Bio of James O'Neill b.1831 from History of Renville Co, MN ========================================================================= USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor, OR the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. If you have found this file through a source other than the MNArchives Table Of Contents you can find other Minnesota related Archives at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm Please note the county and type of file at the top of this page to find the submitter information or other files for this county. Made available to The USGenWeb Archives by: Kathryn Kelly ========================================================================= The following excerpt comes from The History of Renville County, Minnesota compiled by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge H. C. Cooper Jr. Company, Chicago, 1916 p. 1013-1014 JAMES O'NEILL was born in Ireland in 1831. Here he grew up to manhood and married Catherine Flanagan. This marriage resulted in ten children: John, James, Charles, Stephen, William, Patrick, Ellen, Margaret, Catherine and May. He and his family came to Quebec where he remained a few years and then moved to Rochester, and later to Northfield in 1859, where he engaged in farming. The oldest sons, John and James, served in the Civil war returning home in 1865. The family moved to Henryville, Renville county, Minn., where the father and sons took a homestead and farmed until the winter of the "Big Blizzard." Jan. 7, 1873, a journey was made to Willmar with loads of wheat by John, Charles and Stephen O'Neill in company with Thomas and Michael Holden. A terrible snow storm came up and the men lost their way and of the five, Michael Holden was the only survivor. William and Patrick remained on the farm until a few years ago when both retired and moved to Olivia. James went west and engaged in the mining business until his death in 1905. PATRICK O'NEILL was born in Quebec, Canada, Jan. 29, 1850, son of James and Catherine (Flanagan) O'Neill. He attended the common school of his neighborhood and grew up on the farm. He was married to Catherine Noonan, Sept. 5, 1871, born in Albany, New York, May 14, 1850. She came with her parents William and Bridget Noonan to Stillwater, Minn., where she was married. Eight children were born to this marriage: Mary E.,James P., Agnes, John B., William J., Stephen F., Charles E., Arthur T., all residents of Renville County. Mary E., the oldest was born June 22, 1872, in Henryville township on the old homestead and remained with her parents until her marriage, Sept. 8, 1897 to Thomas J. Kelly. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly still live on the old homestead.