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The Mackall Myth
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Check references on General William Whann Mackall and you will discover he was born at Wilna in Cecil County - and Georgetown, Washington, D. C. In Cecil County, the Wilna version overshadows the conflicting one. At Wilna, on Blueball Road, the historical marker boldly proclaims Mackall's birth at this site on January 18, 1817. The Maryland Civil War Centennial Commission gave this version staying power by erecting the sign - unfortunately, this enshires a myth. Mackall was not born in Cecil County but in Washington, D. C.; Wilna was his boyhood home.
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When Mackall died in Langley, Virginia in 1891, obituaries identified Cecil County as his birthplace, an understandable assumption based on the family's long connection to Wilna. Dig further back before 1891, dig deeper into primary sources and that assumption evaporates.
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The Georgetown connection rests on a solid foundation. Mackall's parents married there in 1813 and his maternal and paternal grandparents lived there. The 1820 Census, listing heads of households, does not show where Benjamin F. Mackall, William's father, lived, but the census, along with later events, does suggest the family resided in Washington with William's grandparents, William and Jane Maffitt Whann, who were formerly from Cecil County.
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The University of North Carolina holds a collection of Mackall family papers; the background information sheet notes Georgetown as place of birth. Mackall's Confederate military record at the National Archives reveals "D. C." as birthplace
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| Reconstructing events
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The courthouse and the Historical Society of Cecil County preserve the puzzle pieces needed to reconstruct events. In 1817, when William was born, the Wilna property was not owned by the Mackall's or any relatives. A few years later, 1821, Sally Maffitt, William's great-aunt, bought the property. In 1822, Sally's brother-in-law William Whann died in Georgetown and Sally invited her niece's family to move to Wilna. The Mackall's accept and move to Cecil County, with little Willie, around age five or six, in tow. An 1823 bill of sale, the earliest documented evidence placing the Mackall's in the county, attests to Benjamin Mackall purchasing goods you would expect a family to buy for a new household, "one feather bed, bedstead and bedding, two tables, … five yards of carpet, … one looking glass, two pots, one Dutch oven, one set knives and forks, one set of cups and saucers, … two crocks, two jugs, two pitchers, one press iron, three chairs, two dishes, two plates, … one spinning wheel, … six teaspoons, … two tea pots." Public records indicate that Benjamin operated the mill at Wilna but he never owned it
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In 1834, William left Cecil County for the U. S. Military Academy and a military career. In 1844, William and his two brothers bought Wilna from their great-aunt. After returning from the Mexican War in 1848, Major Mackall sold his interest in Wilna to his brother Henry, and ended his residency ties to Cecil County. Over the years, the mistaken belief that Mackall's boyhood home was also his birthplace took root.
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