Mary Ann Sheridan

She married William Neel on November 2, 1797 (1) in St. Johns Parish Protestant Episcopa, Joppa, Harford, Maryland.   They had thirteen children:

1.  Sarah Neel

2.  Rachel Neel

3.  John Neel

4.  James Neel

5.  Mary Ann Neel

6.  Jane Neel

7.  Elizabeth Neel

8.  William Neel

9.  Thomas Neel

10.  Lee Neel

11.  Archibald Neel

12.  Asberry Neel

13.  Alexander Neel

Sources:

1.  Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970.  Indexing Project Number M53565-1, GS Film Number 14116.

Notes:

When researching this family in early Maryland records, spellings of this surname include Sheridan, Sheredine, Sherodan.

At this time, no good evidence exists as to who Mary Ann Sheridan's parents were.  Parents of female relatives are often difficult to discover in genealogy research, and this search is made even more difficult by the lack of records available during this time.  However, we do have the church records.

The church where Mary Ann Sheridan was married--St. Johns Parish Protestant Episcopal, Joppa, Harford, Maryland--was in poor condition at the time of her marriage, and the site was ultimately destroyed by flooding/hurricane.  The site of the church was moved to its new location in Kingsville (Baltimore County) in 1817.

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=1921

"In 1730 the village of Baltimore was laid out to the southwest of Joppa Town. The county seat would eventually be moved to Baltimore in 1768. This was the beginning of the end for Joppa Town and St. John’s Church location there. The deep water port was silting in, the roads “hopelessly muddy” and the gaol too small. The Joppa people rioted for three days when the moment came to move the county seat....

Because of its close association with the English government, the Anglican Church did not fare well during the Revolution and for several decades following. It is something of a miracle that the Episcopal Church even survived. A Parochial report dated October 31, 1802 shows St. John’s Church in Joppa Town in serious decline and disrepair....

St. John’s Parish needed to move from the failing Joppa Town to higher ground if it were to flourish. The center of vitality was now located at the crossroads where Abraham King had acquired the Rev. Hugh Deans’ farm. The town would soon be known as Kingsville. An Edward Day was a landowner in the area. This Edward Day would take an interest in St. John’s Parish and eventually build a new church in Kingsville, the present Old White Chapel. It was originally 20 x 40 feet. The box pews and gallery were from the church building in Joppa Town. Most of the grave stones were eventually removed from Joppa Town to the churchyard in Kingsville. (As far as we know, no human remains were moved, just the grave stones.) This new church would be consecrated by Bishop Kemp of the Diocese of Maryland on July 17, 1817. "

https://stjohnskingsville.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/65/2020/02/A-History-of-St-Johns-Kingsville-REVISED.docx.pdf

The church was not thriving, to say the least, the year Mary Ann Sheridan was married (1797).  While there were many Sheridans living in the area at the time, we can be sure that the ones married in the same church as Mary Ann might have been closely related, likely siblings.  

Other Sheridan marriages at St. John's in Joppa around 1797:

Thomas Sheredine and Ann Neil of Harford County were married on 9 Mar 1797

John Sheredine and Ann Allen were married on 1 Apr 1803 "in St. George's but married in St. John's Parish"

William Neill and Mary Ann Sheredine of Harford County were married on 2nd of Nov 1797.

It can be safely assumed given the conventions at the time that the Thomas Sheredine and Mary Ann Sheredine were brother and sister, and that William Neill and Ann Neil were brother and sister as well.  At the time, the correct spelling of surnames did not have the emphasis that it does now.

This link can be further strengthened by the link between the Thomas Sheredine family and the William Neel family in future records:

Thomas Sheridan appears in the 1800 Federal Census for District 3, Harford, MD, source page #66, 20100/00100. Six lines above Thomas appears a John Sheridan with 10101/32001

Thomas Sherodon also appears in the 1820 census in Colerain Twp, Belmont, Ohio, pg #167, M33.  301111100100001

William Neel appears in the same census on pg 168, 3111012101002

Additional marriages in Harford County around the same time:

William McCullough m. Rachel Sheridine on 4 Feb 1796

Source: Maryland Marriages, 1666-1970 

****A note found in the belongings of Cleo McCandless Adamson, sent to Kathy Garman (daughter-in-law of Gladys Coleman Garman) by Anne Glyptus in 1984****

Grand Mother Neel

Birmingham has her celebrity in the person of Mrs. Mary Ann Neel.

Mrs. Neel was born in Harford County, Maryland, May 10, 1781.  Consequently, is in her 92nd year; was married in her 17th year to William Neel, settled in Belmont Co in 1806- moved to Birmingham, when her husband died in 1842.  She is the mother of thirteen children, eight sons and five daughters; seven sons and four daughters still living.  She has 107 grand children living.  Fifty one grandsons, fifty six grand daughters. 136 great grand children, and four great great grandchildren.  eighty one grand, 121 great grand, two great great grand children in Ohio.

Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, and Ohio are represented by her descendants.  

Mrs. Neel whose maiden name was Sheridan is an Aunt of Gen Phil. Sheridan - and a distant relation of Gen Robt E. Lee.  

Her grandmother's name was Lee, a native of Maryland or Virginia.

****end of note from Anne Glyptis****

Lee family tree: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Lee_Family_of_Virginia_and_Maryland.png

****Post by Richard Bullington re: Sheridan / McCabe family on 27 Dec 2014****

Born in Maryland, USA on 1 Mar 1781 to Edward Sheridan and Ann McQuire. She passed away on 1874 in Guernsey, Ohio, USA.

Mary Ann Sheridan (daughter of John Sheridan and Mary McCabe) was born May 10, 1781 in Hartford County, Maryland, and died March 01, 1895. She married William Neill on November 02, 1797 in Hartford County, Maryland.

• 1. Sarah Neel, b. 1800, Hartford County, Maryland, d. 1888, Monroe Twp., Guernsey County, Ohio.

  2. Rachel Neel, b. Abt. 1802, Hartford County, Maryland, d. June 08, 1846, Guernsey County, Ohio.

  3. John Neel, b. January 07, 1804, Hartford County, Maryland, d. October 27, 1874, Monroe Twp., Guernsey County, Ohio.

  4. James Neel, b. March 24, 1806, Hartford County, Maryland, d. January 10, 1879, Monroe Twp., Guernsey County, Ohio.

  5. Mary Ann Neel, b. 1809, Belmont County, Ohio, d. November 23, 1883, Madison Twp., Guernsey County, Ohio.

  6. Jane Neel, b. June 25, 1812, Belmont County, Ohio, d. November 13, 1894, Monroe Twp., Guernsey County, Ohio.

  7. Elizabeth Neel, b. July 19, 1814, Harrison County, Ohio, d. February 04, 1904, Trenton County, IL.

  8. William Neel, b. Abt. 1815, Harrison County, Ohio.

  9. +Thomas Neal, b. September 1815, Cumberland, Maryland, d. June 16, 1906, Licking County, Ohio.

  10. Lee Neel, b. September 24, 1818, Harrison County, Ohio, d. January 13, 1902, New Philadelphia, Ohio.

  11. Archibald Neel, b. January 27, 1821, Monroe Twp., Guernsey County, Ohio, d. September 1886, Guernsey County, Ohio.

  12. Asberry Neel, b. October 18, 1822, Guernsey County, Ohio, d. March 20, 1899, Monroe Twp., Guernsey County, Ohio.

  13. Alexander Neel, b. Abt. 1824.

Author Roy Morris Jr.(the author of Sheridan: The Life and Wars of General Phil Sheridan) autographing a copy of his book for a Wilson family member. Paper goes on to say that Sheridan's aunt Mary Ann Sheridan (Sheridine) (1781-1871) became the wife of William Neal (Neill) (1776-1842). Their daughter Rachel (1802-1846)and her husband, Samuel Wilson (1798-1856), had a son John Neal Wilson (1837-1910).

Now in another paper William Henry Wilson b. Nov. 27, 1867, (son of John N. Wilson) writes a short autobiography. (This was prepared on Labor Day 1949.) He states that "Father's mother (Rachel) was the daughter of William and Mary Sheridan Neel who was a full aunt of General Phil Sheridan the great Cavalry Leader in the Civil War. She gave birth to fifteen children and Rachel, father's mother, was one of the fifteen."

What I have been able to put together from info on the web and message boards I find that Gen. Phil's parents were John Sheridan and Mary Meemaugh. I have also found info that John's parents were Edward Sheridan and Ann McQuire. John brought his family from Ireland to the U.S. about 1830. To be a full aunt to the Phil I would think Mary Ann would be a sister to John, Phil's father.

John Sheridan (Philip's father) was born in Ireland, probably Co. Cavan. He immigrated to Quebec, Canada in 1829 with Mary (Maigh) Sheridan (Philip's mother) and 2 children Patrick and Rosa. From Quebec, then to St. John's, New Brunswick, then to Portland, Maine, then to Albany, New York in 1830, then to Somerset, Ohio. John was a contractor on Maysville Turnpike and a railroad sub-contractor in Somerset, OH. He died on Ohio in 1875.

Some people make the claim that Mary Ann Sheridan is the brother of John Sheridan, Philip Henry Sheridan's father. That would make her the aunt of the General. As you say, that creates a likely generation gap: almost no woman has children for 39 years, though it does happen. So I personally am rather skeptical about that. 

However, published research into the General's line shows TWO generations of "John Sheridan" directly preceding him. Neither has a spouse named Mary McCabe. Mary Meenagh is widely accepted as the General's mother, and Ann McGuire less widely his grandmother, but she is the most generally accepted. 

Ann was born in 1760 which makes her old enough by a few years to have been Mary Ann's mother. There is no publicly available birth record that would identify Mary Ann's parents clearly, so it is not impossible that she might be the daughter of John "Sr" and Ann McGuire. 

But that leaves us with two questions. How then was Mary Ann born in Cumberland County, Maryland in 1781 (a hard question to answer) and why did John "Jr" and Mary Meenagh not travel to Maryland to be with Mary Ann and when they came to the US around 1820? 

My wife also has Mary Ann Sheridan in her tree through her son Asberry Neel. Her family has had the belief that they're related to General Phil, but I don't believe that it is true. 

********End of post*******

Ancestor chart from Don and LaVerle McCandless dated 22 Nov 1988 shows the following:

Mary Ann Sheridan, b. 6 April 1781 (1782) in Bellaire, Harford, Maryland, d. 1 March 1875 in Monroe Twp, Guernsey County, Ohio. Father: John Sheridan, b. Cavan Co, Ireland.  Mother: Mary McCabe, b. Cavan County, Ireland.

1800 Census for District 3, Harford, MD shows William Neill with his family:

1 male 26-44 (William)

2 females less than 10 yrs (Sarah and ?)

1 female 16-25 (Mary)

1 slave (Unknown)

Jericho Family Cemetery in Harford, Co., MD

"Stone wall surrounds family grave, and of about 8-14 graves on the knoll south of the manor house Jericho. "  Lee and Archer family graveyard.

**Sheredines of Harford, Maryland**

Jeremiah Sheredine and Cassandra Rigbie.  

Cassandra was the daughter of Nathan Rigbie.

JAMES RIGBIE, born 1720; died 6 January 1790 in his seventieth year {of whom later}. II. Nathaniel4 Rigbie, Jr., born 18 June 1723 (St. George's Parish, Harford County, Register, p. 332, Md. Hist. Soc.); died 1784 (Bel Air, Wills, Liber AJR#8, folio 18, dated 8 December 1783, proved 10 June 1784). He married on 27 August 1747 Sarah Giles, daughter of Jacob and Joanna Giles of Harford County (Annapolis, Wills, Liber 2, folio 244; Nottingham M. M. Records), and had two daughters, Hannah6 and Cassandra6 Rigbie. About 1767 Cassandra Rigbie married Jeremiah Sheridine. On 4 June 1767 she was disowned by Deer Creek Friend's Meeting (Deer Creek Records, Book A). They had a child, Nathan Rigbie Sheridine (Annapolis, THE FAMILY OF COLONEL JAMES RIGBIE 75 Wills, Liber 40, folio 403). Nathaniel* Rigbie, Jr., at one time was acting sheriff of Baltimore County in place of his brother, Colonel James Rigbie (Narrative), and was interested with his father-in-law Jacob Giles in the iron business in Pennsylvania. He was for many years part owner and manager of Cumberland Forge near Stafford. Wilson Mill on Deer Creek was built by him. His death occurred in his sixty-first year (" Account of Colonel Nathan Rigbie," by Albert Silver (1895), f. v.). 

More information on Nathan Rigbie: https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/refserv/bulldog/bull98/html/bul12-21.html

Nathan was a Quaker.  It appears Cassandra was disowned from the Quaker church due to her marriage to Jeremiah.  Mentioned in Cassandra's will on 17 April 1776:

son - Nathan Sheredine

husband - Jeremiah Sheredine

Sister-in-law - Tabitha Richardson

? - Daniel Sheredine

Sister - Hannah

Aunt - Ann Willett

Father - Nathan Rigbie

Maryland State Archives, MARYLAND INDEXES, (Assessment of 1783, Index)

1783, Harford County, MSA S 1437 

Jacob. Notes: free negro; manumitted by Jeremiah Sheredine. HA Deer Creek Lower Hundred, p. 166. MSA S 1161-6-4    1/4/5/49 

Daniel Sheredine. Cumberland Forge, 40 acres. HA Deer Creek Lower Hundred, p. 165. MSA S 1161-6-4    1/4/5/49 

James Sheredine. HA Harford Upper Hundred, p. 112. MSA S 1161-6-9    1/4/5/49 

Aaron. Notes: free negro; manumitted by Jeremiah Sheredine. HA Susquehanna Hundred, p. 156. MSA S 1161-6-12    1/4/5/49 

4/28/22: Another note and theory:

If we follow naming conventions from Mary Ann's children, then her father would be named James and her mother would be Sarah (albeit this is a relatively unreliable way to determine parentage, but since there are no solid leads otherwise, let's entertain the thought).  There is a James Sheredine that was born 20 Aug 1749, and the researcher who notes this James also has our Mary listed as his daughter.  Information can be found here: https://mixedgen.es/rootspersona-tree/sheridine-james/

Researchers should also take note that in the same records where William Neel and Mary Ann Sheridan's marriage is found, there are also records for a Thomas Sheridine and Ann Neill marrying in the same church only a few months before William and Mary Ann (Thomas Sheridine and Ann Neill, married 9 Mar 1797, Joppa, Harford County, Maryland).  There is also record of John Sheridine marrying Ann Allen on 13 Apr 1805 in Joppa, Harford County, Maryland.  Perhaps these are sibling groups?

St. John's of Joppa was built around 1729 and "in ruins" by 1821.  The only remaining stone in the churchyard (still existing but illegible on my visit on May 29, 2022) is that of David M. Cullouch, merchant of Old Joppa, who died in 1766. 

Thomas Sheredine and Ann Neill had a son named John Sheridan, whose birth is recorded as 8 June 1798 in St. John's Parish records.  He married Jane Grey who was born around 1796, possibly in PA.  They married on Aug 12, 1818 in Belmont County, Ohio, the county that Mary Ann Sheridan and William Neel moved to in 1806, further strengthening this relation.  John Sheridan and Jane Gray had several children, one of which was Sarah S. Sheridan, who married a Pulley and is buried in Antrim, the same town John McCandless and Mary Ann Neel (dau of Mary Ann Sheridan) are buried.  

CHAP. XII.

Passed 6th. of Jan. 1810.

An ACT for the relief of James Sheredine, of Harford County.

WHEREAS it has been represented to this general assembly, by the petition of James Sheradine, that he was summoned to attend as a witness on the behalf of the state of Maryland upon a presentment found by a grand jury for the body of Harford county against a certain Archibald Smithson, of said county, and that having attended sixty-four days agreeable to summons, although the said Smithson was found guilty, yet being sold out of the public gaol of Harford county for his fine and fees imposed and accruing on said presentment, the said Sheradine never received any compensation whatsoever for his said attendance; II. BE IT ENACTED, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That the justices of the levy court of Harford county be and they are hereby authorised, empowered and directed, to assess and levy on the assessable property of said county a sum of money, not exceeding sixty-lour dollars, (if the said levy court shall consider. that the said Sheradine is as yet unpaid, ) as a compensation to him for the aforesaid attendance, and that the said sum of money be collected and paid to the said James Sheredine, or his order.

Source: Session Laws, 1809 Volume 570, Page 6 

Link: https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000570/html/am570--6.html

History of St. John's Parish, Joppa:

The history of Joppa would not be complete without an account of St. John's Church, which served as a religious center of this early community. We are indebted to the Restoration Committee of the Old Joppa Church and, with their permission, are using information from their pamphlet, "Reestablishing the Church in Gunpowder Hundred."

When William of Orange and his wife, Mary, came to the throne of Great Britain in 1688, they sent Royal Governor Lionel Copley to the Province of Maryland to establish the Church of England more firmly in the new world. Baltimore County was early divided into three parishes, St. George's, St. John's, and Patapsco. The church at Gravelly in St . George's Parish is thought to have been in existence as early as 1671.

St. John's was established in the Gunpowder Hundred in 1692, and the first church built in 1695 was located at Elk Neck, where the Officer's Club at Edgewood Arsenal now stands. The original church was a crude log building, 20 x 40 feet, which served the parish only for a short time. 

After Joppa became the county seat, the town became the thriving center of the territory and many of the members of the parish made their home there. The Act of General Assembly of 1724, which made provision for laying out the new county seat, set aside one acre of land in the center of the town for St. John's Church. Here the prosperous planters, merchants, and sea captains on June 15, 1724, made an agreement with Col. James Maxwell to build a brick church at a cost of 25,000 pounds tobacco. By 1730 the modest church was completed and replaced that at Elk Neck. At the November court of 1729, it was ordered that there be an "assessment of tobacco per Poll on St. John's Parish for the carrying on of the new church."

The decline of the town of Joppa and the removal of the county seat in 1768 seriously affected the welfare of the church. As the town fell into decay, by 1814 only four houses and the fast deteriorating church were left. By 1821 the church lay in ruins and the churchyard and burying grounds, with only one tombstone left, were grown up in weeds. The parishioners moved to other places, mostly in the fork of the Gunpowder. 

But the old St. John's Church was not to die, for in 1815, Edward Day built at Kingsville, at his own expense and on his own land, a stone church and rectory which he deeded in 1817 to the vestry of St. John's Parish in Baltimore and Harford Counties. 

Many of the mementos of the earlier church were incorporated in its structure or installed within. Among these relics was the pewter communion service given to the Joppa Church by Queen Anne. This third church, having served the people of St. John's Parish for almost a century, was replaced in 1896 by the stone church used today, and the abandoned church is being restored in preparation for its sesquicentennial in 1967. 

Source: 

HA-1315 Joppa (Old Joppa) Architectural Survey File.  Last Updated: 02-18-2004 

link: https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/Harford/HA-1315.pdf

In the same source, evidence of a Sheridan living in Joppa appears:

By the Act of 1724, Thomas Tolley, Captain John Taylor, Daniel Scott, Lancelott Todd, and John Stokes were appointed town commissioners. On April 20, 1725, Mr. Tolley, Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Scott met and proceeded to lay off twenty-one acres of land and divide it into forty lots for the building of homes. One acre, almost in the center of the town and adjoining the courthouse, was for the use of St. John's Church. Col. Maxwell was offered three pounds per acre, which he declined, until a warrant was about to be placed in the hands of the sheriff requiring condemnation. Col. Maxwell then agreed to the offer and the deal was arranged without difficulty. 

In another year the survey was completed and the town laid off by the county surveyor, Col. John Dorsey, who received 500 pounds of tobacco for his services. The plat was divided by Court Street and Church Street, running east and west, and Low Street and High Street, running nearly north and south. The lots were of unequal area, some less than one-half acre, some more. They were carefully numbered and offered for sale, the smallest selling for one pound, seven shillings. Among those who purchased lots were: Thomas White, surveyor and clerk of the town; Col. John Dorsey, for his son, Greenbury Dorsey; Joseph Calvert, merchant from Kent County; Aquila Paca, sheriff; Col. James Maxwell and Asaele Maxwell, his son; Joseph Ward, innkeeper; Catherine Hollingsworth, widow; Samuel Ward, carpenter; and John Higginson, innkeeper. Other lots were acquired by Roger Matthews, John Crockett, John Stokes, Richard Hewitt, William Lowe, John Roberts, John Hall, Jr., Captain Thomas Sheredine, Thomas Tolley, Daniel Hughes, Nicholas Day, William Hammond, Valentine Hollingsworth, Samuel Maccubins, James Isham, Benjamin Jones, Stephen Higgins, Hannah Ward, Abraham Johns, and Benjamin Rumsey. 

The lots were sold subject to building restrictions, which were probably the first zoning and building codes of Harford County. Owners of lots were each bound to build a dwelling house covering not less than 400 square feet and to have a good brick or stone chimney. The town soon became a unique spot. In addition to the forty or fifty dwellings of influential citizens, there were two prisons, a courthouse, St. John's Parish Church, several large warehouses, wharves, inns, stores, and shops. 

Maryland State Archives Search:

"Tuesday following being the 20th day of January 1729 '30, Capt Thomas Sheredine took up the lott No. 14 in the name and for the use of his son Daniel Sheredine, but suffer'd their right thereto to become void for want of building thereon as by Act of Assembly enjoyn'd"

https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000525/html/am525--7.html

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sheredine-8