South Hill - Wilson McNeil Family Home

Lizzie Percila McNeil, her mother, sister, and brother had been freed by James McNeil in 1864. They inherited a portion of the farm on which that had been enslaved. Lizzie was one of the incorporating members of the Colored Orphan Home founded in 1892. She married Thomas J Wilson in 1875 and they bought this home in 1878. Wilson managed the McNeil Farm property and was the president of Lexington's Agricultural and Mechanical Fair from 1901 to 1917. Although both Lizzie and Thomas identified with and were recognized by the Black community, all decade census enumerations for them listed their race as "white," an indication that they had fair complexions.