My Genealogy Hound

James M. Neely, a prosperous merchant and farmer of Cabot, also general manager of the Wheel Trade Union, was born in South Carolina, March 7, 1854, and is the son of James C. and Margaret A. (Fewel) Neely, originally of South Carolina. His father, a native of Ireland, was born in 1818, and was among the early settlers in this part of the State, settling in this county in 1856, where he remained till his death, which occurred in 1875. Mrs. Neely was born in South Carolina, and is now living with her son. This family consists of father, mother, and five children, three of whom are still living. In his boyhood our subject attended the common schools of this county, and since his attainment to manhood has taken a course in the commercial college at Little Rock. His father kept a store at Cabot the last four years of his life, during which time he assisted in the store. In December, 1877, he was married to Florence Farrish, who came from North Carolina to Arkansas in 1871. They are the parents of two children, Rosco C. and Florence. Mr. Neely is a strong Democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Tilden in 1876. Himself and wife are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in which Mr. Neely fills the office of elder acceptably. He owns about 2,000 acres of land, 230 of which are under cultivation; he also owns the old homestead containing 410 acres of land, and a farm on which is a fine sixty acre orchard. In 1888 he and a brother erected a cotton-gin at Cabot, costing $4,300; this is one of the best in the State, having all the latest improvements.