A MEMORIAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF IOWA
HON. GEORGE McNEELEY
HON. GEORGE MCNEELEY is one of the representative citizens of Lucas county and an honored pioneer of Iowa, who has witnessed the greater part of its growth and development since its admission to the Union. His parents, Jeremiah and Drusilla (Springer) McNeeley, came to the West when this locality was on the frontier of civilization. The father located in Hillsboro, Highland county, Ohio, in 1816, at which time Cincinnati was a mere hamlet, giving little promise of future development. He aided in the work of improvement and progress and continued his residence there until 1849, when he located in Henry county, Iowa, having crossed the Mississippi at Burlington on tha 1st of May. Our subject was born near Hillsboro, Ohio, October 16, 1840, in a one room log cabin, with clapboard roof, held down with weight-poles, and with a puncheon floor and stick chimney.
Mr. McNeeley, only eight years of age at the time of his arrival in the Hawkeye State, was reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life and acquired his elementary education in the district schools of the neighborhood. His father purchased eighty acres of partially improved land a mile and a half from Mt. Pleas ant, Iowa, located in the timber belt, where George aided in the arduous task of clearing and developing a farm, continuing to devote his services to that work until 1861.
It was then that he joined the army, enlisting under Captain Jones, of Mt. Pleasant, and Colonel Moore. In July the company left Mt. Pleasant, and went to Croton, Missouri, to intercept General Green, and after participating in a skirmish were engaged in holding in check the guerrillas who were engaged in their barbarous mode of warfare in that locality. After being at the front for sixty days the command returned to the North and was mustered out at Mt. Pleasant. It was now seen that the war was to be no holiday affair, that the determined North was met by an uncompromising South; and, feeling that the country needed the services of all her loyal citizens, Mr. McNeeley on the 14th of September, 1861, joined Company G, of the Eleventh Iowa Infantry, and was mustered in at Davenport. On the 16th of November the command left Davenport for St. Louis, and in December was ordered to Jefferson City and thence to Fulton, Missouri, where the troops were quartered for the winter in an insane asylum. In March, 1862, they proceeded by rail to St. Louis, and then by water to Pitts burg Landing, where they arrived on the 1st of April. The regiment also took part in the battle of Shiloh under General McClernand, where four of the fifty-six members of Company G were killed, while fourteen were wounded.
For bravery displayed at that battle Mr. McNeeley was promoted to the position of Second Sergeant, for his prompt action there had checked a flank movement of the “gray coats" and prevented them from cutting off and capturing his regiment. Captain McFarland received the personal thanks of Major Abbercromba for this action, but said the thanks were due Corporal McNeeley. Our subject participated in the siege of Corinth, the battles of Iuka and Corinth, Grant's march to Ox ford and Memphis and Vicksburg, on to Meridian, and up the river to Cairo and Huntsville; and at Big Shanty the command again joined the army and participated in the siege and battles of Kenesaw mountain and the Atlanta campaign. Mr. McNeeley was within forty yards of the late Secretary of State Gresham when he was wounded, July 21st. On the 22d of July, 1864, Mr. McNeeley was captured and for two months was confined in Andersonville prison, for two weeks in Charleston and for four and a half months at Florence. He escaped from Wilmington on the 21st of February, 1865, and two days later reached the Union lines. He spent some time in Annapolis, Maryland, and on account of ill health was granted a fur lough on the 1st of April, of that year. He returned to St. Louis two months later and was mustered out at Davenport, June 15, 1865. He went through all the hardships of prison life at Andersonville, and at Florence was obliged to live on a pint of corn meal per day. He has now in his possession a half gallon tin measure which he used during his army service, and also a knife which was used by Professor Hammel, of Burlington, and himself to cut large clubs in order to protect themselves against the bloodhounds while making their escape from Southern prisons.
Mr. McNeeley was always a faithful and valiant soldier, true to his duty and to the old flag which now floats so proudly over the united nation. The family has furnished several representatives to the armies of the country. The great-grandfather of our subject, who also bore the name of George, was the founder of the family in America. He located in Pennsylvania, and when the Colonies at tempted to secure their independence he served for five years in the Colonial army. The grandfather, also named George, was a soldier of the war of 1812, and in 1816 removed from Kentucky to Ohio, building a log house in the midst of the wilderness on the banks of White Oak creek, where he spent his remaining days.
The father of our subject was born in Kentucky, November 28, 1812, and died in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, June 7, 1889. He wedded Drusilla Springer, who during her girlhood was a schoolmate of General Grant. She was born in Maryland, descending from one of three brothers who came to this country in 1580, while the ancestry of the family in Sweden can be traced back to the eleventh century. Mrs. McNeeley's father was also a soldier of the war of 1812, serving as Major in an Ohio regiment. To Jeremiah and Drusilla McNeeley were born three sons and two daughters, viz.: Nancy, who died of consumption in 1888; Uriah, who was a soldier of Company I, Fourteenth Iowa Infantry, and was captured at the battle of Shiloh. He died in a prison at Macon, Ga., August 14, 1862, and was buried in the national cemetery at that place. Our subject is the next of the family. Elizabeth makes her home with her brother Flavius, who is engaged in agricultural pursuits in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
On the 14th of May, 1865, the gentleman whose name heads this record wedded Miss Ann E. Neel, who was born in Wayne county, Indiana, August 23, 1840, and is a daughter of Jesse and Rebecca Neel. She accompanied her parents to this State in 1845, and by her marriage has become the mother of six children: Martha E., wife of L. Evans, a farmer of Adair county, Iowa; Emily O., wife of Sher man La Follett, a farmer of Adair county; Charles F., who was born June 20, 1870, and died September 4, 1874; George H., Myrtle and Ellis B., at home.
On the 6th of April, 1871, Mr. McNeeley removed to Lucas county, locating on section 21, Washington township, where he owns a fertile and valuable farm of 315 acres. In 1889 he erected thereon a substantial residence, and the other buildings are in keeping with the pleasant home. He and his family are members of the Evangelical Church, and he takes an active part in Sunday-school work and in promoting the cause of education. In politics he has been a stalwart Republican since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, the ballot being a grain of corn, for thus the soldiers in Florence prison were allowed to show their preference for the presidency. His private life and his official career are alike honorable. He has served both as Township Trustee and Assessor, and in 1891 was elected to the State Legislature, serving for two terms in a most acceptable and credit able manner.
From A Memorial and Biographical Record of Iowa, Volume I, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1896, pp. 31-32.
Transcribed July, 2015 by Conni McDaniel Hall.