William Elmer Neal (October 14, 1875 – November 12, 1959) was a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

Biography

Born on a farm near

Proctorville, Ohio Proctorville is a village in Lawrence County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 523 at the 2020 census. The East End Bridge connects Proctorville to Huntington, West Virginia across the Ohio River. Proctorville is ...

, Neal attended the public schools. He graduated from Proctorville High School in 1894. He taught school in Ohio and Kentucky for six years. He graduated from

National Normal University National Normal University was a teacher's college in Lebanon, Ohio. Located in southwestern Ohio, it opened in 1855 as Southwestern Normal School and took the name National Normal University in 1870. Alfred Holbrook was the first president ...

Lebanon, Ohio Lebanon is a city in Warren County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 20,841 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. History Lebanon is in the Symmes Purchase. Th ...

, in 1900 and received a medical degree from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

in 1906. He commenced the general practice of medicine in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell County, West Virginia, Cabell and Wayne County, West Virginia, Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The County seat, seat of Cabell County, the city is located at the confluence of the Ohio River, O ...

, in 1907. Neal served as mayor of Huntington 1925-1928. He served as member of Huntington Park Board 1931-1952, and West Virginia Public Health Council 1936-1940. He was elected to the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature in West Virginia. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular se ...

in 1951 and 1952. Neal was elected as a Republican to the Eighty-third Congress (January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955), defeating the incumbent Congressman and former

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

professor Maurice G. Burnside. Burnside sought a rematch in 1954, and defeated Neal for reelection to the Eighty-fourth Congress. He served as medical consultant to

Foreign Operations Administration The Foreign Operations Administration was created in 1953 under the directorship of Harold Stassen. Its purpose "was intended to centralize all governmental operations, as distinguished from policy formulation, that had as their purpose the coope ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

from February 17, 1955, to June 20, 1955. Neal challenged Burnside a third time in 1956 and was elected to the Eighty-fifth Congress (January 3, 1957 – January 3, 1959). Neal did not sign the 1956

Southern Manifesto The Declaration of Constitutional Principles (known informally as the Southern Manifesto) was a document written in February and March 1956, during the 84th United States Congress, in opposition to racial integration of public places. The manife ...

and voted in favor of the Civil Rights Acts of 1957. He was defeated for reelection in 1958 by another Marshall professor,

Ken Hechler Kenneth William Hechler (September 20, 1914 – December 10, 2016) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he represented West Virginia's 4th congressional district in the U.S. House of Rep ...

, to the Eighty-sixth Congress. A Republican would not retake this Huntington-based seat, now numbered as the 3rd District, until 2014. He died in Huntington, West Virginia, November 12, 1959 and was interred there in Spring Hill Cemetery.

References

Sources

External links

One of the Oldest-Known Freshman Members, Dr. Will Neal of West Virginia
Office of the Historian of the U.S. House of Representatives. {{DEFAULTSORT:Neal, William Elmer 1875 births 1959 deaths 20th-century American physicians 20th-century mayors of places in West Virginia Educators from Ohio Mayors of Huntington, West Virginia Republican Party members of the West Virginia House of Delegates National Normal University alumni People from Lawrence County, Ohio Physicians from West Virginia Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from West Virginia University of Cincinnati College of Medicine alumni Burials at Spring Hill Cemetery (Huntington, West Virginia) 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives 20th-century members of the West Virginia Legislature

Biography

See also

References

Sources

External links