Wood County, West Virginia Biography of MILTON MCNEILAN, M. D. This file was submitted by Valerie Crook, E-mail address: The submitter does not have a connection to the subject of this sketch. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. 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 WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume II, pg. 526 Wood MILTON MCNEILAN, M. D. A resident of Parkersburg twenty years, Dr. McNeilan has become especially well known for his recognized abilities in the field of surgery. He is a native of Southern Ohio, and for a number of years prior to coming to Parkersburg practiced in the West. He was born near West Union in Adams County, Ohio, March 9, 1865, son of James and Ann (McClaren) McNeilan. His father lived from the age of eight years until his death in Adams County. He followed farming but also assumed the regular burdens and responsibilities of a Methodist minister. Milton McNeilan was one of nine children, seven of whom are still living. He grew up on a farm, and had limited advantages beyond those he procured through his own efforts. As soon as old enough he began teaching, using the money to gain a higher education. He was a student in the Holbrook School or the National Normal University of Lebanon, Ohio. He began the study of medicine in 1885 in the office of Daniel Ellison, his brother-in-law, at Duncans- ville, and later entered the Kentucky. School of Medicine, where he was graduated in 1889, having won the first prize in surgery in a class of 103 students. Soon after graduating Dr. McNeilan went to Colorado, and practiced at Elbert and later at Basalt. He spent six months in Vienna, Austria, as a post-graduate student, and while abroad visited many of the hospitals and clinics of Paris, London and other great centers. He returned to the United States in 1901 and in 1902 established his home and office at Parkersburg. He is a member of the County, State and American Medical Asso- ciations. Dr. McNeilan married Clarabel James, member of one of the old families of Mason County, West Virginia. Mrs. McNeilan has been a prominent worker in clubs, woman's suffrage educational movement and in various benevolent causes. Mrs. McNeilan studied art abroad, and her really great work has been along the line of fine arts. During the St. Louis Exposition one of her art pieces was on exhibition and was greatly admired. She is a descendant of Abel James, who was born in Eng- land. He became an extensive land and save owner in Loudoun County, Virginia. His son, Lemuel H. James, was born in Loudoun County and as a young men moved to Mason County, West Virginia, where he married Mary Ann Red- mond. He owned a large farm and many slaves in Mason County. Few if any of his family are still found in that county. Lemuel James himself moved to Bull Creek, in what is now the Waverly District of Wood County, and later, in order to take advantage of the opportunities to secure cheap land in the West, he made a prospecting trip to Missouri about 1854 and died while there. His widow died at Bull Creek. They were the parents of seven children: Mary Susanna, who became the wife of Clay Neale; Eliza- beth, who was married to William McClure; Virginia, who married Arthur Logan; Heiter, a Methodist minister, now deceased; Andrew F., who married Alice Harris and is now a resident of Idaho; Benjamin, decesaed [sic]; and Alvah Redmond. Alvah Redmond James, oldest son of Lemuel James, and father of Mrs. McNeilan, married Annie Goslee Hull, a member of a prominent Maryland family of French descent. Her father was Beauchamp B. Hull, a South Methodist minister; her mother was Clara Belle Goslee. Alvah R. James was well known in Parkersburg as a merchant, and later moved to Colorado, where he became a stock grower and farmer. He is now living in Arizona.