Rose Summerall & Giles McNeil

Rosetta Summerall McNeil (B. 1862 - D. September 26, 1944)

“Aunt Rose”

Written by the late Rev. Rozell Gilmore (1931-2010), JSFG Historian Emeritus

Edited by LaVeta Gilmore Jones, JSFG History Committee

Rossetta Summerall McNeil (Aunt Rose), like her sister Abby, spent her life in Appling County. As noted before, she was born about 1862 - 1863, around the same time President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. That gave her the opportunity to avoid the harsh life of slavery. She had the privilege of learning to read and write. She and her husband Giles McNeil (B. abt 1847 - D. unknown) were the parents of eight children. 

The children of Rose and Giles are as follows: (McNeil was also spelled McNeal on census and other records. We use the surname that was most commonly used or that was found on the gravestone). 

1. Willie McNeal B. 1883 - D. unknown
2. Sunella McNeal  B. 1884 - D. unknown
3. Charlie McNeal  B. 1887 - D. unknown
4. Levi Henry McNeil  B. 1889 - D. unknown
5. David McNeal  B. 1890 - D. unknown
6. Abraham Lincoln McNeal  B. 1892 - D. unknown
7. Mariah Estella McNeal  B. 1894 - D. unknown
8. Birdie McNeil  B. 1904 - D. unknown

Uncle Giles was a Deacon at Rachel Baptist Church, the first African American organized Church in Appling County. The 1900 census tract shows that he, like so many of our ancestors, was born in North Carolina in 1847.

Aunt Rose was my first Sunday school teacher. I can still hear her reciting the Ten Commandments. Her house served as the place where my mother would leave us on Saturday afternoon while she went shopping. Aunt Rose lived “up town,” on Comas street. A photo showing her sitting on the front porch of her old house is included in the photo gallery. Her original house was destroyed by fire in the 1970s. It was replaced with a red brick house structure that remains there today.