Historic Hood River
Peter and Mahaile Neal
12-15-2014
Notes
Here’s a great portrait of two of Hood River’s pioneers. The brief bio attached says:
Peter and Mahaile Neal: Came to Hood River to live in 1860. Saw Hood River first in 1844. Built first sawmill on Neal Creek at Pine Grove 1862. Built first road from river up the valley on the east side in early 1860’s. Died at Roseburg Oregon.
Charlott
Peter was born in Green City, Tennessee on 2 March 1816 and died at South Deer Creek, in Douglas County. His parents were Benjamin and Nancy (Harmon). Mahalia Bilyeu/Billou (other spellings) was born also in Tennessee.
Their daughter Julia Ann married Jerome Winchell of the Pine Grove area and daughter Diana married William Odell.
I wonder what made Peter Neal leave the south at that particular time? Did he as a southerner oppose slavery. Now I am on a quest to see if I can find out why.
If I remember correctly my Dad was instrumental in getting the sign placed near where the bridge crosses Neal Creek from Hwy 35 and Dethman Ridge Road about the Neal’s sawmill.
Arline (Winchell) Moore was of the Neal family. We have seen some of "Grandma Moore’s" wonderful photos in the past.
l.e.
He was early enough to the Willamette Valley area that he would have had a pick of the prime, choice land. I wondered why he would leave that to move to the HR area. One biography says that, when he was traveling down the Columbia in 1844, the group stopped for a while at Dog River. Neal took a hike up the river and was impressed by the big pine country of the upper valley. He eventually returned in 1860.
He evidently was more of a lumberman than a farmer.
nels
Wonder why her right hand is covered. And there seems to be something else in her hand.
l.e.
From a history article about the Neal and Winchell families.
…."He came to the Hood River valley and in 1861 took up a homestead, about five miles south of Hood River. The land was heavily covered with timber and the only road to it was a mere trail. He built a house and cleared part of the land, and also built and operated the first sawmill in the Hood River valley. The hard winter of 1861-2 killed all of his livestock, and the high water which followed the heavy snow carried away his sawmill, so he was left in a serious financial condition, but he was a man of great courage and determination and immediately rebuilt the sawmill, in the operation of which he made money. He hauled the lumber to Hood River with oxen and then rafted it up the river to The Dalles, where he found a ready market for it. He continued to live there until 1883, when he moved to Roseburg, Oregon,…."
Dianne Reeve
my great great grandfather was george washington neal peter neal was his brother im trying to locate my neal family that are living can you help please thankyou Dianne
Karen J Lee
I am the 3rd great granddaughter of Peter Neal. My great grandmother Grace was the daughter of Jesse Neal, Peters Neals son.
DIANNE REEVE
my great great grandfather george washington neal.was peter neal brother.Can any body tell me if they know anything about peter and george father benjamin and nancy his wife i heard nancy[ harmon ] neals mother was a cherokee indian and had about 16 children i would be gratefull for a reply from any neal family DianneReeve
Kate Winchell
I’ve read that Nancy Harmons mother was a Cherokee as well however, I have been at a "brick wall" trying to confirm that Peter Neal’s parents were Benjamin Neal and Nancy Harmon. I called Oregon about their death records and they told me that the requirement for adding the deceased persons parents was not required until 1903. A search of the database doesn’t even show said Peter Neal so his death record may not have been recorded. I’m hoping someone has proof of who his parents were.
That said, I love all those old photos from Oregon. The stories about our Neal settlers (and all the other settlers of Oregon) are amazing and I am so glad I found this photo.
Kathy Slater
Peter Neal (Mar 1816-Dec 22, 1902) is the son of Benjamin Neal and Nancy Harmon Neal. Nancy is the daughter of John Peter Herrmann/Harmon and Margaret Choulyn/Schuler. Benjamin and Nancy were married November 27, 1801 in Greene County, Tennessee. Nancy’s brother, Thomas Harmon, was surety for the marriage.
BoGleason
The Neal’s daughter Martha married my great-great grandfather William Jackson Creviston in 1861, the marriage officiated by Nathaniel Coe. It was Wasco County back then, which was huge, and that’s what the written record indicates with Coe as Justice of the Peace. I presume the marriage took place at the Neal homestead in Pine Grove, but there’s no way to know for sure.
Our family lore says that William and Martha moved to the Shelton, Washington area where their only son Ira was born in 1862. Martha took ill and at some point afterward they returned to Hood River. Martha died in 1868 and is buried at Pine Grove under the Neal name and no mention of Creviston. The same year, William was with a young, 13 or 14-year-old Sarah Bradshaw Creviston, presumably living at Underwood next to Amos Underwood, and their first child, daughter Ida, was born. I can only guess that William and Martha’s parting wasn’t amicable, or at least wasn’t looked upon favorably by Peter and Mahalia, which might explain there being no mention of Martha being married on her grave marker.
Susan McNeill
My mother was an orphan, born on Dec 1917 to Francis Neal in Oregon. Her mother, name not known, was possibly from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I have one photo of Francis Neal in a WW 1 soldier’s uniform. Anyone ever hear about this lost branch? Thank you.
Linda Neal Rogstad
Peter and. Mahalia are buried next to my grandparents in Roseburg Or. I believe Peter was my grandfather uncle.