Husband Hon. James Brown Neale 1 2
Born: 27 Feb 1837 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 1
Christened:
Died: 31 Dec 1903 1
Buried:
Father: Dr. Samuel Stanhope Neale (1792-1857) 1 2 3
Mother: Margaret E. Brown (1803-1851) 1 2 3
Marriage: 28 Jul 1885 1
Wife Anna Truby 4
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: Simon Truby (1826-1894) 4 5
Mother: Anna Jane Mosgrove (1831-1893) 5 6
Children
General Notes: Husband - Hon. James Brown Neale
A brief account of the early life of Judge Neale is contained in the National Encyclopedia of American Biography (James T. White & Co., New York), Volume VI, page 190:
“James B. Neale was educated at the public schools of his native city and at Elder's Ridge Academy. He early entered business as a clerk, then studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1862. He commenced the practice of law in Kittanning, as a partner of his preceptor, E. S. Golden. He spent the year 1871 at the University of Leipzig, Germany, and on his return to America resumed the practice of his profession, making his home at Kittanning, Pennsylvania. From 1876 to 1881 he was editor of the 'Union Free Press,' the Republican organ of Armstrong county. Governor Hoyt appointed him president judge of Thirty-third Judicial district of Pennsylvania in 1879, and the same year he was elected to the office at the fall election as the candidate of the Republican party. He held the office for the full term of ten years, until January, 1890. On retiring from judicial office he resumed the practice of law.”
After his admission to the Armstrong county bar, in 1862, Judge Neale entered into a partnership with the late Judge Joseph Buffington, a former judge of Armstrong county. He later became a partner of Edward S. Golden, a prominent attorney of Kittanning, the firm being known as Golden and Neale. When he was appointed president judge in 1879 it was to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Hon. Jackson Boggs. At the expiration of his appointive term, as has been stated, he was elected as the candidate of the Republican party for the full term of ten years. During his term on the bench he proved himself a jurist of keen judgment and unswerving integrity of purpose. At the expiration of his elective term in 1890 he again came before the people for reelection as the Republican nominee, but owing to the fact that he had become very prominent as an advocate of the temperance cause, refusing all licenses during the last few years of his term, he was bitterly opposed by the liquor interests and was defeated. Upon retiring from the bench, in 1890, he formed a partnership for the general practice of law with John H. Painter, Esq., under the firm name of Neale and Painter, which partnership continued until his death.
Judge Neale was a Son of the American Revolution, president of the Merchants' National Bank of Kittanning, which institution he was instrumental in organizing, a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and a member of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church of Kittanning.
One of judge Neale's old-time associates at the bar says of him: “He had the temperament of the Irish race, being very strong in his feelings and decided in his views, and very genial. During his term on the bench he displayed a high sense of the duties of his position, and his influence was very great in maintaining the honor and dignity of the profession. In his earlier career he was a business man, and his knowledge of business methods was broad and well defined. As a lawyer his practice was largely of a commercial nature, though after the responsibilities of the judgeship devolved upon him he became a close student of all branches of the law, and his decisions were in the main sustained by the higher court, a strong proof of his ability. One of the Judge's notable accomplishments was the success of his influence toward cementing the friendships among members of the bar, which led to the forming of the Bar Association, and the attendant banquets and outings which gave pleasure and enjoyment to all who participated."