Neill R. McDonald was born around 1807 in North Carolina. He married Margaret A. Leach, and they had at least seven children: Daniel, born on April 20, 1840; Sarah, born around 1842; Mary, born around 1844; Eliza, born around 1846; Angus, born around 1848; Martha, born around 1853; and Melinda, born around 1855. He worked as a farmer in Moore County, North Carolina, and by 1850, he owned $350 of real estate. A decade later, he owned $250 of real estate and $2,000 of personal property. He enslaved at least one person. He probably died sometime in the 1860s.