Will County IL Archives Biographies.....McNeill, James K ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com October 3, 2007, 1:54 am Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County JAMES K. McNEILL, president of the Steel Works Club, the largest labor organization in Joliet, is also a prominent member of the board of aldermen. He was elected an alderman in the spring of 1899, on the Republican ticket, receiving a majority of nine votes over the two other candidates. Since he began the duties of his office he has been appointed chairman of the police committee and a member of the committees on water, claims, east side streets and license. His work as a councilman is proving satisfactory, not only to the members of his own party, to whom his election was due, but to the general public as well. At Ballymena, near Belfast, in County Antrim, Ireland, Mr. McNeill was born August 25, 1851, a son of Hugh and Sarah (Kennedy) McNeill. His grandfather, George McNeill, a Scotchman, settled in Ireland, where he died at eighty-two years; and the maternal grandfather, James Kennedy, though of Irish birth, was also of Scotch descent. After an honorable discharge from the British army, in which he had served for some years (mostly as a non-commissioned officer with the Royal Artillery in Woolwich, England), Hugh McNeill accompanied a surveying corps to the province of Ulster, which he assisted in surveying. He then became a freight agent for the railroad at Ballymena. In 1860 he came to America, whither a brother, John, had preceded him. He settled in Jackson Township, this county, but soon removed to Kendall County, and while there, in 1863, his family joined him. In 1868 he returned to Jackson Township, where his wife died the following year. He then removed to Round Grove Township, Livingston County, where he resided from the spring of 1870 until 1881. From there he went to Valparaiso, Neb., where he bought and improved a farm, and died July 16, 1893, aged sixty-six years. In politics he voted with the Republicans, and in religion was of the Presbyterian belief. Of his six children four are living, James being the oldest and the only one now in Will County. On the 25th day of August, 1863, our subject landed in New York City after a voyage of seven weeks and two days from Liverpool on the sailing vessel "Benjamin Adams." With the other members of the family he came west to join his father in Illinois. He accompanied his father in his various removals. While at Grand Prairie he began to farm independently, remaining there until 1884, when he was appointed keeper at the Illinois state penitentiary. The latter position he held until December 1, 1893, when a change of administration caused him to resign. Next he became foreman for the Illinois Steel Company, and in 1897 was by them appointed general yardmaster of the entire steel plant, which position he has since filled. He is now president of the Steel Works Club, which has a membership of twelve hundred. For seven years he was secretary of the Royal Arcanum Council in Joliet, and is still a member. He is past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and has been the representative of the local lodge in the grand lodge. The home of Mr. McNeill stands at No. 1003 Irving street. His first wife was Mary M. Kimble, who was born in Kendall County, Ill., and died in Joliet February 19, 1894. Her father, Henry, son of James Kimble, was born in Bedford, England, in 1800, and from fourteen to twenty-one years of age served at the mason's trade. In 1823 he went to the island of Ascension, off the coast of Africa, where he superintended the building of forts. Returning to England in 1830, he soon went to Prince Edward's Island, where he spent fifteen years. He then removed to Kendall County, Ill. In 1849 he joined the gold-seekers in the westward journey and engaged in mining in California. After a time he returned to Illinois and took a contract for building a part of the Oquawka Railroad to Peoria. He then returned to his Kendall County farm. His last days were spent in South Dakota, where he died at ninety-one years. By his first marriage Mr. McNeill had four children, viz.: Harry James, who is with the Illinois Steel Company; Sadie Laura, a teacher in the Kendall County schools; Hattie May and Mary Priscilla. In Joliet June 5, 1896, Mr. McNeill married Mrs. Grace (Webb) Thomas, who was born in Cook County, Ill., and by whom he has two daughters, Grace Vivian and Muriel Una. Mrs. McNeill's father, George Webb, was born in England and came with his parents to New York, thence removed west, settling in Cook County and engaging in the mercantile business at Mattison. Later he moved to Springfield, this state, where he died, and where his widow is still living. 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 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/mcneill1774nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 5.4 Kb