Notes for: Matthew Neely

Captain Matthew Neely, who figured so conspicuously in the early history of the county, was the son of Captain John Neely, a distinguished soldier of the Revolution. He was born in Clarksburg, Virginia [now West Virginia], in the year 1793, and at the age of twenty, served in the American army against Great Britain in the war of 1812. In 1832 he removed to the west and found a home within the limits of what is now Doddridge county, the site of his location being then a part of Harrison county. He served two years as high sheriff of that county, and upon the organization of Doddridge became, by appointment of his excellency, her first high sheriff, in which capacity he served four years. He served for many years as a justice of the peace in one or the other of their counties, lived to a ripe old age, and died respected by all who knew him. His son, Floyd Neely, was elected sheriff of the county in 1860, again in 1863 [the first under the constitution of the new State], once more in 1870, and again in 1872, when the present constitution was adopted, and in 1879 he was chosen a member of the house of delegates for two years.

Source: Hardesty's 1883 History of Doddridge County
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wvpioneers/doddridgecountyhistory.html