Will County IL Archives Biographies.....McNaughton, Coll 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 14, 2008, 12:42 am

Author: Past & Present Will County IL 1907

Coll McNaughton, a distinguished member of the Joliet bar, was born at South 
End, near Campbellton, Argyleshire, Scotland, August 11, 1861, his parents 
being Donald and Margaret (Goudie) McNaughton, the former a native of 
Argyleshire and the latter of Ayrshire. For many generations the McNaughton 
family had been represented in Argyleshire, which was the birthplace of Coll 
McNaughton, the great-grandfather, and of Thomas McNaughton, the grandfather 
of our subject. They were farming people and Donald McNaughton, who had 
resided on the Culinlongart estate, brought his family to America in 1878, 
settling in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, where he has since carried on general 
agricultural pursuits. He has always been a zealous advocate of the 
Presbyterian faith and manifests in his life the sterling characteristics of 
the Scotch race, who have ever been noted for their thrift, perseverance and 
probity. His wife passed away in 1895. Coll McNaughton, the fourth in order of 
birth in family of eight children, all of whom still survive, supplemented his 
elementary education by a preparatory course in the Campbellton high school. 
He was ready to enter the University of Glasgow when his father decided to 
come to America and thus his plans were changed. In 1882 he came to Illinois 
and taught school in Kendall county for five years, during which time he read 
law under the tutorship of James R. Flanders, of Joliet. In May, 1887, he 
successfully passed the examination before the supreme court at Ottawa, which 
secured his admission to the Illinois bar. Soon afterward he became a member 
of the law firm of Goodspeed & McNaughton but when a year passed he withdrew 
from the partnership in order to accept the position of deputy postmaster, 
serving during President Cleveland's first administration or until the 1st of 
May, 1890. On resigning that office he became a member of the law firm of 
Donahue & McNaughton and has since been an active practitioner at the Will 
county bar. 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. In 
1891 he served as township supervisor. He is keenly interested in politics and 
has intimate and accurate knowledge of the important questions which divide 
the two great parties and work for the weal or woe of the nation. He is a 
stalwart champion of democracy, recognized as one of its leaders in Will 
county, and yet he never sinks public good into partisanship or in office 
places personal aggrandizement before the general welfare. On the contrary he 
is a most loyal and public-spirited citizen and his aid in various lines has 
been of direct and lasting benefit to the community. Mr. McNaughton was 
married in 1888 to Miss Agnes Conlon, a daughter of John Conlon, a native of 
New York and an early settler of Joliet. Mrs. McNaughton was born in this city 
and by her marriage has become the mother of two daughters, Bessie and Jean. 
Mr. McNaughton has attained high rank in Masonry, holding membership with 
Matteson lodge, No. 175, A. F. & A. M., also the council and chapter, and with 
Joliet commandery, No. 4, K. T. While his interests are of such a varied 
character as to make him a good citizen and man of well rounded character, his 
attention is chiefly given to the practice of law and few lawyers have made a 
more lasting impression upon the bar of the county both for legal ability of a 
high order and for the individuality of a personal character which impresses 
itself upon a community. He has argued many cases and lost comparatively few. 
No one better knows the necessity for thorough preparation and no one more 
industriously prepares his cases than Mr. McNaughton. His course in the 
courtroom is characterized by a calmness and dignity that indicate reserve 
strength. He is always courteous and deferential toward the court, kind and 
forbearing toward his adversary. His handling of his cases is always full, 
comprehensive and accurate; his analysis of the facts is clear and exhaustive; 
he sees without effort the relation and dependence of the facts and so groups 
them as to enable him to throw their combined force upon the point they tend 
to prove. He has won the admiration of his contemporaries at the bar and that 
he has the confidence of the general public is indicated by the distinctively 
representative clientage accorded him. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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