McNeal, John (McNeill)

Born: 1805-12-11 Pennsylvania

Died: 1853-03-15

Flourished: Petersburg, Illinois

Alternate name: McNeill

McNeal came from Pennsylvania to Illinois, via Virginia, sometime after 1831. In 1844, he married Eliza Jane Short in Cass County, Illinois. In 1850, McNeal owned and operated a hotel in Petersburg. McNeal served as a juror for two cases in which Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer, and Lincoln represented him in one case.

The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois (Chicago: O. L. Baskin, 1879), 286, 288, 305; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Petersburg, Menard County, IL, 271; Gravestone, Old City Cemetery, Petersburg, IL; Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, Cass County, 3 October 1844, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; For McNeal's cases involving Lincoln, search "McNeal, John (McNeill)," Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln: Complete Documentary Edition, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009), http://www.lawpracticeofabrahamlincoln.org.