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From the Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa and Lafayette, Wisconsin, publ. 1901- page 677-678
BENJAMIN F. NEELY, a dairyman farmer of the town of Platteville, Grant county, is a young man of energy and enterprise, and has already attained an enviable standing among the younger farmers of this portion of the State. He is known as a man of his word, and his farm reflects his industry.
Mr. NEELY was born in the house in which he is now living, in November, 1868, and is a son of Robert and Helen (CHASE) NEELY. Robert NEELY was born in Westmoreland country, Penn., July 15, 1815, and Helen CHASE in Royalton, N.Y., in March, 1828. Mr. NEELY grew to manhood in Pennsylvania, and was educated for the ministry at Oberlin College. On account of confirmed ill health, he gave up the work of the ministry, and came to Wisconsin as early as 1839. Here he took up a government claim and devoted himself to mining and farming as long as he lived. He died April 15, 1895. When he had been but ten years in this State he went back to Pennsylvania and married. The young couple retuned to Wisconsin and lived a life of close companionship until his death. His widow only survived his loss five months. They were consistent and devoted members of the Congregational church, in which he was a deacon for twenty-five years. They assisted in the establishment of the Congregational Church at Platteville, and were always identified with good movements and measures at home and abroad. They left a family of seven children: (1) Henry D., born Dec. 23, 1851, was a graduate from the State Normal at Platteville, and studied law, was admitted to the Bar, and practiced law, but he now resides in Omaha, where he is State manager for the Equitable Life Assurance Co. He married Miss Emma JOHNS, of Winona, Minn., and they have two sons, Henry Fay and Robert Donald. (2) Mary F., born Oct. 9, 1853, was a graduate of the State Normal and a successful teacher in Grant county for some years. She is now the wife of George C. THOMPSON, chief clerk of the U.P. freight office at Omaha, and has three children, Ruth, Mayone and Robert. (3) Katie M., born in January, 1858, is the wife of Lester C. HINE, of Trumbull county, Ohio, where they live on a farm. In their family of children are Frank, Helen, Neely, Mary, Bessie, Ronald and Fay R. (4) Nellie S., born in March, 1860, is the wife of R. P. PERRY, one of the leading lawyers and bankers of Reedsburg, Wis., and they have three children, Edna, Mildred and Catherine. (5) Fannie, born in March, 1862, a bright and scholarly young lady, is one of the successful teachers of the Reedsburg high school, in which position she has been for ten consecutive years. (6) Robert S., born in July 1864, married Miss Josephine COOK, and resides in Omaha, where he is employed in the yards of the Union Pacific railroad.
Benjamin F. NEELY, who completes this family, was educated in the Platteville Normal, and he has remained on the old homestead, having had charge of the farm previous to the death of his father. In 1893 he married Miss Fannie BELL, the daughter of Edward and Annie (RAWSON) BELL, an old and prominent family of Grant county. Mrs. NEELY was born in Platteville, in June, 1872, and was educated in the local high school. She is a lady of culture and refinement. They settled on the old NEELY farm, and devoted themselves to farming. They have two sons, Robert C., born in August, 1896, and Edward, in July 1899. Mr. NEELY and his father were prominent Republicans, and were both brought up in the Congregational Church. He is a member of the Foresters at Platteville, the Maccabees, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Equitable Fraternal Union. The senior NEELY was a Mason, and was an industrious and highly respected man, and as an affectionate husband, and was greatly loved in the community where he lived. Benjamin F. NEELY is one of the leading and prosperous farms of the town, and is well known.
This biography generously submitted by Carol Holmbeck