from the east and ordained by Bishop White. General Neville paid the bills for his preparation for the ministry. John Neville was a man of considerable wealth for those times, and was, beyond doubt, the ablest and most prominent man in that end of the State.