Benjamin Mason Nealley was born in Nottingham, NH Oct. 3, 1811, the son of Benjamin M. and Sally (Ford) Nealley. He came to Dover in 1824 and started working as a bobbin boy in the upper factory cotton mill. He worked for the Cocheco Manufacturing Co. until 1834 when he went to work for the Portsmouth Manufacturing Co. in So. Berwick, Maine. He married Aug. 8, 1836, Miss Abbie Pray daughter of James and Annie (Fogg) Pray who was born March 1, 1817 and died in Dover Jan. 29, 1895. Mr. Nealley later worked in Biddeford, Me. and Salem, Mass. He returned to Dover in 1877 and died there at his residence 260 Washington Street on July 29, 1888 at 77 years of age. Benjamin and Abbie Nealley had nine children but only four of them lived to adulthood. These four were two sons; Benjamin Franklin and John Haven; and two daughters; Josephine who married Frank C. Deering and resided in Saco, Me. and Marie Emma who married Robert H. Foss.
Photograph from Dover Public Library archives, text from Marston, Robert, Dover, NH: People, Businesses and Organizations: 1850 to 1950. Dover, NH, 2004.