1. WILLIAM1 O'NEALL is reported to have been born on 5 November 1734 in Christiana, New Castle County, Delaware. William "Neall" married Mary Frost on 6 July 1761 in Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia. He died on 5 November 1786 in Bush River, Newberry County (in Ninety-Six District), South Carolina, at age 52. John Belton O'Neall wrote, "William died on Bush river; his body rests in the graveyard of Friends, near Mendenhall's Mills."
He moved with his parents, Hugh O'Neall and Anne Cox, circa 1750 to "the Susquehanna." He moved with his mother, Anne Cox, after Hugh O'Neall's death to Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia. He was a farmer, a wagon driver and a miller. He was also known as William Neall in the Hopewell Meeting Minutes. He was a Friend (Quaker). He and Mary Frost were tentatively granted a certificate to Watere Monthly Meeting (Kershaw County, South Carolina) on 6 May 1765 by Hopewell Monthly Meeting. They were "lodged in the hands of Jonathan Parkins till his [William O'Neall's] affairs are fully settled." He and Mary Frost were then granted a removal certificate to Watere Monthly Meeting circa August 1765 by Hopewell Monthly Meeting. On 4 October 1766, William O'Neall petitioned for a land grant on Mudlick Creek, Berkley (now Newberry) County, South Carolina. The petition was for 150 acres, which were surveyed on 13 October 1766. The survey was certified by order of council on 7 April 1772. The land was granted on 21 May 1772, with quitrent to commence in 2 years. The memorial was signed on 13 August 1772 by William O'Neall and delivered on 15 August 1772. The memorial for the land grant of John O'Neall on 2 August 1768 on Mudlick Creek, Berkley (now Newberry) County, was signed by William O'Neall, 21 March 1775. He petitioned for a land grant on 2 August 1768 on Mudlick Creek, Craven (now Newberry) County, South Carolina. The petition was for 200 acres, which were surveyed on 31 December 1768. The survey was certified by order of council on 3 September 1771 and the land was granted on 23 December 1771, with quitrent to commence in 2 years. The memorial was signed by William O'Neall on 24 March 1772 and was delivered on 15 August 1772 to William O'Neall. The land grant of Henry O'Neall on 7 May 1771 on Beaverdam Branch of Little River, Berkely County, South Carolina, was delivered to William O'Neall, 5 May 1775. The land grant of Hugh O'Neall on 5 November 1771 on Little River, Berkely County, was delivered to William O'Neall, 5 May 1775.
Life in South Carolina was not always simple. "The incursion of the Cherokees on the 30th of June, '76, drove the settlers nearest the frontiers from their homes. William O'Neall, with his family, fled from Mudlick to Benj. Pearson's, near Kellys old store, now Springfield." (The Annals of Newberry). He and Mary Frost moved to Bush River, Ninety-Six District (now Newberry County), South Carolina, in 1779. "In 1780, when Charleston fell, William O'Neall and family lived at the place, about a mile west of Bobo's Mills, and on the southwest side of Bush river. He then owned the mill, known for thirty years as O'Neall's, now [i.e., about 1850] owned by Dr. J. E. Bobo, about one and a half miles below Mendenhall's." ( The Annals of Newberry).
The Revolutionary War spared neither Bush River nor the family of William O'Neall. In 1781, a Tory regiment, part of General Tarleton's command, was pursuing a part of the American Army under General Morgan, when they arrived at Bush River, where they camped. As John Belton O'Neall tells it (The Annals of Newberry, p. 37): "In the night, a great fall of rain took place and made the river impassable; there was no bridge across it, except at William O'Neall's mills (now Bobo's) five miles below Chandlers'. To unite the 2d battalion with the 1st, it [the battalion] had to descend the river, and after encamping for one night, at least, at William O'Neall's, it crossed at his mills..." Judge O'Neall seems to have had no love for the British Army; he further states (p. 283): "When a battalion at Tarleton's command ... encamped at William O'Neall's, everything was seized and treated as if it all belonged to them, the fences were burned to make camp-fires, the cattle were butchered for beef, the officers billeted themselves on the unpretending Quaker family, without money and without price. When a part of Greene's [American] army, on their retreat from Ninety-Six, passed the mill, everything was paid for, and perfect order prevailed." Tarleton caught up with Morgan at the Cowpens, where, on 17 January 1781, Morgan defeated him.
William O'Neall left a will 15 July 1786 in Newberry County (in Ninety-Six District), South Carolina. The will named as executors William's "3 sons, Hugh, Abijah, and William." Witnesses were Elisha Ford, David Hollingsworth and John Sanders. William named as heirs his children, Abijah, Hugh, William, John, Henry and Sarah, in addition to his wife, Mary, whose share should go to son Thomas at her death or marriage. William Pearson and Henry Stedham were named as trustees.
Among other papers in the South Carolina State Archives, there is one on which figure several receipts for sums (or equivalents) paid to William and Abijah O'Neall by the Commissioner of the Treasury as reimbursement for an indent (a certificate of indebtedness issued by the government) held by William O'Neall. Receipts for January 1786 are signed by "William Oneall". Receipts for 1797 are signed by his son, Abijah, as William had died in the interim. A chain of title (by which 200 acres of land originally granted to William O'Neall was passed on to others) is dated 17 July 1795.
MARY FROST was born on 16 May 1738 in Orange County, Virginia. She died on 11 December 1809 in Bush River, Newberry District, South Carolina, at age 71. Her estate was probated on 3 May 1810. She was a Friend (Quaker). Hopewell Monthly Meeting records the marriage of Sarah Frost, daughter of John Frost, on "26th day of 6th month, 1755; at Opeckan." Among the witnesses was Mary Frost, who also witnessed the marriage of Sarah Milburn on "7th day of 5th month, 1761..." It is assumed from this conjuncture of events that this Mary Frost is she who married William Neill/O'Neall on 6th day of 7th month of the same year, 1761, and that she was also a daughter of the aforementioned John Frost. She was a witness when John O'Neall assigned John Thornton's 1773 bond to William O'Neall on 8 June 1776. She witnessed the will of William O'Neall on 15 July 1786 in Newberry County (in Ninety-Six District), South Carolina.
Known children of William1 O'Neall and Mary Frost were as follows: