William O'Neall, a Quaker in the Revolutionary Period
 
 

Biography of William O'Neall




Hugh O'Neall's eldest son, William O'Neall, was a farmer, a wagoner and a miller.  According to some sources, he was born on 5 November 1734 in Christiana, Delaware. He went along when his parents, Hugh O'Neall and Anne Cox moved to the Susquehanna circa 1750, also accompanied by their other children, Henry, John, Thomas, Hugh and James.  John Belton O'Neall writes: " William O'Neall was a Friend; when he joined that body of religionists is not known; his wife also belonged to the same; his brother, Hugh, inclined the same way; so did his wife [Mary Parkins] and the entire Parkins family. In the revolution neither of these brothers took any part, except to bury the dead, heal the wounded, and do good wherever they could." William married Mary Frost, daughter of John and Mary Frost, on 6 July 1761 in Winchester, Frederick County, Virginia.

In 1765, the family moved from Virginia to South Carolina, the first of the O'Neall migrations.  As attested by records of Hopewell Monthly Meeting, Winchester, Virginia, "William [O'Neall] & w, Mary, & ch, Abijah & Sarah, gct [granted a certificate to move to] Watre [Wateree] MM [Monthly Meeting], S.C. (lodged in the hands of Jonathan Parkins till his affairs are fully settled)"; later, it is reported that "Wm [O'Neall] affairs reported settled & cert[tificate] given to him."  So William O'Neall and Mary Frost moved to Mudlick, Laurens District, South Carolina, in mid-1765.  Upon arrival, William took out a deed on land on 4 October 1766. Not all was calm, tho; John Belton O'Neall recounts:  "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."

William O'Neall's last move was to  Bush River, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina, in 1779.  According to J. B. O'Neall,  "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 1750] owned by Dr. J.E. Bobo, about one and a half miles below Mendenhall's."  It was here that the war caught up with him.

In 1781, a Tory regiment, under Gen. Tarleton's command, was pursuing a part of the American Army under Gen. Morgan. They arrived at Bush River, where they camped. As John Belton O'Neall tells it (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 batallion] had to descend the river, and after encamping for one night, at least, at William O'Neall's, it crossed at his mills..."  It seems the Tory and the American Armies had different styles, for we hear, on 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 billetted 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, however, got his just desserts, for he caught up with Morgan at the Cowpens, where, on 17 January 1781, Morgan defeated him.

William O'Neall made a will on 15 July 1786 in Newberry County, 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.
 
 
 

The South Carolina State Archives have conserved a number of papers concerning William O'Neall, including receipts for payment made to him in retribution for wagoning for the American Army and for furnishing rations and fodder for men and horses.  On one of these papers (To see a larger, 223KB, file click on the image.), there figure several receipts for sums (or equivalents) paid to William and Abijah O'Neall by the Commisioner 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 Abijah, as William had died in the interim. He died on 5 November 1786 in Bush River,  at age 52  and was buried on 6 November 1786 in the Friends' Graveyard at Bush River; "William died on Bush river; his body rests in the graveyard of Friends, near Mendenhall's Mills."


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Initial version created with The Master Genealogist for Windows on 17 Jan 1999 at 12:14:20.