My Genealogy Hound

Hon. Caswell B. Neal, attorney at law, and real estate agent, of Greenwood, is a native of Anderson County, Tenn., where he was born in 1829, being the son of John O. and Permelia (Young) Neal, and grandson of Daniel Neal, who was a native of Ireland. John O. Neal was born in Russell County, Va., in 1793, and was a young man when he went to Whitley County, Ky., where Daniel Neal died. About 1820 John O. Neal went to Tennessee, and soon after married Miss Permelia Young, who was born in the State of Virginia, Spottsylvania County, in 1808. She is still living, but her husband died in Tennessee in 1878. They were the parents of eight children, only three now living: Caswell B., John R., who is a member of Congress from Chattanooga District, in Tennessee, and is now serving his second term, and Henry C., who is an itinerant minister in Holston Conference in Tennessee, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Hon. Caswell B. Neal was educated at Strawberry Plains, in Jefferson County, Tenn., and at the age of twenty-one he entered the teacher’s profession, receiving $10 per month for compensation and paying $2 per month for board. This was in Anderson County, Tenn. In 1848 he went to Scott County, Ill., and taught here four terms. In 1852 he returned to his native State, and became employed in the chancery court’s office in Madisonville, Monroe Co., Tenn. He was there two years, and during that time became a disciple of Blackstone, his preceptor being Hon. George Brown, who now lives in Knoxville, Tenn. In 1856 he was admitted to the bar at Madisonville, and afterward left his native State, and in January, 1860, he became a citizen of Greenwood, Sebastian Co., Ark., where he resumed his practice. He was a Whig in politics before the war, but since then he has affiliated with the Democratic party. In 1862 he was elected State representative, and in 1864 he was re-elected from Sebastian County, serving on the judiciary committee. In 1870 he was again elected as representative, and it was this Legislature that passed the articles of impeachment against Gov. Powell Clayton and John McClure, chief justice of the State. Hon. C. B. Neal was chosen to present the charges before the Senate and prosecute the same. This service he performed to the satisfaction of his party. He was also complimented by the Democratic vote for speaker of the House. He has devoted his time to his profession, his practice extending from Arkansas to Red River, and is one of the leading legal lights in Sebastian County. He has been wonderfully successful financially, and is the largest land-holder in Western Arkansas. He owns 1,500 acres, and at one time was the owner of 3,000 acres. He also owns fine property in Greenwood, about one-third of the village. In 1858 he married Miss Susan Inge, who was a native of Alabama, born in 1835, and who became the mother of four children: John M., dealer in stock; Caswell B., salesman in Greenwood; William H., attorney with his father, and Thomas W. Mrs. Neal died in 1876, and in 1878 Mr. Neal married Mrs. M. A. Robertson nee Brazier. He and wife are members of the Missionary Baptist Church; he is a Knight Templar, and has been a Master Mason for thirty-five years.