Will County IL Archives Biographies.....McNaughton, Coll 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 1:28 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

COLL McNAUGHTON. The position held by Mr. McNaughton at the bar of Joliet is 
one of influence. Since coming to this city, in 1885, he has gained a wide 
acquaintance among the people, and has, by his character as a gentleman of 
honor, won the confidence of his associates. In May, 1887, upon examination 
before the supreme court at Ottawa, he was admitted to practice in Illinois. 
Returning to Joliet, he soon became a member of the law firm of Goodspeed & 
McNaughton, but after one year withdrew from the partnership in order to 
accept the position of deputy postmaster under the first administration of 
President Cleveland, and remained in that office until May 1, 1890. On 
resigning he entered the firm of Donahue & McNaughton, and resumed the general 
practice of law. In 1895 and again in 1897 he was elected city attorney, 
retiring in the spring of 1899, when he refused to be a candidate for a third 
term. During 1897 and 1898 he was active in letting the contract for 
improvements to cost $500,000, and between the spring of 1896 and 1899 he drew 
up more ordinances than had been prepared or drawn by the six attorneys 
preceding him in the office. In 1891 he served as township supervisor. He is 
keenly interested in politics and has firm convictions regarding tariff, the 
currency question, trusts, and the other issues that are almost constantly 
before our people for solution. His belief brings him into affiliation with 
the Democratic party, and he is one of its leading exponents in Joliet. He 
gives his aid to all public measures having for the object the welfare of the 
people, and is public-spirited in his support of worthy projects. At South 
End, near Campbellton, Argyllshire, Scotland, Mr. McNaughton was born August 
11, 1860, a son of Donald and Margaret (Goudie) McNaughton, natives 
respectively of Argyllshire and Ayrshire. His grandfather, Thomas, and great-
grandfather, Coll McNaughton, were natives of Argyllshire, as were their 
ancestors for several generations before them. They engaged in farming. Donald 
McNaughton, who resided on the "Culinlongart" estate, brought his family to 
America in 1878, and settled at Chatham, Ontario, Canada, where he has since 
engaged in farming. From his Scotch forefathers he inherited integrity, 
perseverance, a strict sense of honor and a firm Presbyterian faith. His wife, 
who died in 1895, was the daughter of an Ayrshire miller. In the family there 
were eight children, all but one of whom are still living, our subject being 
fourth in order of birth and the only one in Illinois. He was reared in 
Scotland, and prepared for college in the Campbellton high school. When ready 
to enter the University of Glasgow his father decided to come to America,. and 
so his plans were changed. Instead, however, of accompanying his parents to 
Canada, he went to Michigan, securing employment with his axe in the woods 
near St. Clair. In February, 1879, he entered Chatham Collegiate Institute, 
where he studied for a term. The summer of the same year he spent as a sailor 
on the lakes. In August, 1879, he entered the employ of the Canadian Pacific 
Railroad, and assisted in building the road along Portage and Lake of the 
Woods. In the fall he started to Canada, but stopped in Oswego, Ill., to visit 
an uncle, and two days after arriving there he passed an examination for a 
teacher's certificate and secured a school. He continued to teach there until 
the spring of 1885. Meantime he had been studying law, getting law-books from 
James R. Flanders, of Joliet. He has been a constant student of his 
profession, not ceasing his studies with his admission to the bar, but 
continuing a devoted student of all works bearing upon the principles of 
jurisprudence. Not only is he a brilliant lawyer, but one whose knowledge of 
the profession is deep and profound, and who is equipped for successful 
practice by a thorough acquaintance with all the authorities. Fraternally Mr. 
McNaughton is a Council and Royal Arch Mason, a past officer in Matteson Lodge 
No. 175, A. F. & A. M., and at one time was junior warden of Joliet Commandery 
No. 4. He attends and supports the Universalist Church, and is a liberal 
contributor to religious enterprises. He married Agnes, daughter of John 
Conlon, a native of New York and an early settler of Joliet, where Mrs. 
McNaughton was born. They are the parents of two daughters, Bessie and Jean 
McNaughton.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

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