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Portland, Oregon - Its History and Builders, S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago-Portland, 1911
Pages 97-8

OSCAR ALMAMEN NEAL.

Oscar Almamen Neal, of the law firm of Wilson & Neal, was born at Hood River, Wasco county, Oregon, October 11, 1870. His parents were Jesse and Lucy M. Neal, natives of Indiana and New York respectively. The former was a son of Peter Neal and the latter was a daughter of Kitridge Read. The father was a farmer by occupation and came to Oregon in 1843, being among those to whom the occupancy of the state meant the development of its business interests and not the temporary search for gold which, if found, should be spent in the east. He came here to make a home and bore an active part in the early and substantial development of the state. His wife became a resident of Oregon in 1853.
Oscar Almamen Neal was only ten years of age when his father died, and with his mother, brother and sister he removed to Marion county, Oregon, where he lived until 1897, when he came to Portland. His youth was spent upon a farm until about 1891. In the meantime he had acquired a good education by attending the public schools at Turner, Oregon, from 1882 until his graduation in the year 1890. Previous to this he had spent one year as a pupil in the public school at Hood River. As previously stated, he remained upon the farm until 1891. In the following year he began learning the trade of the blacksmith and carriage worker, which he continued to follow until the fall of 1897, when he abandoned it for the purpose of entering upon the study of law. In the fall of that year he matriculated in the law school of the University of Oregon at Portland and was graduated therefrom in June, 1899, with the degree of L.L.B. Following his admission to the bar he began practice in Portland in the office of A. King Wilson by whom he had been previously employed as a stenogra-pher. In 1906 he formed a partnership with Mr. Wilson and since that date has continued the practice of law as a member of the firm of Wilson & Neal, with offices at the present time at No. 631 Chamber of Commerce building. Recognizing the fact that in no profession does advancement depend more largely upon individual merit than in the law, Mr. Neal bent every energy toward mastering the principles of jurisprudence and his preparation of cases has been most painstaking and thorough. He quickly sees the relation of cause and effect, and gives to each point in the case its due relative prominence, while never for a moment losing sight of the important point upon which the decision of every case finally turns.
Mr. Neal's military record covers three years' connection with the Oregon National Guard, He is a member of the legal fraternity known as the Phi Delta Phi and his political support is given to the republican party, with which he has been identified since casting his first presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison in 1892. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and exemplifies in his life those principles of honorable manhood which in every land and clime awaken confidence and regard.
On the 18th of February, 1902 in Portland, Mr. Neal was united in marriage to Miss Margaret J. Sinclair, who was born in Illinois and came to Portland in 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Neal are widely and favorably known socially while in his law practice Mr. Neal has gained a position which is the direct result of close and unremitting effort and the wise use of the innate talents with which nature endowed him.