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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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MACNEILL, ALEXANDER JAMES (1866-1927)

MACNEILL, ALEXANDER JAMES, Presbyterian minister, Doaktown and Boiestown charge, 1916-21; b. Orangedale, Cape Breton, N.S., 24 Jun 1866, s/o James MacNeill and Julia McQuarrie; m. 1899, Ann Donnelly, of Kingston, Ont.; d. Gagetown, N.B., 16 Feb 1927.

The son of a day laborer, Alexander J. MacNeill was proficient in both Gaelic and English. He attended school at Sydney and Pictou and became a teacher. After being engaged in that profession for a number of years he enrolled in the theological training program at Queen's University and graduated in 1899. He was stationed in Prince Edward Island from that date until he was called to Doaktown in 1916.

Prior to MacNeill's appointment Doaktown was encompassed within the Upper Miramichi mission of the Presbyterian church, which was served largely by visiting clergy, missionary trainees, and student catechists. As noted elsewhere, the Rev. Alexander F. Robb and the Rev. Harold M. Clark were the first two resident ordained ministers. Clark was followed in 1903 by the Rev. John S. Ross, who had been serving previously as a missionary in Labrador. After a year or two he went West, and his name was last listed in 1921 as that of a supply minister in northern British Columbia. His successor on the Upper Miramichi was the Rev. Harry A. Kent, who was inducted in June 1905 but did not stay more than a few months. Following a period of further study he joined the faculty of the Presbyterian College in Halifax in the field of Old Testament studies, and in 1921 he was named principal of the school of theology at Queen's University.

From 1906 to 1916, only student ministers were appointed to the Upper Miramichi mission. In 1914 application was made to have Doaktown and Boiestown elevated to the level of a charge. In 1916 MacNeill was appointed to the new charge, at a salary of $1,000, of which $600 was raised locally and $400 was supplied from the church's "augmentation fund."

McNeill remained for five years and was then called to Stanley, where at the time of church union in 1925 he joined the United Church of Canada. He became the minister of the United Church at Gagetown in October 1926 and died at the Gagetown manse the following winter, at age sixty. He was survived by his wife, Ann Donnelly, and a daughter, Jennie E. MacNeill, BA, who taught at Branksome Hall, a private school for girls in Toronto.

Sources

[b/d] official death records [m] Presb. Witness 23 Dec 1899 / Advocate 26 Jul 1921, 22 Feb 1927; New Outlook 28 Sep 1927; Telegraph 17 Feb 1927; Walkington; World 3 Jun 1905, 22 Apr 1914, 21 Oct 1916


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