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 ON. H. A. NEAL, a leading local attorney of Charleston, is a native of the Old Granite State, born in Tuftonboro, Dec. 13, 1846. He is the son of Nathaniel and Mary E. (Folsom) Neal, natives respectively of Maine and New Hampshire. The elder Neal has followed farming from his boyhood, and is still living in the town where his son, our subject, was born. He has been a man prominent in the affairs of his county, holding the various local offices, and serving as Captain of the State Militia for several years. Both parents are prominently connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which Nathaniel Neal is a chief pillar in Tuftonboro, and active in all enterprises calculated for the well-being of his community. He is a radical Prohibitionist, and has watched with keen interest the workings of the temperance movement in both New England and the West. The parental family included four children, only two now living, namely: Lydia A., Mrs. L. A. Orue, of New Hampshire, and Henry A., of our sketch. The latter spent his younger years mostly in attendance at the public schools, and when sixteen years old entered the seminary at Effingham, where he remained studying six months. The Civil War being then in progress he enlisted, in the fall of 1864, in Co. K, 1st N. H. Heavy Artillery, and continued in the service until June, 1865. Upon returning home he resumed his studies in a school at Effingham, and from there went to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and after attending the Eastman Commercial College three months, was graduated with honors in the class of 1860. Upon coming to Illinois he located for a time in Charleston, this county, where he taught school until the fall of 1867. He then took charge of a grammar school at Paris, Edgar County, and in the fall of 1868 became Principal of the city schools of Watseka, the county seat of Iroquois County, which position he retained for three years following, and the duties of which he discharged with great credit. Mr. Neal had always felt an inclination for the profession of law, and while a resident of Paris had employed his leisure time in such works as would best inform him upon legal questions. He now commenced reading in earnest under the instruction of Gen. George Hunt, and in the fall of 1871 repaired to Ann Arbor, Mich., and after a thorough course in the university was graduated in the spring of 1873. His studies, however, did not stop here, but he pursued them industriously until fully qualified for admission to the bar, which was effected that same year. He chose Charleston for his maiden efforts, becoming the partner of Messrs. Wiley & Parker, with whom he continued until 1876. Mr. Parker then withdrew, and the firm of Wiley & Neal has continued to the present. Their office is on the east side of the public square, and they have charge of many of the important cases in litigation in this section. The talents of Mr. Neal received recognition many years ago. He was elected a member of the State Legislature in 1876-78, and as a faithful exponent of the principles of the Republican party has represented its interests in various capacities in his township and outside. The business interests of Charleston have received his due attention as an enterprising and liberal-minded citizen, and he is now a stockholder in the Second National Bank and the Loan and Building Association. He has been a Director in both of these institutions, being connected with the latter in such capacity for three years. He is also general solicitor for the Toledo, St. Louis & Kansas City Railroad Co., for the State of Illinois, and local attorney for the Indianapolis & St. Louis and the Peoria, Decatur & Evanston Railroad Co’s, in Coles County. Socially he is a prominent Mason, and a member in good standing of the G. A. R. and the K. of H. |
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