William R. O'Neal
Personal details
Born1864
Ohio, U.S.
DiedJanuary 23, 1946
Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Resting placeGreenwood Cemetery
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Mabelle Copeland
​
​
(m. 1886; died 1910)​

Jessie Malory Thayer
​
​
(m. 1914; died 1923)​
Children2

William Russell O'Neal (1864 – January 23, 1946) was an American lawyer and businessman who was involved in banking, insurance, real estate, was a passenger agent for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in Orlando, Florida, owned newspapers, and wrote a newspaper column.[1] He was a trustee of Rollins College.[2] A Republican, he ran for governor, U.S. Senate, and Florida Superintendent of Public Education, losing each time to the candidate of the then dominant Democratic Party.[3]

He was born in Ohio. He married in Maine and moved to Orlando in 1886.[4]

He served as postmaster in Orlando[5] and was president of the city council for 10 years.[4] He wrote for the Orange County Reporter[6] and Orlando Sentinel.

He led Florida's provisional League to Enforce Peace delegation.[7]

His political campaigning in 1920 for the Republican Party after the Ocoee Riots was seen as a threat to the white supremacist policies promoted by the dominant Democratic Party.[8]

In 1886, O'Neal married Mabelle Copeland in Maine. They had two daughters, Helen and Mabelle. Mrs. O'Neal died in 1910 and in 1914 O'Neal married Jessie Malory Thayer. She died in 1923.[4]

He is buried at the Greenwood Cemetery in Orlando.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Writer, Joy Wallace Dickinson, Sentinel Staff. "Newsmaking house saw hunk of history October 15, 2006". OrlandoSentinel.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ "William R ONeal". lib.rollins.edu.
  3. ↑ Cutler, Harry Gardner (April 9, 1923). "History of Florida: Past and Present, Historical and Biographical". Lewis publishing Company – via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 3 "William Russell O'Neal". archive.wppl.org.
  5. ↑ Senate, United States Congress (April 9, 1931). "Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America". order of the Senate of the United States – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ "The Florida Historical Quarterly". Florida Historical Society. July 9, 1980 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ Peace (U.S.), League to Enforce (April 10, 1917). "The League Bulletin" – via Google Books.
  8. ↑ Hoffmann, Carlee; Hoffman, Carlee; Strom, Claire (2014). "A Perfect Storm: The Ocoee Riot of 1920". The Florida Historical Quarterly. 93 (1): 25–43. JSTOR 43487653.
  9. ↑ "O'Neal, William Russell". Carey Hand Undertaker's Memoranda 1946. January 23, 1946.


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