The family of which Albert Neis is a well known and highly esteemed representative was founded in Fort Smith, Arkansas, when this now thriving city was but little more than a frontier military post, and the name which he bears has been identified with the history of this place for nearly seventy years, during all of which period it has stood exponent of loyal citizenship and productive effort along normal lines of enterprise. Mr. Neis has been a resident of Fort Smith from the time of his nativity to the present and as a representative of one of the city's sterling pioneer families and as a progressive and public spirited citizen he is well entitled to consideration in this history of his native commonwealth.

Albert Neis was born in Fort Smith, on the 19th of March, 1854, and was here reared and educated. Here he has been identified with various lines of enterprise and for the past several years he has given his attention principally to the real estate business, including the handling of timber lands in this and other states. His operations have been of no inconsiderable scope and he is one of the leading factors in this field of enterprise in his native city at the present time. Mr. Neis is a son of Anton and Catherine (Sengel) Neis, both of whom were born in the province of Alsace-Loraine, France, now a part of the German empire, and both of whom were of staunch French ancestry. The paternal grandfather of Anton Neis was a French soldier who came to America with Marquis de la Fayette, in the command of which gallant officer he assisted the colonists in throwing off the yoke of oppression and gaining the boon of national liberty. He returned to his native land after the war of the American Revolution and there passed the residue of his life. Anton Neis was born in the year 1818 and was reared to maturity in his native land, where he learned the trade of butcher. In 1839, shortly after attaining to his legal majority, he came to America, and he worked at his trade in New York City, Frankfort, Kentucky, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Lexington, Missouri. From the last mentioned place he came to Arkansas in 1844 and established his home in Fort Smith, whose chief claim for attention at that time was in its being a government military post on the frontier of civilization. In 1845 he enlisted in the United States army, in the command of General Zachary Taylor, who was then in command of Fort Smith, and he served with loyalty and valor throughout the course of the Mexican war, after which he continued in the army for some time, within which he was stationed at various frontier posts and in which connection he participated in many conflicts with the Indians. In 1845, before his enlistment in the army, he had married Miss Catherine Sengel, and she was with him at several of the military posts in which he was stationed on the frontier, in the Indian service. After retiring from the army he engaged in business at Fort Smith, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred on the 1st of August, 1890, at which time he was seventy-two years of age. He was a man of strong character and inflexible integrity and he ever held the unqualified esteem of the community that so long represented his home and of which he was a pioneer. The mother died in June, 1871. In politics Albert Neis has ever accorded a staunch allegiance to the cause of the Democratic party, though he has had no desire for public office. He has been essentially progressive and public-spirited as a citizen and at all times has shown his loyalty to and affection for his native city and state. In the year 1903 Mr. Neis was united in marriage to Miss Pauline Fleming, who was born and reared in Fort Smith.