Basil Neal, or O'Neal, was born in Maryland in 1758 and moved with his family to Virginia at age 17, where he grew to manhood and married Ellen Briscoe, daughter of an eminent Virginia physician, granddaughter of Colonel Stuart of New York, and great-granddaughter of Lord Bromfield of England. He fought heroically against Indians and British before, during, and after the Revolutionary War. In 1780 he came to Georgia and settled in Columbia County on his plantation, where he built his home and called it Happy Valley. After the death of his first wife, who had borne him six children, he married Sarah Hull Green, daughter of Captain McKeen Green, who had also served in the Revolutionary War under General Nathanael Greene, to whom he was related. Six children were born of this second marriage, including Basil Llewellyn Neal, who served in the Confederate Army as a flag bearer, was captured, and was imprisoned at Fort Lookout, Maryland. He is buried near his father.