George Washington and Clara S Neff
Information comes from the Biographical Encyclopedia of
Kentucky of the Dead and Living Men of the Nineteenth Century
Published by J M Armstrong & Company 1878
NEFF, COL. GEORGE W. was born January 5, 1833 in Cincinnati, Ohio. His father, George W Neff, was a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; studied law under Hon Horace Binney; practiced his profession for a few years in his native city; in 1824 removed to Cincinnati, where he followed mercantile pursuits until his death in 1850; was one of the leading businessmen of that city; was for several years its Mayor, and was the first President of the Little Miami Railroad. His mother was also a native of Philadelphia and daughter of Ambrose White, a prominent merchant of that city.
Col Neff graduated at Woodward College, Cincinnati in 1850 and at once entered into business as a member of the boot and shoe house of Ambrose W Neff & Co. in that city. In 1861 he entered the Federal army, as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second Kentucky Infantry; occupied this position until the Summer of 1863, when he was promoted Colonel of the Eighty-eighth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; accompanied this regiment until the close of the war; was taken prisoner in the action of Scary Creek on the Kanawha in West Virginia, July 17, 1861; and confirmed at Richmond and Charleston as a hostage for rebel privateers; was exchanged August 17, 1862, and put in command of Camp Dennison, Ohio, where he remained until the following year.
In 1865, toward the close of the war, he was brevetted brigadier-general for meritorious conduct on the field of West Virginia. After the close of the war he was appointed Collector of Customs at Cincinnati by President Johnson and performed the duties of that office for several years. He has since been Cincinnati Manager of the Western Assurance Company; and for several years, a resident of Newport. In politics, he is a Democrat. Religiously he has been for many years connected with the Episcopal Church.
Col Neff was married January 3, 1856 to Miss Clara Stanberry, niece of Hon Henry Stanberry, Secretary of State under Andrew Johnson, now one of the oldest members of the Cincinnati bar and for several years a resident of Kentucky.
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George Washington Neff died 13 Dec 1892 in Newport and was buried in Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.
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Children of George Washington Neff and Clara Stanberry
1. Laura Neff b-1857 in Cincinnati; d-19 June
1945 in Delaware Co. Ohio; br-Powell Cemetery
2. Ambrose Washington Neff b-22 Jan 1858 in Cincinnati; d-6 July 1932 in
Columbus; br-Powell Cemetery in Delaware Co. Ohio
3. George Washington Neff Jr. b-22 Jan 1864 in Cincinnati; d-Upper Darby Penn.
br-Shrewsburg Cemetery; m-Margaret
4. Mary Neff b-1866 in Cincinnati Ohio
5. Bond Stanberry Neff b-20 July 1877 in Newport; d-14 Aug 1950 in Delaware Co
Oh; br-Powell Cemetery