Representative Raphael Neale

Raphael Neale (died October 19, 1833) was an American politician who represented the state of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives in the early nineteenth century. He was born in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, in the late colonial or early national period, though the exact date of his birth is not recorded in surviving sources. Neale spent his life in St. Mary’s County and resided in Leonardtown, the county seat and an important local center of commerce and government in southern Maryland.

Neale received a limited formal education, a circumstance typical of many public men of his region and era who relied on self-education, practical experience, and local prominence to enter public life. He became identified with the Federalist Party, which had a significant base of support in parts of Maryland during the early decades of the United States. Through his local standing in St. Mary’s County and his alignment with Federalist principles, he rose to sufficient prominence to seek and win national office.

Neale’s principal public career was his service in the United States Congress. As a member of the Unknown Party representing Maryland—an indication of later uncertainty in classification of his precise party label—he contributed to the legislative process during three terms in office. He was elected as a Federalist to the Sixteenth Congress (1819–1821) and the Seventeenth Congress (1821–1823), and was reelected as an Adams-Clay Federalist to the Eighteenth Congress (1823–1825). In total, he served from March 4, 1819, to March 3, 1825, representing his Maryland constituency in the House of Representatives.

Neale’s congressional service occurred during a significant period in American history, following the War of 1812 and during the so‑called “Era of Good Feelings,” when older party lines were shifting and new political alignments were emerging. His identification in his final term as an Adams-Clay Federalist placed him among those Federalists and former Federalists who supported John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, particularly on questions of national development and internal improvements. During his three terms, Neale participated in the democratic process and represented the interests of his constituents from St. Mary’s County and the surrounding region, contributing to debates and votes on issues that helped shape the young republic in the years leading up to the contentious presidential election of 1824.

After leaving Congress at the close of the Eighteenth Congress on March 3, 1825, Neale returned to private life in Leonardtown. Although specific details of his later activities are sparse, he remained a figure rooted in the community in which he had long lived and from which he had drawn his political support. He continued to reside in Leonardtown until his death there on October 19, 1833, closing a career that linked local leadership in southern Maryland with service in the national legislature during a formative era of the United States.