James Winston NEELY

4 Feb 1904 - 17 Aug 1994

Father: John William NEELY
Mother: Daisy Dean HOLLAND

Family 1 : Elsie NORRIS


Family 2 : Betty J. GOODMAN 


                                                         ________________________
                       _________________________________|
                      |                                 |________________________
 _John William NEELY _|
|                     |                                  ________________________
|                     |_________________________________|
|                                                       |________________________
|
|--James Winston NEELY 
|
|                                                             _James HOLLAND _________
|                           _William Henry Harrison HOLLAND _|
|                          |                                 |_Jane RED ______________
|_Daisy Dean HOLLAND ______|
                           |                                  _Edward Ausburn WRIGHT _+
                           |_Sarah Elizabeth WRIGHT _________|
                                                             |_Rebecca CHAPPELL ______+

Notes:

Also known as James Winston Neely, Jr., and Dr. J. Winston Neely.
Enumerated with his parents in the 1920 Census for McCrory, AR as Wenston J(Census spelling), age 13.

From Gene Neely:
  When it came time to pick a name for him, Daisy had to come up with a name matching her husband's initials J(ohn) W(illiam), according to naming conventions for first-born sons popular at that time. James was an easy solution for the J, though the W was much more difficult. However Daisy was on a train ride to some place while pregnant, and a Mrs. Winston was very kind to her. Later, when her son was born, she derived his name from this person. Winston was called James while he was living in McCrory, though they called him Winston, when the family moved to Siloam Springs. He continued to use that name when he went off to the various universities and established his scientific career. After he got married though, his wife thought Winston was too stuffy, and called him Jim instead.  
  A model pupil, James, still managed to cause some mischief as a boy growing up in McCrory, despite his later academic achievements. In particular, there was one time, when he decided that he did not want to spend the rest of the day in school. So he organized a group of boys to circle the iron stove in the middle of the classroom as a diversionary tactic and then he pushed the hot stove over. They indeed had to close the school down until they could get some men to upright the stove.  

  (Copied from Jan Moody)
Winston Neely's grade school class -- possibly McCrory, AR		  
     
  (enlargement from above)  

From Who's Who in the South and Southwest, 16th edition, 1978-1978, p. 534:

  NEELY, J(AMES) WINSTON, plant breed; b. Cotton Plant, Ark., Feb. 4, 1906; s. James William and Daisy (Holland) N.; B. S. U. Ark., 1928; Ph. D., Cornell U., 1935; m. Elsie Norris, June 13, 1935 (dec.); 1 son, Eugene Trahin; m. 2d, Betty J. Goodman, Jan. 13, 1973. Asst. in agronomy U. Ark., 1929-30, Cornell U., 1930-35; geneticist U. S. Dept. Agr., 135-46; plant breeder Stoneville (Miss.) Predigreed Seed Co., 1946-51; v.p., dir. plant breeding Coker's Pedigreed Seed Co., Hartsville, S. C., 1951-71, cons., 1971--; exec. v. p. S. C. Soybean Assn. 1971-72; adviser Clemson Coll., U. S. Dept. Agr. assns. and orgns; pres. S. C. Agronomy Soc. 1973-74. Fellow A. A. A. S., Am. Soc. Agr.; mem. Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi. Presbyn. Home: 203 Holly Dr. Hartsville, SC 295550.  

From a newspaper clipping in his sister's, Alta, scrapbook:
  Wedding of Former Siloam
Springs Man is Announced 		 
  Siloam Springs, Ark. June 22 - (Special) - The Wedding of Miss Elsie Norris of Columbus, Miss., and Dr. James Winston Neely of Stoneville, Miss., formerly of Siloam Springs, was celebrated at the First Methodist church in Columbus June 13.
The bride entered with her uncle, Mr. R. O. Norris of Grenada, who gave her in marriage. She was gowned in a sport type model of Matelease crepe with turban of the same and nose veil of malene. Her bouquet was of brides roses and lilies of the valley. Unusual sentiment was attached to the wedding ring, which had been worn by the bride's mother and grandmother.
After the ceremony Dr. and Mrs. Neely left upon a bridal trip to New Orleans and other points. Afterward they will be at home in Stoneville.
Mrs. Neely who has been a member of the home economics faculty at Lee high school for several years, is the daughter of Mrs. Willie Norris of Columbus. She was graduated from Mississippi State college for women.
Dr. Neely is a graduate of the University of Arkansas and Cornell university and a member of the Phi Kappa Phi, the Sigma Xi fraternities. He is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Neely of Siloam Springs, Ark. Dr. Neely holds the position of geneticist in the bureau of plant industry of the United States department of agriculture with headquarters at the Delta experiment station at Stoneville.		  

(Copied from Jan Moody)

A "J. Winston Neely Fellowship Fund" was set up in 1985 by the Agronomy Society of South Carolina at Clemson University, SC, named "to honor the second recipient of the Distinguished Agronomist Award."
From a contribution letter from this society sent to me by Jan Moody:
  Dr. J. Winston Neely made many contributions to his profession and to the Society during his very active career. He is a native of Cotton Plant, Arkansas where he was born on February 4, 1906. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1928 where he also worked as an Plant Breeding Assistant. He worked as an Associated Agronomist at Cornell University from 1930 to 1935 where he received his Ph. D. in genetics in 1935. From 1934 to 1935, Dr. Neely was employed as an Assistant Agronomist with the Soil Erosion Service, USDA, and from 1935 to 1946, he was a Geneticist at the Stoneville Experimental Station, Stoneville, Mississippi. From 1946-1951, he was a plant breeder with Stoneville Pedigreed Seed Company, Stoneville, Mississippi. In 1951, Dr. Neely moved to Hartsville, South Carolina where he began work with Coker's Pedigreed Seed Company as Vice-President and Director of Plant Breeding and Research, a position he held until his retirement from the company in 1971 at the age 65.
Dr. Neely continued to work as a consultant after retirement, and he was very active in both professional and civic affairs. He served as President of the Agronomy Society of South Carolina in 1973-1974. In 1976, he was the recipient of the Society's Distinguished Agronomist Award.		  

(Copied from Jan Moody)

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This page created on 04/23/00 01:33:20 . Updated 06/20/01 22:48.