Identity:

She was the daughter of Zepheniah Kingsley and Isabella Johnston. She was the local beauty at Wilmington, NC where she met her husband Dr Daniel McNeill. They had six children: Isabella McNeill; Mary McNeill; William Gibbs McNeill (1801-1853); AMW; Charles Johnson McNeill (1811-1870); Catherine ('Kate') Jane McNeill (1812-1877).

Life:

When AMW returned from Russia in 1849, Martha McNeill moved in with her at Pomfret, CT. She was a religious woman who AMW loved and respected. She outlived her husband, and died when living with AMW.

Bibliography:

Elizabeth Mumford, Whistler's Mother: The Life of Anna McNeill Whistler, Boston, 1939, pp. 3-7; The 7th Census of the USA, 1850, Windham County, Pomfret, CT, National Archives, Washington, DC, Film. No. M432, Roll 51, p. 380