Archie D. Neale.—Ranking among the leading members of the Kansas bar is Archie D. Neale, of Chetopa, Labette county. Mr. Neale is a native of West Virginia. He was born at Parkersburg, W. Va., March 22, 1861, a son of Leroy and Elizabeth A. (Woodyard) Neale. His parents were natives of West Virginia, and came from there to Kansas in 1870, first locating at Parker, then a promising town in Montgomery county, but which is now extinct. In that same year they removed to the then new town of Chetopa, where the father practiced law for many years with gratifying success. He studied law after he came to Kansas and was admitted to the bar in 1874. In early life he was a farmer. His father before him was a farmer in West Virginia, and was the owner of Neale's Island in the Ohio river, above Parkersburg. Leroy Neale was an ardent Republican, but never sought political preferment, yet he served as United States commissioner for more than thirty years. He died at Chetopa, in 1895, at the age of fifty-nine.

Archie D. Neale was but nine years of age when his parents came to Kansas. He obtained a common school education, and under his father, as preceptor, he was prepared for the practice of law. He was admitted to the bar in 1889. During his professional career Mr. Neale has continued to reside at Chetopa, and has long held a large and remunerative practice. While he has been, for years, an ardent and active Republican in politics, Mr. Neale has never held political office, save that of deputy attorney and city attorney for Chetopa. He was formerly connected with the legal department of the Missouri Pacific and the Missouri, Kansas & Texas railroads. He is now, and has been for several years, the attorney for the Chetopa State Bank, of which he is a stockholder and director.

In 1893 Mr. Neale was united in marriage with Miss Nannie M. Morehouse, a native of Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Neale sustain promiment social relations in Chetopa, and are held in highest esteem by a large circle of friends and acquaintances.