Edmund Purdy Neill Biography This biography appears on pages 401-403 in "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm EDMUND PURDY NEILL. The business activity of Edmund Purdy Neill has been put forth along two distinct lines. In early manhood he was connected with the wholesale furniture trade; later he entered into active connection with the newspaper business. In the last named connection he is not only well known in Aberdeen, where he makes his home, and in South Dakota, but also throughout the state of Montana, where he gained his early training. He was born July 26, 1877, at Portage, Wisconsin, a son of David Middleton and Alice (Purdy) Neill. On his mother's side he is descended from English and Mohawk Dutch ancestry and the line can be traced back to the Mayflower. The ancestral estates formerly covered a large area in Pennsylvania, including the spot whereon Major Andre was captured at the time of the Revolutionary war. The family has a most interesting coat-of-arms. In the paternal line Mr. Neill is descended from the McNeal clan of Scottish Highlanders, a small clan characterized for their warlike proclivities in the Scotch mountains. Representatives of the elan afterward settled near Edinburgh, Scotland. The parents of Mr. Neill are now residents of the northwest, making their home at Red Wing, Minnesota. It was in the graded and high schools of that place that Edmund P. Neill pursued his education, being graduated in 1892 from the high school when but fifteen years of age, the youngest graduate ever receiving a diploma from the Red Wing school. Moreover, he had completed a four years, course in three years. Immediately after his graduation he entered into business life with his father and received no further educational training save for one term at a business college. The father was a wholesale furniture manufacturer and it was along that line that Edmund P. Neill received his initial commercial training. Five years were devoted to the furniture business in its various departments. During that time he worked through the lumberyard, the finishing room, the packing room and the machine shop and during the last two years was actively engaged at the woodcarver's trade. Between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-three years Mr. Neill was in the army and then went upon the road as a traveling salesman, devoting four years to that occupation. Since then he has been identified with the newspaper business, in which connection he has worked his way steadily upward from the position of proofreader through the intermediate positions of reporter, city editor, telegraph editor, editorial writer and advertising solicitor to that of newspaper manager. He is now secretary, treasurer and manager of the Aberdeen American Company, publishers of the Aberdeen Daily American, the Aberdeen Weekly American and the Aberdeen Sunday American. These are among the foremost newspaper publications of the state with large subscription lists and a liberal advertising patronage. The papers are published in accordance with modern ideas of journalism, showing the spirit of progressiveness that has found expression in the newspaper of the day. Mr. Neill is familiar with military life through service in the state militia and active duty in the Philippines, serving eleven years in all. He enlisted in the First Regiment of the Minnesota National Guard at the age of seventeen years and served in the ranks for two years as a private and one year as corporal. He then reenlisted in the same regiment with the rank of sergeant when the regiment was changed to the Thirteenth Minnesota Volunteers and was sent to the Philippines for active duty in the Spanish-American war. With his command he participated in the task of subduing the Philippine rebellion, serving for seventeen months in the islands. He was especially mentioned in dispatches for bravery in leading a squad of ten men against a considerable number of concealed enemy to protect the flank of his battalion until a machine gun could be brought into action. He was honorably discharged at San Francisco in 1899 with the rank of sergeant. Three years later he was commissioned first lieutenant of the Second Montana Infantry of the National Guard and later was commissioned captain of Company K at Billings, Montana. He resigned on leaving the state after four and a half years' service in Montana. He was equally prominent with the military organization of South Dakota, having been commissioned second lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain of the Fourth South Dakota Infantry of the National Guard. He resigned in April, 1915, after two years, service, and his connection with the National Guard of the country covers in all eleven years. In Minnesota he won the second prize in regimental shoot and in Montana won place on the state rifle team for three successive years and as a member participated in three national shoots at Camp Perry, Ohio. In 1911 he was detailed from Montana for special service and instruction on the Mexican border, near San Diego, California. On the 17th of September, 1901, Mr. Neill was married at Belle Creek, Goodhue county, Minnesota, to Miss Matilda B. Casey, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Patrick Casey, of Belle Creek. The family is of Irish lineage, the mother having come from County Tyrone and the father from County Mayo. In early life they crossed the Atlantic to America and were married in this country and all of their children were born here. Mr. and Mrs. Neill had the misfortune to lose their first-born, a baby girl, who died at Red Wing, Minnesota, July 7, 1903. Their third child, a son, born January 4, 1913, at Aberdeen, South Dakota, has also passed away. Their second child, a daughter, Lila Marguerite, was born at Red Wing, Minnesota, October 10, 1905, and is now ten years of age. In his political views Mr. Neill is a progressive republican and at Billings, Montana, he served as a member of the republican city and county central committees. He has never been ambitious in the line of office holding, however, and among other honors refused the nomination offered him by the republican party as candidate for the office of city treasurer of Billings . He is prominently known in Masonic fraternal connections. Mr. Neill became a member of Red Wing Lodge, No. 8, F. & A. M., at Red Wing, Minnesota, December 20, 1902; joined Aberdeen Chapter, No. 14, R. A. M., on the 30th of April, 1914; and Damascus Commandery, No. 10, K. T., on the 12th of November of the same year completing the York Rite. In the meantime he had advanced through the degrees of the Scottish Rite, joining James C. Batchelor Lodge of Perfection, No. 6, April 9, 1912; Aberdeen Chapter of the Rose Croix, No. 4, April 10, 1912; Albert Pike Preceptory, No. 4, January 23, 1913; and South Dakota Consistory, No. 4, S. P. R. S., January 24, 1913. He is likewise a Shriner, member of Yelduz Temple of the Mystic Shrine at Aberdeen and captain of its Arab Patrol. He also is an Elk, belonging to Aberdeen Lodge, No. 1046. Mr. Neill is a member of the Aberdeen Commercial Club, the Merchants' Association, the Aberdeen Press Club, the Aberdeen Elks' Club, the Aberdeen Motorcycle Association and the Aberdeen Gun Club- associations which indicate the nature of his interests and activities. He has been closely connected with public affairs since his school days and his opinions have been a potent force in molding public thought and action.