Born in Williamson County, Tennessee, in 1827, Robert E. Neill moved with his family to what is now Caldwell County, Texas, at age four. At age nine, while grinding corn meal for the Texas Army, he suffered a crushing injury that crippled his left arm. Despite this, he served in the U.S. Army in 1847 during the war with Mexico. Afterward he became a rancher but volunteered with the Texas Rangers and other units as needed, and his military career ended with service to the Confederacy in the Civil War. He then retired to his ranch and family in Atascosa County, where he and his wife, Elizabeth, had five children and spent their remaining years. Robert died in 1878.