James NEELY was born in Virginia about 1775.  His parents are believed to have been 
named James and Nancy NEELY.  James, the father, was born in Dublin, Ireland and 
fought in the Revolutionary War. His only known sibling was a sister, Mary.  Nancy's 
maiden name and birth family are not known.  
   The son, James, married a Welsh woman by the name of Elizabeth near Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania.  Elizabeth's maiden name is unknown.  She was born about 1765 and 
died sometime after 1835.  James and Elizabeth had nine known children.  They moved 
near Lexington, Fayette County, Kentucky and by 1807, had moved to Greene County, 
Ohio where they remained for the rest of their lives. James served as a 
private in Captain Robert McClelland's Company during the War of 1812.  By 1815, the 
family was living in Caesar's Creek.  They later moved to Sugar Creek where James 
died in September or early October, 1826 and was buried on his farm. 
   William F. NEELY was born on 21 March 1806 near Lexington, Kentucky.  He was 
first married to Ruth PAULIN.  She was born on 4 June 1808.  They had seven 
children.  William wrote in his family bible that one son was "born dead".  They 
were still living in Greene County in 1830, but had moved to Bath Township, Allen 
County, Ohio by 1833. Ruth died on 12 October 1839 in Allen County.
  William married a second time on 19 August 1840 to Matilda SNODGRASS.  Matilda was 
born on 4 December 1817 in Rockingham County, Virginia.  They had seven children 
including a boy and a girl who died as infants.  Matilda died on 18 February 1877 
and William died on 5 February 1880.  They are buried together in Allentown Cemetery, 
Allentown, Allen County, Ohio.
  James Harrison NEELY, the fifth child of William and Matilda, and Sarah Helen MASON 
were my great great grandparents.  James was born on 4 March 1844 in Bath Township.  
He was a veteran of the Civil War.  Sarah Helen, known as "Helen", was born on 28 
October 1846 in Bath Township. They were married on 29 October 1864 and had seven 
children.      
  For many years, they owned a farm which was located on Elida Road where Time 
Warner Cable is today.  They later sold it and moved near the intersection of 
Delphos Avenue and Cole Street, Lima, Ohio.  James was a farmer and a "house
carpenter".  He owned the land that lay between Delphos and Jamison Avenues and 
Cole Street and built all of the houses in the block, including the one that my 
mother and her siblings were born and raised.  James and Helen lived on Delphos 
Avenue for the remainder of their lives.  James died on 2 July 1909 and Helen 
died on 23 January 1929.  They are buried together in Woodlawn Cemetery, Lima, 
Ohio.
  My grandparents lived down the block from Grandma NEELY(Helen) who was widowed. 
They did not like her staying alone at night so my uncle and eldest aunt were paid 
a nickle or dime to take turns spending the night with Grandma.  There was no TV 
in those days so Grandma NEELY told her grandchildren stories about the family.  
Much of the early family history was told to me by my aunt as it had been passed 
down to her by Grandma Neely.
  My great grandmother was Olive Leona NEELY, born on 18 September 1878 in Elida, 
German Township, Allen County, Ohio.  The name of German Township was changed to 
American Township during WWI. because of anti-German sentiments. She married Ozro 
Sylvanius COPUS on 16 November 1895.  They had ten children.  Ozro and Olive are 
buried together in Greenlawn Cemetery, Elida, Ohio.  Ozro died on 2 December 1950 
in Allen County.  Olive died on 26 October 1965 in Lima, Ohio.  
  Ozro and Olive's daughter, Cecil May, who was born on 29 January 1898, in German 
Township, was my grandmother.  She married Earl J. CHENEY on 7 February 1914 in 
Lima, Ohio.  Earl was born on 30 March 1892 in Lima and died on 28 July 1946 in 
White Cross Hospital, Columbus, Ohio.  Cecil died on 11 December 1952, in Lima, 
Ohio.  They are buried near Ozro's parents in Greenlawn Cemetery.  My mother is the 
youngest of their five children.  
  For more on Ozro and Olive and their children and descendants, click on the link 
below to my COPUS website.
  My mother's ancestry is too large to place on one website without causing mass 
confusion to the reader.  Therefore, her family is being divided by the names of 
her direct lines.  Websites for the NEELY and COPUS families are online as is the 
ancestry of the CARDER family that my mother married into.  Watch soon for websites 
on the CHENEY, HALL, MASON, and MORRIS lines.  The Robert SNODGRASS line has been 
included on this website.
  My sources are not on the website.  This is to keep the family history 
accurate with proper documentation.  Please feel free to contact me for my sources, 
family information which is not listed on the website and for any questions you may 
have.    
  No pictures on this site may be copied or used without permission of the owner.  
Material and photos on this website are copyrighted and permission must be obtained 
for use.  If there is a picture that you would like a copy of, please contact me.   
My sources are not listed on the website.  Contact me for sources. This is to ensure 
the accuracy of the material presented here.  
  Please sign my guest book.  You may leave comments or information about your 
Neely ancestors in the guest book. Be sure to leave your e-mail address so that I 
may send you a reply and so that others from your line will be able to contact you.  
  I'm unsure whether some of you haven't been leaving your e-mail addresses in the 
guest book or whether tribalpages no longer adds your e-mail address to the guest 
book so please send me an e-mail also.  That way, I will have all of the Neely 
descendants' e-mail addresses and can contact you whenever the website is updated.  
Should you find someone from your direct line and wish to contact them and no e-mail 
address is posted for them, then you will be able to contact me and I will contact 
that person for you.  Some of the e-mail addresses I have are not current.  If you 
are not sure whether I have your current e-mail address, please e-mail me and send 
your current one.                                    
  The purpose of this website is for NEELY descendants to have a place to find each 
other and share and exchange our Neely family history.  My guestbook may be used as a 
message board and place that you can leave information about your branch of the 
family and any questions you have about the family and connect with each other if you 
wish.    
  Also, I am always be happy to hear from you!         
  Enjoy exploring my website!