601 Broad St, LaGrange, GA 30240, United States
Edward A. O'Neal graduated with the highest honors from LaGrange College in 1836.
601 Broad St, LaGrange, GA 30240, United States
Edward A. O'Neal graduated with the highest honors from LaGrange College in 1836.
Edward Asbury O'Neal was born on September 20, 1818, in Madison County, Alabama. His father, Edward O'Neal, a native of Ireland, and his mother, Rebecca Wheat O'Neal, of Huguenot extraction, had removed from South Carolina shortly before his birth. When Edward was very young, his father died, and his mother, who appears to have been a woman of great force of character, managed the business affairs of the family.
Edward A. O'Neal graduated with the highest honors from LaGrange College in 1836.
Edward O'Neal was admitted to the bar in 1840, and began practice at Florence, Alabama. Within a year he was chosen by the state legislature to serve as a solicitor of the 4th circuit and held this office for four years. He was always interested in politics. He was a candidate for Congress in 1848 but was defeated. He became one of the leaders of the movement for secession in northern Alabama. In 1861 he enlisted in the Confederate army and was chosen major of the 9th Alabama Infantry. His promotion was rapid. In October of that year he became lieutenant-colonel, and the next spring he was raised to the rank of colonel and assigned to the 26th Alabama Infantry. He led his regiment in the battles of the Peninsular campaign, was wounded at the battle of Seven Pines and again at Boonsboro, led Rodes's Division in the battle of Chancellorsville, where he was again wounded, and he was in command of the same division at Gettysburg. Early in 1864, the 26th Alabama was returned to the state to recruit its ranks. From there it was sent to Dalton, Georgia, to aid in the defense against Sherman. He led Canty's Brigade at Marietta and at Peachtree Creek. He was relieved of his command after this campaign and placed on detached duty.
When the war closed, O'Neal was in Alabama arresting deserters from the Army of Tennessee. For the last eighteen months of the war he acted as brigadier-general, but he never received a commission. At the close of the war, he returned to Florence to resume the practice of his profession and his activity in politics. He was the leader of the Democratic party in northern Alabama during the Reconstruction period and a member of the constitutional convention of 1875.
In 1882, O'Neal was elected governor of the state and was reelected in 1884. His administration was a turning point in the history of Alabama. The development of the state, which had been arrested by the war and Reconstruction, was taken up again; the state was prosperous, and for the first time money was available for something more than necessities. His major interests during his administrations were education and prison reform.
The first steps toward prison reform were taken with the establishment of the board of convict inspectors. At the close of his administration, he returned to Florence and lived there until his death.
During O'Neal's service as the 26th Governor of Alabama, the state was taken up again after the war and Reconstruction. He started education and prison reforms: there were opened new schools, and the board of convict inspectors was established.
The O'Neal Bridge, over the Tennessee River between Florence and Sheffield, Alabama, is named in O'Neal's honor.
Edward Asbury O'Neal was a Bourbon Democrat who dealt with tax reduction, education, and prison reform issues during his terms in office. He was a strong believer in secession and advocated that Alabama should secede during the secession crisis of 1860.
Edward A. O'Neal was bore himself as a courageous and incorruptible public servant, earnestly devoted to Alabama and all her interests.
On April 12, 1838, Edward O'Neal was married to Olivia Moore at Huntsville. They had nine children.
