Great-Great-Grandfather Duncan Married…a Sister of Alexander Wilson the Ornithologist of Philadelphia Compiled and Edited By Charles William Paige Alexander Wilson Niece Anna Duncan Sturdevant Great-Grandnieces Grandnephew (Hood sisters) William Duncan Grandnephew James W. Duncan Great-Grandniece Grandnephew-in-law Mary W. Hood Barnes John Coryell Published: Los Angeles County, California First Printing: 2007 Charles W. Paige 4809 Farquhar Street Los Angeles, California 90032-4117 © 2007 Charles William Paige ii This book is dedicated to Alexander Wilson the Ornithologist of Philadelphia, Wilson and Duncan descendants around the Planet, and especially those souls—folks like William Hood Barnes, Harris Ely Hood, Wallace Irving Duncan, and others in former and current generations—who have cherished and preserved fibers from the fabric of our family history. iii iv CONTENTS Hospitality ...................................................................................................................................... vii FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................. ix INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER ONE ..............................................................................................................................1 The Wilson and Duncan Families................................................................................................1 The Tower of Auchinbathie.........................................................................................................3 Alexander Wilson and the Bonapartes.........................................................................................7 CHAPTER TWO ...........................................................................................................................11 Land of Dreams and Hardships..................................................................................................11 CHAPTER THREE .......................................................................................................................17 1808-1812 ..................................................................................................................................17 1813-1815 ..................................................................................................................................17 Alexander Wilson’s Life Ends...............................................................................................17 The Last Wish....................................................................................................................20 The Last Month in the Life of John McNelly........................................................................21 CHAPTER FOUR..........................................................................................................................27 The McNellys ............................................................................................................................27 Hoods, Ellises and Coryells...................................................................................................27 The Waddell and Coryell Families ........................................................................................30 A Pension for a Widow..........................................................................................................35 The Deposition of Isabella Ellis.........................................................................................36 The Deposition of Josiah Dunlap.......................................................................................36 The Collaborating Deposition of Mary Coryell.................................................................37 The William McNelly Family (Perhaps) ...............................................................................37 The James and Catharine (McNelly) Hood Family ...............................................................38 James Duncan Hood in the Civil War................................................................................49 Bible Tells Hood Story ..................................................................................................49 James Hood, Sr. and Emily................................................................................................53 The James and Nancy McNelly Family.................................................................................54 The Alexander and Eliza (Mehaffey) Duncan Family...............................................................55 The James and Jane (Waddell) Duncan Family.........................................................................61 The James and Anna (Duncan) Sturdevant Family ...................................................................67 CHAPTER FIVE ...........................................................................................................................73 Eight Generations of Alexander Wilson, Sr. .............................................................................73 BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................................83 INDEX ...........................................................................................................................................89 APPENDIX – COMPLETE MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM HOOD BARNES...............................117 MAPS...........................................................................................................................................119 MAPS United Kingdom...........................................................................................................................119 Pennsylvania and Delaware .........................................................................................................119 New York.....................................................................................................................................119 Michigan ......................................................................................................................................120 v MAPS (additional) Alaska ..........................................................................................................................................121 California .....................................................................................................................................121 Connecticut ..................................................................................................................................120 Florida..........................................................................................................................................122 Georgia.........................................................................................................................................122 Illinois, Indiana and Missouri ......................................................................................................121 Kansas..........................................................................................................................................120 Massachusetts and New Hampshire ............................................................................................122 Minnesota.....................................................................................................................................122 New Jersey...................................................................................................................................123 Ohio..............................................................................................................................................121 Oklahoma.....................................................................................................................................124 Tennessee.....................................................................................................................................123 Virginia and West Virginia..........................................................................................................123 Washington ..................................................................................................................................124 Wisconsin.....................................................................................................................................123 Wyoming......................................................................................................................................124 GRAPHICS “Hospitality” by William Duncan, Jr........................................................................................... viii Will Hood and Nellie Mae (Bliss) Barnes..................................................................................... xi Alexander Wilson ............................................................................................................................9 Illustration from American Ornithology........................................................................................10 John McNelly’s Citizenship Decree ..............................................................................................22 John Coryell...................................................................................................................................28