Dr. John H. Neeley
1870-1934  Horticulturist
Paulding Democrat
Memorial  

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Dear Mr. Snook:
     Although a stranger to you I am taking the liberty of addressing you on a subject I trust will be of interest to both.
     The Fairfield Garden Club is to devote one of its regular meetings as a memorial to Dr. John H. Neeley.  Of course you know he was a native of Fairfield County as well as having many friends here.  It devolves upon me to deliver the principal paper of the evening.
     I think I am in possession of all the essential facts of his early life; birth schooling, ancestry, habits, ancestry, etc.
     I am not, however, so well informed concerning his life in Paulding.  I know that it is asking a good deal of you to assist me, but I hope it may be a labor of love to do so.  
     I may say that I am familiar with your article in "The Flower Grower" of June, 1928.  It is very helpful.
     Perhaps I can best put my wants in the form of questions.  You need not answer in that order.
     What did John H. Neely mean to Paulding?  Did he ever hold public office?  Was he instrumental in procuring a Public Library?  Was he instrumental in procuring school work?  Was he interested in Church work? Was he interested in Fraternal work?  What started him in gardening work? and when? What has he originated?  I know of Glads, Peonies, and Poppies, but do not know their names.
     Of course, I know his garden in a general way and have several issues of his "Garden of Friendships", so I know something of what it contains.  What I want more than anything else are characteristic stories of his personality, garden, etc.   What outstanding awards did he win?  Was he as outstanding in his profession as he made himself in the field of gardening?  Did he write anything for publication, either in the flower world, archeology or other? Thanking you in advance I am,
Yours Truly,
Gilbert S. Dey
424 E. 64th Ave
Lancaster, Ohio.

Following is Judge Snook's reply:
Paulding, Ohio
December 31, 1934
Mr. Gilbert S. Dey
Lancaster, Ohio.

My Dear Mr. Dey:
     I surely am glad to learn that your Garden club plans to devote one of its meetings as a memorial to Dr. Neeley.  I am glad to say that I was one of his nearest friends.
     I visited with him at his home, and in his office and we took many trips together to visit flower shows, gardens and peony farms.  I found him always to be a modest, high class gentleman, seemingly unconscious of his ability.  Referring to the article in "The Flower Grower."  Madison Cooper had written him requesting that he prepare and send him for publication an article on his life and work.  
     With his usual modesty he showed me Cooper's letter and said he could not write about himself and wondered if I would comply with Cooper's request.  He gave me the information and it was in this way that the little article came to be published.  I am sure his modesty was such that he would never have consented to write about himself.  Such truly was the man.  
     He often talked with me about his early life in Fairfield County, and the days he spent on his father's farm and in the country school.  From his talk you could see that even then, he was interested in outdoor life, and that as a boy he learned about all the birds that lived in that country, their habits and their songs.  He told me too about the flowers and shrubs and trees, what one grow on the low lands and what on the hills.  He could tell you just about all there was to know about such things. It was a subject in which he was interested from his earliest boyhood to his very last days.
     This being so he was a great admirer of John Burroughs and we often discussed his books.  
     He had, by far the widest and yet the most accurate knowledge on birds, insects, trees, shrubs, vines and flowers of any man it has ever been my privilege to know.
     His opinion was sought by growers all over the country and for many years he kept a personal correspondence with flower growers in every part of the United States.  Just prior to his death he and several other growers were corresponding with Perry of England arranging to catalogue all the varieties of Oriental Poppies.
     I often wondered how he found time to keep up this correspondence but he seemed to enjoy it thoroughly for he would saying this way he was keeping up with the times as well as making many friendships.
     He was a man of fine personality and an outstanding figure at all the flower shows which he attended.  He was a member of the seedling committee of the National Peony Society formed for the purpose of passing on the merit of all new seedlings exhibited at the annual National Peony Shows.
     He was awarded the first prize at both the National Peony Shows held at Ft. Wayne, Indiana, in the advanced amateur class for a showing of 50 or more varieties.  His garden was visited every year by people from every part of the country.
     No wonder he named it "A Garden of Friendships" for most of the flowers and plants were gladly contributed by or secured through exchange with friends.  If you have a copy of one of his circulars you will see that he had about all of the newest and best things that are to be had. 
     Now to try to answer the specific questions you ask.
     What did Dr. Neeley mean to Paulding?
     I suppose no man is ever appraised by his true worth by the people among whom he lives.  But I feel sure that it could be said almost unanimously that we have never had a citizen who did more for the community than he.  You would be surprised to see how his example influenced others to have gardens and grow flowers.  There are very few towns of our size any where that have so many flower gardens and still fewer that can show so many rare varieties.  And I attribute it all to his influence.
     He was a man of great integrity and therefore very successful in his profession, always carrying on his work on the highest place.
     Did he ever hold a Public Office?
     Never any that carried a salary, such he would not accept.  But for years he was a member of The Board of Education and Trustee of the Public Library.  In both capacities he gave the very highest kind of service.
     Was he interested in Church work?  He was an active member of the Christian Church and for many years teacher of the Men's Bible Class.  He gave a good deal of time to this work.  He often discussed it with me.  He was quite independent in his thought and liked to lay out a course of work at times that was suggested by his reading or study.  He used the lecture method and illustrated his talks from history, literature and incidents from every day life.  He was fond also of poetry and often he would devote a whole lesson to poetry, reciting poem after poem, and stopping to point out the moral or philosophy which he thought the author intended to express.  In this work too he quoted often form McGuffey's Readers, of which he was a great admirer.
     Was he interested in Fraternal work?  He was a Mason and attended lodge and sometimes took part in the work, but he did not seem to care to be an officer of the Lodge.  Nearly all of the time he could spare from his professional work was devoted to his home, to reading and to his garden.
     You also ask if I can tell what started him in his garden work.  I do not know for sure but I believe it was innate love of the beautiful as he saw it expressed in flower and shrub.  He did not seem to be so much interested in the form or plan of the garden however as he did in the form color and perfection of the individual blossom as he was always trying through cross fertilization and cultivation to get a new and more beautiful flower and in this he had no little success.
     In his pamphlet "A Garden of Friendships" he lists some of the Peonies, Gladioli, Iris and Oriental Poppies which he grew from seed and which are different from any grown up to that time.  The pamphlets do not have the names of all he originated for he was constantly culling and selecting from the hundreds of seedlings he had growing at all times.
     Most of the peonies that he thought good enough to name came from a single years sowing and were selected from something like about a thousand plants.  The percentage of worth while plants from this one sowing is the highest I have every known.  In his latest pamphlet he lists as his own seedlings, 1055 and 100 to 109.  I have seen all of these and feel sure that each one has some merit and there at least a dozen or more that rate away the best yet produced.
     Among those are Gloranna, Pride of Paulding, Floweret of Eden, Mrs. J.H. Neeley, Ward Welch and Harry Burden.
     He began very early in his garden to collect Oriental Poppies and he was so successful that at the time of his death he had one of the finest, if not the finest collection of these flowers in the world. Here, too, he grew a great many new ones from seed, some of which he considered good enough to name.  I realize how difficult it was to pick out the best flower in any variety and that judges are likely to differ in their choice, but to my way of thinking, his poppy named after his wife, Lulu A. Neeley, is the best that has yet been produced.  His Cavalier Poppy is also well known.  
     He also grew many Gladioli from seed, some of these he thought good enough to name and found listed in "A Garden of Friendships".  The same is true of Iris.  In his garden will be found one of the finest collection of the newer varieties of Iris to be found in a private garden any where.  
     One of the finest memorials that any one could have was bestowed on him while he was still alive was when Ward Welch of the Good & Welch Company, Springfield, Ohio named the finest seedling they every produced, "Dr. J.H. Neeley".  I am sure this Peony will help to keep his name and fame fresh in the memories of all Peony growers, for truly it is one of the most beautiful flowers in the world.
     I copy the following from the December 1934 number of the Peony Bulletin which gives the names of some of his seedling Peonies, Poppies, and Glads, and I have added a few names from memory.
     We have recently heard of the passing of Dr. J.H. Neeley of Paulding, Ohio.  Dr. Neeley has been a member of the American Peony Society for a number of years and was also on the permanent Seedling Committee.  His work with the Oriental Poppy has been outstanding.  Lulu A. Neeley, one of his older originations, is one of the finest Poppies now in commerce.  Cavalier, Echo, Enchantresse, June Delight, Purity, Mary Jane Miller, are among the outstanding recently introduced in the Poppy world.  Among his peony introductions are Gloriana, Pride of Paulding, Floweret of Eden, Ward Welch, Mrs. J.H. Neeley, Harry Burden, Herat's Idol, Star of Hop and Leto Jap.  In gladiolus we have Beauty's Queen, Storm Cloud, Bright Wings, Fairy Lantern, Winter King and Golden Promise.

Yours truly,
John S. Snook
Paulding, Ohio