Mr. Richard Isaac McNeel was born at Mill Point on 1/1/1913 and died 1/19/1980 of a cerebral Hemorrhage at the age of 66. He was married to Mabel White and they had three children, Martha, Lanty and Nora Lou. An excellent family history is published in The History of Pocahontas County 1981.

Space does not permit a total discussion of the background of Mr. McNeel but the history points out that he, his father and members of his entire family were community leaders and engage in every endeavor to make the lives of his neighbors and people in general better.

When I interviewed him it was in the afternoon on his farm, which was on U. S. Route 219. It was a clear day and he gave generously of his time. He discussed the family history. He showed me through his home, took me to an old barn made of Walnut beams and logs which has been built more than 200 years ago, and finally to the family cemetery (see photos). He discussed a loggers’ grave having been buried without any knowledge of whom he was or from where he had come. You can hear a breeze blowing on the interview tape.

From there he took me to the old grist mill at Mill Point thought to be the oldest mill of it kind in the state of West Virginia. You can hear Richard voice as each of us make our way through this old mill. I liked him.