Edward A. O'Neal

Dublin Core

Title

Edward A. O'Neal

Subject

Edward A. O'Neal

Description

Edward A. O’Neal was born on September 20, 1818, in Madison County, Alabama. His parents were Edward and Rebecca Wheat O’Neal. O’Neal graduated from La Grange College and worked as a lawyer in Florence. He served as a solicitor of the Fourth Judicial District. He was married to Olivia Moore O’Neal. They made their home in Florence, Alabama. They had several children. A son, Emmet O’Neal, would become Governor of Alabama in 1911.

O’Neal supported secession and raised a company from Lauderdale County: the 9th Alabama Regiment. O’Neal joined the Confederate army at the beginning of the Civil War with the rank of Captain. He was steadily promoted from captain to colonel. He served in the Army of Northern Virginia under General Robert E. Lee as a colonel in the 26th Alabama. Later he served under General Joseph Johnston and General John Bell Hood. Before the war’s end, O’Neal had obtained the rank of brigadier general. He and his men were engaged in battle at Yorktown, the Battle of Seven Pines, the Seven Days’ Battle, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Franklin, and Nashville, among others.

After the war, O’Neal continued to practice law. He was elected to the Constitutional Convention in 1875. While at the convention he helped to pass Section 9, Article 13, a measure that sanctioned the reform of the state education system. O’Neal was elected the twenty-seventh governor of Alabama in 1882 and again in 1884. He passed away on November 7, 1890. His remains are interred in the Florence Cemetery.

Creator

Kayla Scott, University of North Alabama

Source

William Lindsey McDonald, A Walk Through The Past: People and Places of Florence and Lauderdale County, Alabama. (Bluewater Publications, 2003), 50-52.

Robert S. Steen, History of Foster House- Courtview- Rogers Hall and Early City of Florence . Florence: University of North Alabama, No Date, 66-67.

Image of Edward A. O'Neal courtesy of UNA Collier Library Archives

Images of Edward A. O'Neal Home and Historic Sign, Kayla Scott

Publisher

Alabama Cultural Resource Survey

Date

1818-1890

Format

Image