American publisher, born in the north of Ireland, in 1836, of Scotch descent; was apprenticed to John McWatters, a printer of Armagh, Ireland, for whom he worked for seven years, acquiring in that time an intimate knowledge of the detail of the printing and publishing business; removed to America in 1858, and in 1860 started a printing-office in Chicago, but soon after sold it and took charge of the Tribune job-office; in 1864 became associated with W. H. Rand in the formation of the Rand-McNally Company. The first noteworthy publication of the firm was the Rand-McNally Railway Guide, which appeared in 1869; since then they have been engaged in railroad-printing, map-engraving, and general publishing of all kinds. Mr. McNally was a director of the World’s Columbian Exposition, a vice-president of the Chicago National Bank, and president of the stock company which owned the Prairie Farmer, an agricultural paper having a large circulation in the West.
