Born and raised in East Moline, Illinois, Neil is the author of more than a dozen articles in such publications as the Journal of Illinois History, Two Cylinder and the John Deere Journal, and has been interviewed by CNN, Investor's Business Daily, and the Quad City Times, among others.

Neil’s interest in history began at an early age with family trips to Springfield, Illinois to visit the many Abraham Lincoln sites, and historic Midwest towns like Hannibal, Missouri, Monmouth and Galesburg, Illinois. His professional interest was sparked in high school after reading Michael Shaara’s ground-breaking book The Killer Angels.  This led to volunteer work at the Rock Island Arsenal Museum, and the Putnam Museum, then to the study of history and classics at Monmouth College. Neil’s senior research paper at Monmouth was later condensed and published in the Winter 2001 edition of the Journal of Illinois History, entitled "Rock Island Prison, 1863-1865: Andersonville of the North Dispelled."

With a passion for primary sources, Neil’s introduction to Archives came at Monmouth College. That led to an assistantship at the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (Charleston, IL) while completing his master’s degree in Historical Administration at Eastern Illinois University. Two years working at an archive in Virginia eventually led to his current position at the Deere & Company Corporate Archives in Moline, Illinois.

Writing has become a natural extension of Neil’s knowledge of the organization and usefulness of archives across the United States. Research for Lincoln’s Wrath included work at some of the United States' most important archival repositories, combined with the use of on-line searching tools which have become a valuable resource. Still, it is the handling of 150 year old documents that provide the inspiration behind his research. A computer generated record holds no comparison to the look and feel of an original letter or photograph, which often reveal information about a time and place a computer reproduction will never duplicate. Nor can a photograph of a place like Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor compete with the feeling of sitting in a whitewashed jail cell in the same place. History, he feels, should be touched, smelled, and experienced, as it is only then that the past becomes relevant to our present place and time.

Neil lives in Moline, Illinois with his wife Karen, an admissions counselor at Augustana College.

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