Marcus Neely McCartney was the son of John Franklin McCartney and Elizabeth McGee McCartney. His father John was a successful teacher, attorney, publisher, farmer and volunteer soldier. His mother, Elizabeth, died in 1864, while her husband was away fighting in the Civil War. She left two children, Jane Elizabeth age 3 and Marcus age 2. They were raised by a step-mother, Minnie Lukens McCartney, whom their father married in 1866.

The following biographical notes on Marcus McCartney appear in Pulaski County, Illinois Genealogy Notes Volume 1 1988. Compiled By Wanda L. Atherton, Glenna Connant Badgley and Martha W. McMunn. Published by The Genealogy Society of Southern Illinois, C/O John A. Logan College, Carterville, Illinois 62918.

"Marcus N. McCartney
Marcus N. McCartney, son of J. F. and Elizabeth, was born in Metropolis IL on 12 Feb 1862. Educated in Metropolis he worked at the Times newspaper, taught at Kincaid School when he was 17 for $25 per month. He taught at Unionville in 1881 and 1882...In 1884 and 1885 he taught at Grand Chain...At the age of 24 he spent three years at Mound City...He graded the school and established the high school...He established Lovell and Lovejoy Schools and left in 1894. Marcus was at Vienna in Johnson County, IL for seven years and graded the system there as well as starting a high school. He lifted schools wherever he was.

He had attended the Old Metropolis Seminary, Normal at Normal and Holbrook Normal University of Lebanon, Ohio and Columbus University. He married Ida Huckleberry of Mound City on 29 Aug 1895/ She was born in Metropolis to David and Mary Herrington Huckleberry. He died in 1934. Ida (1863-1961) was a beloved teacher in Metropolis..."

In addition to the above-mentioned school positions, he and Ida both taught high school for a time in Stoddard County, Missouri, where they lived with their two daughters, Marcia May and Alice Elizabeth in 1910. Their first child, Mary Neely, had died before her second birthday.

By 1920, the family had returned to Vienna, Johnson Co., Illinois, then finally returned to Metropolis in Massac County.