Who are the parents of Betsey O'Neal?
Will abstracts of Culpeper, VA, v.3, (1803-1809)
Culpeper Will Book E 20 June 1803-16 October 1809. p. 68
Edited & Published by Ruth and Sam Sparacio
1320 Mayflower drive, McLean, VA 22101
Copyright 1988
P214 Pursuant to an Order of the Court of Culpeper, we have first been
sworn, have proceeded to appraise the Estate of JOHN ONEALE, decd, as
followeth...(which inventory includes...Negro sarah aged about 50
years, $100; Negro Solomon, aged 7 years, $133; one horse, two beds, a
saddle, a woman's saddle. seven chairs, kitchen furniture, forty logs
in the Town of Washington, five stacks of wheat. JUDY ONEALE
Administration/
Gabriel Smither
James Garrott
Chas Harper
At a court held for Culpeper County the 16th of February 1807
This inventory of the estate of JOHN ONEALE decd was returned into
court and ordered to be recorded. Betsey was born 4 Oct 1808. John’s estate was being probated 16 Feb 1807. Therefore, he could not be Betsey’s father. Then who are the parents of Betsey O’Neal?
John O’Neale was married twice: Rachel Wood (16 Feb 1781) and Judith Suttle (04 Apr 1794).
List of the children of Joseph O’Neale and Rachel Wood: | ||
Name | Date of Birth | Location of Birth |
Jonathan O’Neal | 28 Sep 1782 | St. Mary’s County, MD |
Bennett O’Neal | 20 Feb 1784 | St. Mary’s County, MD |
Daniel O’Neal | 06 Mar 1785 | St. Mary’s County, MD |
John O’Neal | 06 Oct 1786 | St. Mary’s County, MD |
Susannah O’Neal | 06 Jan 1788 | St. Mary’s County, MD |
Revised list of the children of Joseph O’Neale and Judith Suttle(Settle) born in Virginia and living in Ohio | |||
Name | Date of Birth | Location of Birth | Living in Ohio |
Margaret O’Neal | 1795 | Unknown | Unknown |
Jane O’Neal | 1796 | Culpeper County, Virginia | Bourneville, Ross County |
(Mary) Polley O’Neal | 1798 | Unknown | Belpre, Washington County |
Joseph O’Neal | 14 Sep 1800 | Culpeper County, Virginia | Belpre, Washington County |
Ezra O’Neal | 6 Aug 1802 | Culpeper County, Virginia | Newport, Washington County |
Colbert O’Neal | 15 Jan 1805 | Culpeper County, Virginia | Belpre, Washington County |
These notes were taken from the margins of the book The History of Belpre by C.E. Dickinson, owned by Kristin Bush.
| Page | Text | Notation | Notation by |
| Inside cover | – | Lucy Dana married a Browning. She was our mother’s Aunt Lucy. | Eunice |
| Cover Page | – | Eunice Horton bought this book from Della Prince Pride on Friday June 28, 1929. | Eunice |
| 1 | Referring to Indian Mounds – The one which is most complete is situated on the ridge in the east part of Rockland on land now owned by Jessie Pride. | This is the one of Grandpa Stone’s place. | Eunice |
| 113 | – | I believe the Center Belpre brick school house where our parents and uncles went to school was built in 1837. | Eunice |
| 151 | O’Neil, Ezra H., age 21, Volunteer, November 18, 1861, three years, 73rd regiment, Company F, private, attained rank of orderly sargeant, served two years and three months, honorably discharged Feb 1864. Severly wounded at Gettysburg. | Our mother’s cousin. | Eunice |
| 159 | 1861 – Names of Officers and Men of Captain Frank Loring’s Company. Mentioned are J.L. O’Neal, E.M. O’Neal, D.B. Horton, Milton Stone, E.R. O’Neal. | D.B. Horton is our father. Mary Ann Powell was Uncle Miton’s first wife. Flora Rarick was his second wife. | Eunice |
| 184 | The following statements are taken from the a historical paper prepared by Mrs. C.L. McNeal and presented at the Semi Centennial Celebration in the village church. In 1822 a class of 21 members met in the school house on the farm of Joseph Newbury near the site of the present Rockland Church. with Joseph O’Neal leader. | Our mother’s uncle. Grandma Stone’s brother. | Eunice |
| 195 | List of Women’s Reading Club Officers. Listed as auditor is Miss Josie O’Neil. | Uncle Colbert, father of Russell. Russell was mother’s cousin. Josie is Russell’s daughter, Will was her brother. | Eunice |
| Index | Lists both Colbert and Joseph O’Neal. | Mother’s uncles. | Eunice |
.
If you look at the last entry of the above notes, Colbert and Joseph O’Neal are said to be “Mother’s uncles”. Mother being Susan Ester Stone, the daughter of Betsey O’Neal. This lead Kristin Bush and myself to conclude that Betsey was the sister of Joseph and Colbert. However to be their sister she would have to be the child of John O’Neale, and I have already shown above that that can’t be the case.
In order to make the pieces of the puzzle fit, at least the pieces we have, then the thought occured to me maybe Betsey was the grand daughter of John O’Neale, and not his daughter. People don’t always distinguish between uncles and grand uncles.
If you look at the tables of children above, Betsey could be the daughter of Johnathan, Bennett, Daniel, or John. Ezra was too young.
The children of Daniel, Bennet, and John are listed below:
Children of Daniel O’Neale and Sarah Ellen Jennings | ||
Name | Date of Birth | Location of Birth |
John Ralls O’Neale | 4 Jan 1808 | Unknown |
Mary Ann O’Neale | 3 Feb 1810 | Culpeper County, VA |
John Ralls O’Neale II | 10 Mar 1812 | Washington, Culpeper County, VA |
Jame Jackson O’Neale | 1813 | Rappahannock County, VA |
Wiiliam Edward O’Neale | 29 Aug 1815 | Washington, Rappahannock, VA |
Mildred Elizabeth O’Neale | 31 May 1820 | Culpeper County, VA |
Charles Henry O’Neale | 7 Aug 1824 | Washington, Rappahannock, VA |
James Richard O’Neale | 13 Apr 1827 | Culpeper County, VA |
Sarah Jane O’Neale | 7 Dec 1829 | Culpeper County, VA |
Eliza Catherine O’Neale | 21 Jun 1832 | Culpeper County, VA |
Susan Ellen O’Neale | 22 Feb 1835 | Culpeper County, VA |
Children of Bennet O’Neale and Ann Sally Embrey | ||
Name | Date of Birth | Location of Birth |
Rachel O’Neal | 28 May 1808 | Culpeper County, VA |
Eliza O’Neal | 23 Sep 1809 | Culpeper County, VA |
Ann O’Neal | 31 Mar 1811 | Culpeper County, VA |
Polly O’Neal | 19 Nov 1812 | Barren County, KY |
Carroll O’Neal | 24 Mar 1815 | Barren County, KY |
Lucyndia O’Neal | 1 Dec 1816 | Barren County, KY |
Harvey O’Neal | 19 May 1818 | Barren County, KY |
Sarah O’Neal | 6 Jan 1828 | Barren County, KY |
Children of John O’Neale and Elizabeth Embrey | ||
Name | Date of Birth | Location of Birth |
Sarah O’Neal | 1811 | Kentucky |
William O’Neal | Unknown | Unknown |
Martha Ann O’Neal | Unknown | Unknown |
John O’Neal | Unknown | Unknown |
No children are listed anywhere for Jonathan. I’ve always assumed he died at a fairly young age, but that may not be the case.
Daniel and Bennet have children that have birth dates close to Betsey’s, so they are probably not her father. John was married 18 Sep 1808, just a few weeks before the 4 Oct 1808 birth of Betsey. John is probably not the father, but he can’t be ruled out entirely. Jonathan is the real unknown quantity. The bottom line, the search goes on.