Cabinet Card, circa 1880s. Photographer: W. F. Stallings, Grinnell, Iowa
Price: $15.00 Size: About 4 x 6½”
J. E. Neely. Grandfather of Mabel
Records abound online so we’ll not get into any heavy searching. James Earl Neely was born June 19, 1846 in Little Falls, Herkimer County, NY, son of Jerome Neely and Elizabeth Nellis. He married Lydia A. Wire December 22, 1869 in Lake County, Ohio. They had four children, Walter, Earl and twins, Ada and Ida. He died April 11, 1924 in Long Beach, CA. This card and some others from the family were found in an antique store in, if memory serves, Prunedale, CA, near Salinas.
The Neely surname is also spelled Neeley.
Photographer, W. F. Stallings, is likely Wesley F. but we’ll get to him in the next post.
Sources: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88966566/james_earl-neely: accessed June 11, 2025), memorial page for James Earl Neely (19 Jun 1846–11 Apr 1924), Find a Grave Memorial ID 88966566, citing Hazelwood Cemetery, Grinnell, Poweshiek County, Iowa, USA; Maintained by Jada (contributor 46989178).
New York State Archives; Albany, NY, USA; Census of the state of New York, 1855.
State Historical Society of Iowa; Des Moines, Iowa; Title: Iowa Birth Records, 1888-1904.