"An Illustrated History of Whitman County, state of Washington." San Francisco:
W. H. Lever, 1901.  p. 325.
 
WILLIAM McNEILLY

     Among the sons of the Emerald Isle who have contributed their mite toward
the industrial development of Whitman county and have helped to subdue its soil
and garner its natural wealth is the man whose name gives caption to this
review. Possessed of the force of character, energy and good judgment which must
unite in one who would achieve any real financial success, he has surmounted
every obstacle which lay in his way and has attained to a standing of eminence
among the extensive agriculturists of Whitman county.
     Mr. McNeilly was born in 1836, and continued to reside in Ireland until he
became thirteen years old, thereupon accompanying his parents to the land of
promise on this side of the Atlantic.  He finished his education in
Pennsylvania, then followed various occupations until 1860, when he came to San
Francisco. For the next decade he was a resident of California, but in 1870 he
came to Washington, locating first on Union Flat, of which he was one of the
earliest settlers. He secured a considerable tract of land and followed farming
and stock-raising upon the same until 1899, when he moved onto a place two miles
southwest of Colfax. He is the owner of one thousand acres of fine land, well
improved and much of it highly cultivated. He still handles quite a number of
cattle and horses, though the settlement of the country has necessitated some
retrenchment in this direction.
     In the city of Colfax, in 1876, Mr. McNeilly married Martha Gager, a native
of Oregon, and their union has been blessed by the advent of six children:
Samuel, Hugh, Arthur, Grace, Clyde and William.
 

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Submitted to the Washington Biographies Project in July 2009 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.