John McNeil who joined the LDS Church in 1851 and arrived in America from the Isle of Man (via England for a short stay) in 1853 and details of his family and descendants. John McNeil had a spirit of courage and a deep conviction in his religious beliefs. At an early age, even before he met missionaries of the LDS Church, he had been a cabin boy for a period of 8 years, from the age of 14, and had gotten some idea of the world and what it was about. When he heard the message of the LDS Missionaries, he was so committed. In his own words he stated, "so I was called to the office of Priest and was ordained that day and on the same day I agreed to get four thousand pamphlets printed and I was chosen for one to circulate them and I was to go to the North district of the Isle of Man with a thousand of them." He never looked back from his commitment. He served in St. Louis, Missouri, helping other's who had joined the church to get outfitted to go across the plains to the Utah Territory. His wife, who had joined the church with him over in the Isle of Man, passed away in St. Louis. He met and married his second wife Mary Jane Quinn. As a company had left ahead of them, they were journeying alone across the plains and were stopped by Indians. John offered them some crackers he had learned to bake while he was a cabin boy which he had in a sea chest and they left with no harm done to John, his wife, and 4 children. John then stayed in Utah for nearly twenty years and married Mary Ann Smith in polygamy. John was called on a mission to Arizona in 1878 and willingly left the comforts of his home. He was met with opposition as the first of his children died. They were in desperate circumstances in this new wilderness. It is recorded, "John built a chimney and fireplace with rock and stretched a tent over by it and lived there until the next March." Going from a home in Bountiful, Utah to this circumstance must have been a challenge. They lived in Eastern Arizona for 20 years and then moved to Mexico.