A farmer of Section 10, Crawford County, Iowa was born in Sharon Township, Clinton County, Iowa, April 20, 1857, a son of Philip and Mary (Nichols) McNally, natives respectively of Ireland and Scotland. He was educated in the district schools of Harrison County. John had 7 brothers and sisters: Mary L., James, P. T. (formerly a teacher in Harrison, Crawford and Monona counties and later a principal of schools in Minnesota), Lucie E., Francis Louis, Peter C., and Rose A. L. John E. had been a farmer, but from 1879-1888, he began farming and teaching in Shelby County. He taught in Harrison, Shelby, Crawford, and Monona Counties. Mr. McNally was married in Harrison County on February 10, 1889, to Anna L. Wright, a native of Magnolia, Harrison County. She was the daughter of W. H. H. and Lucy M. (Goodrich) Wright, natives of Wisconsin and Ohio, and of Scotch-Irish and Scotch descent. Mrs. McNally was a teacher of Crawford and Harrison Counties before she married John E. They had two children: Ruth Ann and Mary Frances.