Phebe McNeil 5th great grandma on RootsMagic tree.

Phebe was born March 12, 1789 in Fayette, Kentucky. Her parents were Jonathan and Jane McCord McNeil both of Virginia. They married in Botetourt County, VA in between the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains, then moved 300 miles west to Kentucky. Phebe McNeil and her siblings were all born in Knox County, Kentucky. Knox County is about 8 miles south of the Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site. The historical site has a replica of a cabin built around 1790, the type of cabin Phebe and her family would have lived in. After they cut down trees, made lumber and built it. Phebe is the only one of her family who left the area, all siblings stayed in Knox County, married and had families.

In Knox County, Phebe married Elbert Howard on October 24, 1811. Phebe and Elbert had 1 daughter and 2 sons born in Kentucky. By 1820 they had moved to Lawrence, Indiana where Elbert’s older sister Elizabeth and her family were living.

Phoebe died in June 1826 she was about 40 years old. She’s buried at Old Shiloh Cemetery in Lawrence, Indiana. At the same cemetery are Elizabeth Howard Evans and her family. Elbert, after Phebe’s death moved his family to Lake Illinois and married again. Elbert’s daughter Polly married Benjamin Swain, their daughter Sarah went to Iowa where she married William Gaines and had a daughter Mary who married JD Miller, their son William is the dad of Faber Miller.

Sources

• 1790s cabin original at Digital Library of Appalachia
• 1790s cabin replica photo at Wikipedia “By J654567 – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,”
• Dr. Thomas Walker State Historic Site
• Kentucky county marriages 1797-1954 at FamilySearch