Biography of John F. O'Neal, Franklin Co, AR

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        Date: 16 Aug 1998
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SOURCE: History of Benton, Washington, Carroll, Madison, Crawford,
Franklin, and Sebastian Counties, Arkansas. Chicago: The Goodspeed
Publishing Co., 1889.

Rev. John F. O'Neal, a minister and farmer, was born in Fairfield
District, S. C., August 29, 1846, and is a son of Chesley and Sarah
(Magraw) O'Neal, natives also of Fairfield District, S. C. Chesley
O'Neal was born in 1812. His father was a native of Ireland, who came
to America when young, and was a farmer all his life. The mother of
our subject was a daughter of Marshall Magraw, and after the death of
Mr. O'Neal, in 1852, she married Rev. A. S. Jackson, who located in
Hempstead County, Ark., in 1854, and in 1868 settled in Franklin
County on the farm where he now resides. He is a minister in the
Baptist Church. Chesley O'Neal was the father of four children, viz.:
John F., Henry; Mary, now the wife of Dr. Southard, and one deceased.
To Mr. and Mrs. Jackson five children have been born, of whom four are
living: Laura, wife of William Crossno; Evaline, who married C.
Chapman; Willie and Leander. John F. O'Neal grew to manhood in
Hempstead County, Ark., from which place he removed to Franklin County
in 1868. During the late war he served in Company C, Monroe's
regiment, Gen. Cabell's brigade, nine months. In 1871 he married Clara
Smith, of Franklin County, daughter of Col. Smith, one of the early
settlers of the State. Mr. and Mrs. O'Neal have eight children, viz.:
Lizzie, Lee, Ethel, Harmon, John (deceased), Leslie, Henry and Daisy.
Mr. O'Neal was ordained a minister of the Baptist Church in 1882,
having been licensed to preach in 1880, and he has been very
successful in his religious work. Mrs. O'Neal is an active worker in
the church, and of great assistance to her husband. Mr. O'Neal owns a
good farm, and has ninety-five acres under cultivation. He belongs to
the A. F. & A. M., and in polities his sympathies are with the
Democratic party.