His father had come to Lexington from Lee County, Virginia in the 1830s. Hyman's father, Henry Alexander Neill, practiced law and would have joined the Confederacy when the American Civil War began, however, he decided he could not disavow his oath to support the Constitution and ended up joining the Union.
Hyman's father, Henry Alexander Neill, was a lawyer who lived in Lexington after moving from Lee County, Virginia in the 1830s. He would have joined the Confederacy during the Civil War but decided to remain loyal to the Constitution and joined the Union instead.