William Thomas Neal

NEAL, William T. - Col. Wm. T. Neal was shot and killed in Johnson county, about twenty miles from Clarksville, on the 1st of April 1864. His body was buried at or near the scene of his death by three or four ladies of the neighborhood. His brother, Col. J.P. Neal, on a recent visit to Clarksville, caused the remains to be exhumed and brought to this place for re-interment. They reached here one day last week. On Sunday morning a procession, composed of the friends and war comrades of the deceased, formed at Col. J.P. Neal’s residence and moved to the M.E. Church. Here Col. Neal gave a short and affecting account of his brother’s life and character. Rev. T.J. Reynolds then preached an appropriate sermon from the text, “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.”

The procession, now joined by the Sunday schools and the congregation, moved to the cemetery to conclude the final rites of him whose spirit has flown for more than twenty years.

Col. Wm. T. Neal was a step-son of the Rev. Andrew Buchanan, and came to this country in 1829, then a small boy; so this is the scene of his boyhood, of his noble manhood, and now his final resting place. Peace to his ashes. - N.J.F. - Aug. 11, 1884. [Fayetteville Democrat 8/14/1884]