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Sheboygan Pioneer Monthly Supplement
Thomas McNeill's Passing
When Tom McNeill passed away at his home in Sheboygan the 12th ultimo, following a long illness, his forceful personality was missed in many various activities. He was not only a man of great business ability, he having worked his way up from minor to important positions on the old Sheboygan & Fond du Lac railroad, up to the time of its taking over by the Chicago and Northwestern railway company, then going to the Phoenix Chair company, first as clerk under Tom Blackstock, and later as the company's bill clerk, and in 1888 organizing the Sheboygan Chair company with Will Braasch; be he was also much given to outdoor life, helping the Isaac Walton league to make a good start, going on many fishing expeditions, some including trips like the one to the Nippigon region in Canada.
Tom contributed time and means to a fund for taking care of the Black River refuge, in charge of the Isaac Walton league, the Black River region having all his life been near his heart, He was a very active member of the Sheboygan Gun and Rod club, and was as good a hunter as he was an adept fisherman.
From the time of its founding, Tom McNeill was a member of St. Clement's church of Sheboygan, and he also was affiliated with the Knights of Wisconsin, of the Catholic Order of Foresters, and of the Knights of Columbus. He was an active church member and attendant.
Tom McNeill was born in Boston, Mass., in 1854, and he came to Sheboygan County two years later, his parents settling on a farm near Sheboygan.
Ye editor was in close contact with Tom McNeill during a number of years while both were in the employ of the Phoenix Chair company, and in the course of ye editor's reports to the company he frequently remarked on the condition of the corn crop in Nebraska and Iowa, and every time he came home Tom would ask him about the corn in the two states.
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