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A Narrative History
of
The People of Iowa
with
SPECIAL TREATMENT OF THEIR CHIEF ENTERPRISES IN
EDUCATION, RELIGION, VALOR, INDUSTRY,
BUSINESS, ETC.
by
EDGAR RUBEY HARLAN, LL. B., A. M.
Curator of the
Historical, Memorial and Art Department of Iowa
Volume IV
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Inc.
Chicago and New York
1931
JAMES F. McNEILL, who is well and appreciatively known by his military title of colonel, has been a resident of Oskaloosa, judicial center of Mahaska County, forty-five years. His has been a staunch and constructive influence in
connection with the civic and material advancement of this city within the passing years, and here he is now living retired in the beautiful residence that he erected fully thirty-seven years ago and which he and his gracious wife
continue to maintain as a center of generous hospitality. Colonel McNeill was a gallant young soldier of the Union in the Civil war and is a veteran member of the Grand Army of the Republic.
Colonel McNeill was born in Springfield, capital city of Illinois, October 15, 1841, and is a son of Rev. Francis A. and Mary (Cronise) McNeill, the former of scotch and the latter of English lineage. Rev. Francis A. McNeill was a clergyman of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but later prepared himself for the medical profession, as a representative of which he was long engaged in practice in Illinois, both he and his wife having continued residents of that until their death and he having served as surgeon of the Thirty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war, besides which he was at one time representative of Ogle County in the Illinois legislature.
Colonel McNeill was graduated from the Springfield High School as a member of the class of 1862, and shortly afterward he gave evidence of his youthful patriotism and loyalty by enlisting as a private in Company G, One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he was advanced to the rank of sergeant major. He continued in active service with his regiment until the close of the war and received his honorable discharge August 15, 1865. After being thus discharged he served as post quartermaster at Camp Butler, Illinois, until that military camp was closed by the Government. He was with his
command in many engagements that marked the progress of the great conflict between the North and the South, and among the major battles in which he took part were those of Nashville and Mobile. The command was in line of march from Mobile to Montgomery, Alabama, when it received news of the assassination of President Lincoln. It has already been noted that Colonel McNeill is affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic, and it should further be stated that in 1828-29 he is serving as commander of the post in his home city and that he takes deep interest in his old comrades in arms, the ranks of which are thinning from year to year.
In their youth both Colonel and Mrs. McNeill had passing acquaintance with Abraham Lincoln, who was then established in the practice of law at Springfield, Illinois, the native city of Colonel McNeill. In 1876 attempts were made to steal the body of President Lincoln from the tomb at Springfield. In 1878 was organized the Lincoln Guard of Honor, a company of nine men assigned to guard the tomb of the Great Emancipator, and all but three of the organization were Civil war veterans. Colonel McNeill of this review is now the only survivor of the nine members of this historic guard. Mrs. McNeill recalls that when she was a child she was frequently greeted by President Lincoln. Wilbur A. McNeill, brother of the Colonel and long his business associate, was likewise a soldier of the Union in the Civil war, he having been a corporal in the Fourth Illinois Cavalry.
In the year 1883 Colonel and Mrs. McNeill established their residence in Oskaloosa and where they have maintained their home during the long intervening years and where they have the affectionate regard of the community. In the earlier period of his residence here Colonel McNeill was engaged in the banking business, in which he had gained practical experience in the First National Bank of Springfield, Illinois, which he entered after the close of the Civil
War and with which he remained until coming to Oskaloosa. In the late '80s he became associated with his brothers, Hobart W. and Wilbur A., in forming and incorporation the concern known as McNeill Brothers. This corporation owned and operated coal mines in the states of Iowa and Wasshington, as well as in the Canadian Northwest, and also owned and operated the Oskaloosa Heat, Light & Power Company, a subsidiary corporation. The concern was well ordered in all departments of its operations and proved very successful. The death of Hobart W. McNeill occurred in 1900, and the two surviving brothers continued the business until the death of Wilbur A. McNeill in 1913. This left Colonel McNeill as the sole executive head of these large and important industrial and public-utility interests, and he continued in control until 1919, when the corporation of McNeill Brothers was dissolved and he retired from active
business.
Colonel McNeill has ever been a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and he is one of the honored
members of the Rotary Club in his home city. He and his wife are affiliated with the Congregational Church, and Mrs. McNeill, long a gracious figure in the social, cultural and church circles of Oskaloosa, is affiliated with the P. E. O. Sisterhood.
In the capital city of Illinois, on the 18th of November, 1872, was solemnized the marriage of Colonel McNeill and Miss Julia E. Hibbs, who was born in New York City but who was a child at the time the family home was established
in Springfield, Illinois, where, like her husband, she was reared and educated. She is a daughter of the late James M. and Maria (Hunt) Hibbs, the former of whom was born in Pennsylvania, a representative of one of the old and
honored families of that state, and the latter of whom was born in the State of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Hibbs passed the closing years of their lives in Springfield, Illinois, where they had maintained their home many years and where
Mr. Hibbs was a citizen of prominence and influence. The devoted and idealic companionship of Colonel and Mrs. McNeill will have covered in November,1929, a period of fifty-seven years, and they can but feel, in the gracious
twilight of their lives, that their "lines are cast in pleasant places," for they are enjoying peace and prosperity, good health, and association with friends
who are tried and true. Walter F., elder of the two children of Colonel and Mrs. McNeill, has become a naturalize citizen of Canada and he and his wife reside at Calgary, where he holds government office, that of member of the Compensation Board of the Province of Alberta. He and his wife have one son, Wilbur F., Mable, younger of the two children of Colonel McNeill, is the wife of George M. Martin, and they maintain their home in Oskaloosa, their one child being a son, Larkin McNeill Martin.
Debbie Clough Gerischer
Iowa History Project
http://www.iagenweb.org
posted at this site with Debbie's permission
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