Neville was possibly born in Mississippi to parents originally from North Carolina.

[6] Research into the health of enslaved people in Memphis, including those trafficked by the city's slave traders, found that "Mortality reports reveal there was much fictitious boasting about 'healthy' enslaved people who arrived in Memphis...[in 1857] a 14-year-old boy owned by established slave traders Neville and Cunningham died from 'lung fever.'

The long travel between states was deadly for many children, and names were never given...Environmental factors (such as cold weather, high humidity, poor ventilation, unsanitary privies), and the social conditions of city life were risk factors for high mortality rates.

For slave traders, the goal was to obtain Blacks for enslavement, trade, sell and make a profit.

"[7] Isaac Neville was the listed owner of 212 and 214 Main Street in Memphis in 1877 when that structure was set on fire by an arsonist.