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THE
McNEIL FAMILY
OF KNIK, ALASKA
2023
[email protected]
I have researched this McNeil family for decades with minimal success.
It was a fascinating family with a colorful history. If you have any corrections
or additions to this page, I would like to hear from you.
Here is a thumbnail sketch of the McNeil family line.
1910 US
Census for KNIK, AK
Mike McNeil
age 49 married 18 years Born: California (later years known
as Malcolm McNeil)
Anna McNeil
age 29 married 18 years** KNAIAKHOTANA
Matrona McNeil
age 31.......Older than Anna, so probably her sister
not her daughter
Nick McNeil age 30..........Older than Anna, so probably her brother not her son
Aleck McNeil age 16
Nickoli McNeil
age 12
Stephan McNeal
age 4
Mary McNeil
age 2
Little
on this census entry makes sense. The 1st thing I noticed was that McNeil
and Anna had been married for 18 years. That means (if the ages were correct)
that Anna was 11 when she married McNeil. This record also says that Anna
had given birth to 7 children and 5 were still living in 1910. Those numbers
don't add up either, since the 2 oldest children on this census were OLDER
than Anna. This is a fairly common error/assumption on the part of the census
taker when the parents died and an older (or married) surviving sibling became
the head of the house and the census taker never questioned it.
I do not know (for sure) what Anna's
maiden name was, however very early Russian Orthodox church records suggest
her maiden name was Chsidalusion. Whether that was actually Chickalusion
or not, I don't know (yet).
In the
1920 US Census for Knik, the older children (and Anna's husband)
were out of the home:
Anna McNeil
age 60 Born Alaska (Mother Tongue: Old Knik)
Tommy McNeil
age 12 son Born Alaska Father born Colorado
Myrtle McNeil
age 11 daughter Born Alaska Father born Colorado
Efim, Bosco
age 5 nephew Born Alaska (Mother Tongue: Old Knik)
Efim, Dalia
age 8 niece Born Alaska (Mother Tongue: Old Knik)
On
the 1930 US Census for Knik:
Malcolm
J. McNeil(age 53*) Born Colorado Father
born Canada Mother born Colorado
Anna McNeil
born 1879 (age 60) Born: KNIK TRIBE Parents of Knik Tribe
Name on 1910 Census was Mike McNeil
(although "Mike" could have been a nickname for Malcolm. Also, 1910 Census
said he was born in California. This census says Colorado. Were there TWO
McNeil's? or just another case of census taker errors.
Children
still in the home in 1930:
Thomas (age
22) born Alaska (son)
Myrtle*
(age 21) born Alaska (adopted daughter)
(*see note)
Victor*
(age 15) born Alaska (adopted son) (*see note)
Capt.
Alex Slivers (age 37) born Alaska
(step-son)
*A McNeil descendant told me that Myrtle and Victor were
the
biological children of Anna McNeil and Frank Crabb, although
they were raised by the McNeils,
Frank Crabb, from Oregon, was often a wood cutting partner of McNeil's
Anna
McNeil died 10/7/1938 and was buried in the Indian Cemetery at Knik
Malcolm McNeil died
3/23/1945 and was buried in Anchorage
Tommy McNeil killed himself 2/8/1944
Myrtle McNeil's 1st husband was John Wells in 1927
Myrtle McNeil's 2nd husband was Clifford Strickler in 1940
Two of Anna's "children" were
well known colorful characters; well known for (literally) walking the crossroads
of the valley; everyone seemed to know them. They were the McNeil brothers:
"Blind Nick" and "Capt. Slivers".
"BLIND NICK" McNEIL
Nick McNeil,
locally known as "Blind Nick", was born about 1880 and (according to the following newspaper
article) lost his eyesight in 1928 at the age of 48. Probate papers say he died in 1953
at the age of 73. The following
Anchorage newspaper article describes him quite well:
NICK OF WASILLA, BLIND FOR 20 YEARS,
LEADS FULL LIFE AND FINDS IT INTERESTING
Anchorage Times
1948
"Icy roads or darkness
do not keep 73 year old "Blind Nick" from making his almost daily
trek to the little town of Wasilla from his cabin 3/4 of a mile
down the road. With his trusty two sticks to guide him and creepers
fitted over his shoe packs, "Blind Nick" walks the distance in half
an hour with ease. He buys groceries in small quantities and carries
them home in a pack on his back. In his cabin, where he lives alone,
he cooks his own food on a wood heater, cuts kindling and packs water
from a nearby well. Although blind for the last twenty years, his main
diversion is walking around the countryside visiting his friends.
"Blind Nick" McNeil, a Native, was
born in the Matanuska area and has lived all his life in
this section of the country, living many years at Knik. For
the past nine years, he has made his home near Wasilla.
A territorial pension takes care of
Nick's modest needs, which he spends wisely, taking precautions
to keep a well stocked wood pile during the winter months.
Always cheerful, he enjoys talking with strangers and
has an unusual memory. When he cashes his pension check at the
local store, he asks the storekeeper which is the twenty dollar
bill, the ten, the five and the ones. He then rolls them carefully
with the twenty inside, then a ten and a five with the ones on
the outside. The next time he shops, he lays a bill on the counter
and knows just what denomination it is. Silver coins are
very easy for him to distinguish.
Several years ago, Nick often walked
to Palmer, a distance of 12 miles. By counting the cross
roads along the way, he knew just where he was going. One
late afternoon, while returning from Palmer, he told how he missed
a cross road because there was a car parked there. He became
lost and wandered around all night. Since that time, Nick confines
his hikes to a four mile jaunt down the Old Knik Road to visit his friend
of many years, Theodore Wasilla. There he visits and spends the
night, returning home the next day.
Nick has his own system for getting around,
which no doubt takes experience and patience but the main
thing is that it works. He has various markers along the
way: by the side of the road, and in front of his cabin, he has a
stick marker and here he turns into the path which leads him home,
which is about 100' off the road. The Community Hall, a large
log structure at the end of Wasilla's main street is one of his landmarks.
A little further down, it is the telephone pole near the coffee shop.
From there on, there's nothing to it. He walks straight to the
local store, from there, a telephone pole a few feet from the building,
and the end of the sidewalk, act as guides.
When Nick makes his weekly visit to
his friend Theodore, he walks straight from the telephone
pole in front of the local store, down to the railroad tracks,
about a hundred yards away, crosses the tracks and down the Old
Knik Road. Using sticks, the roadside ditch leads him down
the highway.
Time is not all important in the life of
"Blind Nick", but when he gets curious about the hour of day,
he pulls out his watch from which the crystal has been removed,
he feels the hand and he never misses."
(end
of newspaper article)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 1950,
"Blind Nick" narrowly escaped death when someone tried to run over
him and Annie (Stump)Stephan (his cousin) as they walked along
Wasilla Fishhook Road
Anchorage
Times 1950
Blind Man Steps Off Road To Miss Death
Two law enforcement
agencies are carrying on a joint search today for a hit-and-run driver
who fatally injured Annie Stephan, a 64 year old native woman,
early Wednesday near Wasilla. Mrs. Stephan, a member of a large
and widely known clan, was killed when a speeding vehicle bore down
on her blind companion, Nick McNeil. Mrs. Stephan's neck was
broken by the impact. Her skull was fractured and she was badly
cut. McNeil, known in the area as "Blind Nick" heard the car
or truck approaching and stepped off the road. However, he was
injured when Mrs. Stephan's body was hurled across the road with such
force as to knock him down. McNeil's shouts for help aroused
the dead woman's children who were asleep in the Stephan cabin about
100 yards away. The driver of the death vehicle, meanwhile left
the scene. McNeil was unable to tell whether the vehicle was a
car or truck but told investigators that it was running without a muffler.
On that slender clue, Deputy Marshal Bill Bouwens of Palmer and Patrolman
Stanley Laird of the Highway Patrol have been trying to find the driver.
The spot where the accident happened is about a mile north of Wasilla
on a road known both as Willow Creek Road and as Fishhook Road. Funeral
services were held for Mrs. Stephan at Knik.
(end
of newspaper article)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following
is an excerpt from a 2003 interview that I did with May Carter
who was the U.S. Commissioner in Wasilla
from 1944-1959.
"Blind Nick used to teach at the Eklutna
School. He was a very intelligent man and he spoke
good English. He was completely blind and he would make
his way all over this valley. He had sticks he carried
so he could feel the edge of the road, people watched out for
him. One time Nick had been drinking and he laid down in the middle of
the road and someone ran over his leg and never stopped. Somebody
finally found him and took him to the hospital, fortunately they weren't
broken but he was laid up for quite a while. He had a cabin out
of Wasilla about a mile out Fishhook."
(end
of interview excerpt)
~~~
"BLIND
NICK's" BROTHER
Capt. Alec Slivers McNeil
/ McNeal
"Blind Nick's" brother, Alec Slivers McNeil, more commonly known
as "Capt. Slivers", was physically small but very strong and self reliant.
Acording to his WWII military registration, he was born on 12/10/1886 in
Matanuska, and was only 4' 8" tall and weighed 110 pounds. He had a humped
back, a curved spine and a stiff right leg that gave him an exagerated
limp as he walked around the valley.
According to Wayne Bouwens, son of Marshall Bill Bouwens, Slivers
once ran a small freight boat between Knik and Anchorage and that is
probably where he picked up the moniker of "Capt.".
Slivers was an industrious, hard working man, a jack of all
trades. He delivered freight by dog team; he was an avid and very successful
hunter; he chopped wood for people; he ran a trap line and was an excellent
mechanic. He loved music and could often be found listening to the radio
in Herning's general store in Wasilla. He lived in a small cabin one
mile up Wasilla Fishhook Road and there were always friends and relatives
living in (or around) his cabin. Today, that area is called Blind Nick
Drive.
An early Valley resident, named Bruce Graham, used to give
Slivers a ride when he spotted him walking along the road. Graham's
son, Robert, wrote: "He moved steadily along the ditch's edge with his
rolling gimpy gait. If you passed him on the gravel road and he caught
your eye, he always seemed to be smiling. Whenever we found him going
our way, Dad gave him a ride in our Model A pickup. It only took one trip
to town in the front seat to realize that Slivers carried the aroma of
his meager avocation as a trapper."
"Marshal Bill Bouwens took an interest in the general well being
of the Dena'ina people that lived near Slivers little cabin and carried
a large first aid kit [with him] that included the basics to treat
major cuts, bruises and even broken bones. I was in town one weekend
and spotted Slivers coming out of Koslosky's", Graham said. "Even from
the street I could see a boil the size of an orange on the side of his
neck. Bill Bouwens lanced the boil while Slivers sat on the tailgate
of Bouwens truck and when he was done, he provided Slivers with a whole
bottle of aspirin for pain and fever."
A few years later, the Graham family spotted Slivers walking
with crutches and a homemade peg leg. They gave him a ride and found
out that he had fallen while tending his beaver trap line. Marshal Bouwens
had set Slivers leg, assembled a splint and built a peg leg for him out
of a small birch limb crotch so that he could get around.
On 12/18/1942, O.G.Herning wrote in his diary, "Third day of
big wind, Capt.Slivers found frozen to death near his cabin at mile
1, went home drunk, failed to arrive, 1st victim of Wasilla Cocktail
Bar." Four days later, he wrote, "Capt. Slivers buried on knoll back
of his cabin at mile 1."
The front page, of the 12/22/1942 Anchorage Times, had the
following article: "A report reaching Anchorage today, reveals the
death of "Capt. Slivers" McNeil, a Native who lived in the Wasilla
District for many years. Slivers, as he was known, is said to have frozen
to death last Friday night on the trail between Wasilla and the point
where he had killed a moose. He had been into Wasilla after downing the
animal and it was on his return trip that he died. It is reported that
he was buried by his native friends in their own burial ground."
According to Slivers military registration papers, he was born
12/10/1886 at Matanuska, which would have made him 56 years old at
the time of his death. As far as I know, he never had any children.
I know of two photos of Capt. Slivers as an adult. They are in the Leonard
Grau photo collection at the Anchorage Museum.
A year after Slivers died, his step-brother, Victor McNeil, received
patent to 159 acres in the general vicinity of where Slivers was buried.
Several of McNeil's relatives (and friends) lived on this land at one
time or another, including "Blind Nick McNeil", Rufe and Annie (Stump)
Stephan and their children Irene, Doris and James. I've talked to the
City of Wasilla (more than once) trying to get them to officially recognize
the McNeil homestead area and burial ground, but they don't seem to agree
with me.
If you have additional information
about, or photos of "Capt.Slivers" McNeil
or "Blind Nick" McNeil, I'd love to hear from you.