William Donelson Neal

William Donelson Neal (June 18, 1908 – December 18, 1994) was an American who served as the 33rd and 35th State Auditor of Mississippi, serving from 1952 to 1956 and from 1960 to 1964.

Early life William Donelson Neal was born in Carroll County, Mississippi, on June 18, 1908. He was one of two sons of Charles Albert Neal (1875-1949), and Katherine Clyde Mullen Neal. Charles was a Spanish-American War veteran who worked in the Mississippi State Auditor's office. William's mother died when he was young and his father remarried in 1911.

Career In 1938, he purchased the Carrollton newspaper The Conservative, which he published until 1957. He sold the newspaper to Billy McMillian in the early 1960s. In 1934, Neal became the Town Clerk of Carrollton, and he served until 1942. He was then elected Superintendent of Education for Carroll County, and served two terms from 1940 to 1948. Neal received the plurality of votes in the first primary. In the second primary on August 28, he faced Roper only. According to Neal's plan, the profits, of which he estimated would be $15 million, would be given to the school system within 20 years. Neal issued a public statement on July 5 saying that Craig's claims were false.

1959-1973 He was re-elected Auditor, unopposed, in 1959 for the 1960-1964 term. During this term, Neal worked with the Legislature again to pass a bill, this time creating a general accounting office in Mississippi's Department of Public Accounts, in 1962.

After his second term ended, Neal became a statistician with Mississippi's Department of Public Accounts. They had three sons: William Donelson Jr., Ben Carmichael, and John Rice. The family moved from Carrollton to Jackson in 1952. Neal died of a heart attack in a hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, on December 18, 1994. He was survived by two of his sons, 11 grandchildren, and 29 great-grandchildren.