NEIL C. McLEOD – The legal fraternity of Union county embraces men of ability and talent who have been instrumental in achieving much for the benefit of the county in various ways, and one among this number who has exerted an influence far reaching and favorable toward advancement and progress, is he who is named at the head of this article, and to whom we grant a representation in the volume of his county’s history, both because of his achievements and his standing, having attained these by dint of hard labor since he was a boy, being a self-made man, and, as Mark Twain aptly says: “Not one of those who stopped before the job was done,” because our subject is pursuing his way with the gratification that at every turn he is favored with substantial and even brilliant success.
Neil C. was born in the seagirt land of Prince Edward Island, August 15, 1859, being the date, and the booming billows chant was the music familiar to his infantile ears. His parents, John and Margret (Shaw) McLeod, natives respectively of Isle of Sky, Scotland, and Prince Edward Island, were numbered with the progressive and intelligent tillers of the soil in his native place. In 1875 they bade farewell to their island home and traveled to Otoe county, Nebraska, where they settled to farming, the son working with his father and also teaching school, thus manifesting that his boyhood days were well spent in the acquisition of practical lore. It was in 1880 that they removed to Union county, settling near Summerville, where they engaged in farming, and our subject gave his spare time to the study of the law. In 1892 they removed to Summerville and our subject gave his entire time to the study of law, also practicing the same. It was in May, 1894, at Pendleton before the supreme court of Oregon that he finally passed the severe examinations and was admitted to practice in all the state courts. In 1901 he was also admitted to the United States courts. Immediately subsequent to his admission to the state courts Mr. McLeod removed to Elgin, and there opened a law office, also doing collection and insurance. He has been rewarded with the sure meed of industry, ability and faithfulness and enjoys a good practice and also the confidence of the people. Mr. McLeod owns a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, and seven acres in the city where he lives.
On May 16, 180, in Indianola, Nebraska, Mr. McLeod and Miss Jennie, daughter of John and Kate McLeod, were united in the holy bonds of matrimony, and three children have blessed the union, Maggie, Walter and Mabel. Mrs. McLeod is a second cousin to her husband, and was born in Prince Edward island on August 1, 1864, her parents coming from that country to Otoe county, Nebraska, in 1868, thence to Washington county, Oregon, in 1880, where they are now numbered with the agricultural population. Mr. McLeod is a member of the Masons, Elgin Lodge, No. 93, and of the Blue Mountain Chapter, No. 62, of E.O.S. He and his family are members of the Presbyterian church, and he is a man of the community in whom is reposed the respect and esteem that become a typical, upright and capable citizen and it is but just to remark that his career, which has been eminently successful, bids fair to become much more powerful and distinguished in the county and even in the state.