Iowa Heritage Digital Collections
State Library of Iowa

H.W. McNeill, Railroad and Coal Capitalist, Oskaloosa, Iowa, 1878; Mahaska County

H.W. McNeill, Railroad and Coal Capitalist, Oskaloosa, Iowa, 1878; Mahaska County

Title

H.W. McNeill, Railroad and Coal Capitalist, Oskaloosa, Iowa, 1878; Mahaska County

Description

Few men have enjoyed more success in both the railroad and coal mining inudstries than H.W. McNeill. Born June 18, 1847, in Peoria, Illinois, Hobart W. McNeill studied at the University of Virginia until the school was closed by the Confederacy. Afterwards, McNeill went to the University of Michigan to study law and was admitted to the bar in Springfield, Illinois in 1868. In 1869, he moved to Eldora, Iowa to form a law office with Enoch W. Eastman, former Governor of Iowa. In 1870, McNeill began his lucrative career in the railroad industry, becoming a special agent for the Iowa Valley Construction Company, which was responsible for building the Iowa Central Railroad. In 1872, McNeill became the secret agent for the St. Louis and St. Paul Railroad and eventually became president of that railroad. Recognizing the amount of money that could potentially be gained in the coal industry in connection with the railroad, McNeill formed a partnership with his brother, W.A. McNeill, to begin the Iowa Central Company, which eventually was merged into the Consolidated Coal Company. After many profitable years, the McNeill's sold their stock in the company to the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company for $500,000.00 in cash in 1881. Afterwards, H.W. McNeill continued his expertise in the railroad industry, among others. By the time of his death on January 27, 1900, H.W. McNeill had established himself as one of the brightest businessmen not only in Oskaloosa, but in the state of Iowa, and all of the United States. This is a lithographic portrait of McNeill made in 1878.

Creator

Union Historical Company, Librarian of Congress

Source

Mahaska County Collection

Publisher

Mills and Company: Des Moines, Iowa

Date

2008-07-29

Rights

www.wmpenn.edu/library/library/about.html

Format

still image/jpeg

Type

image

Identifier

Wilcox Library
http://cdm16125.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/p270701coll6,144

Collection