My Genealogy Hound

Below is a family biography included in The History of Newton County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1888.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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William Perry O’Neal, who is successfully engaged in farming and stock raising, was born in Miller County. Mo., near Pleasant Mound, February 23, 1831, and is the son of Oliver and Nancy (Clark) O’Neal, natives of North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. William Perry, who is one of eight sons and three daughters born to his parents, grew to manhood in Miller County, and assisted his father on the farm. At the age of nineteen he moved with his parents to Cass County, Mo., but went from there to Texas, where he spent about a year, and then returned to Cass County. Here he engaged in farming, and was also employed in the carpenter business until the war, when he enlisted in the Confederate army and served through the entire struggle. He then located in Morgan County, Mo., and followed the carpenter business through that and adjacent counties until March, 1867, when he moved to Bates County, Mo., where he followed carpentering until November 19. He then married in Washington County, Ark., Miss Martha L. Finley, a native of Callaway County, Mo., and daughter of Ebenezer and Narcissus Finley, natives of Kentucky. In January, 1868, Mr. O’Neal moved to Cedar County, Mo., where he remained about three years, and then, in 1871, located in Franklin Township, Newton Co., Mo., where was born to him May 11, 1871, one son, J. L. In 1876 Mr. O’Neal came to his present home in Newton County, Mo., where he has a good farm of eighty-five acres. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and he and wife are members of the Christian Church.

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This family biography is one of 220 biographies included in The History of Newton County, Missouri published in 1888.  For the complete description, click here: Newton County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

To view additional Newton County, Missouri family biographies, click here

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