Neal was born near Clayton, Texas, and was the daughter of William Lafayette and Martha Neal, who had both come to Texas from Georgia in search of better opportunities. Second of four children, she lived in nearby Carthage for much of her life. It was in Carthage that she had her first encounter with state politics, when Governor of TexasJohn Ireland came to speak in 1885 or 1886; she would later speak of the impression which his visit had made on her. She attended Sam Houston State Teachers College, but did not graduate. She spent a short time teaching in her native Panola County and in Fort Worth before returning to Carthage in 1903; even so, she retained an interest in education for the remainder of her life. Her return was due primarily to the failing health of her mother. Her father had purchased the local weekly newspaper, the Texas Mule, and she became its editor and publisher. She renamed it the East Texas Register and helmed it until its sale in 1911. She was one of the first women in Texas to publish a newspaper, and was known for her progressivism. Neal was heavily active in local civic affairs from early in her career. In 1921 she became the first woman on the board of regents of State Teachers Colleges, remaining in the position until 1927. She chaired efforts in her district to gain women's suffrage, and was the first woman in the county to vote. First woman on the State Democratic Executive Committee, she was a delegate to the 1920 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. She also was a board member of the Texas Society for Crippled Children. In 1926 Neal was elected from Panola County as a Texas State Senator; she would go on to serve four terms. It was her passion for education which took her to Austin; her frustration at the legislature's inability to raise the standard of academics led to her decision to run, which was supported by her family. Hers was the bill that created the Texas State Board of Education, and she sponsored a bill introducing physical education into schools. She also helped to establish the Texas Centennial Commission, and was a member of the committee which chose "Texas, Our Texas" as the state song. She supported mandatory study of both state and national constitutions, and was crucial to passage of legislation appropriating funds for rural schools. She assisted in crafting legislation to assist in the rehabilitation of the handicapped. Neal was the only woman in the entire legislature for the first of her four terms; she remained the only woman in the Senate until her departure. For much of her political career she supported the work of Governor Dan Moody. Neal was an alternate delegate-at-large to the 1928 Democratic National Convention; though she did not support the nomination of Al Smith as the party's candidate, she did support him once his nomination was secure; many of her fellow Texans did not. She was a delegate again to the convention in 1932, and with Henry Pomeroy Miller spearheaded the Roosevelt-Garner ticket's efforts in Texas. She next traveled to Washington, D.C. in 1935 to begin a career with the National Recovery Administration and Social Security Administration. She secured a transfer back to her home state, working in San Antonio and Dallas as a community facilities analyst with the Manpower Commission. Upon her resignation in 1945 she returned to Carthage, where she remained active in the community. She never married. On June 15, 1952 a party was held in her honor in her hometown; among the speakers were then-Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, Governor Allan Shivers, and Oveta Culp Hobby; Hobby had known her since her time in the State Senate. Neal died in Carthage in 1971. She is buried there in the Oddfellows Cemetery. Her archive is held at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin. A Texas Historical Marker in Carthage honors her achievements, as does a large sign marking her grave.
