Archives of Maryland
(Biographical Series)

Henrietta O'Neale (b. circa 1741 - d. 1835)
MSA SC 5496-014996
Slaveholder, Medleys District, Montgomery County, Maryland

Biography:

Henrietta Neill was born around 1741 to Charles and Mary Neill of Montgomery County.1 By 1777, she had married Laurence O'Neale (b. 1738), the son of  William O'Neale and Eleanor Ball O'Neale.2 Laurence and Henrietta O'Neale had at least seven children. Records show that four of these children, Henry, John, Mary Ann, and Eleanor, survived to adulthood.3

Laurence and Henrietta O'Neale lived in "Frederick Town" for a time, where Laurence had served as sheriff from at least 1774 to 1777.4 He later owned land in Montgomery and Allegany counties as well,5 joining the rush in 1774 to acquire land in the newly-formed Allegany County. However, he did not receive the actual land patents until 1791 and onward, since "the Land Office business for these grants was interrupted by the Lord Dunmore War and then ... the Revolution."6

In 1777, Laurence and Henrietta leased "Axly Chapple" in Montgomery County from Henrietta's father, Charles Neill. They also purchased the slaves Humphrey, Will, and Sarah in the same transaction.7 The O'Neales later moved to Montgomery County, probably around the time that they leased Charles Neill's land.

On September 20, 1779, Laurence advertised for the capture of the slave woman Luice, who had fled on June 6th of that year.8 He owned twenty slaves in 1790, twenty-eight in 1800, and thirty-five in 1810.9 Laurence O'Neal died intestate by 1816,10 having served on the Maryland House of Delegates from 1780 to 1796, as a justice in Montgomery County from 1787 to 1797, and as a Montgomery County Orphan's Court judge from 1790 to 1792.11

In 1816, Henrietta purchased sixteen slaves and various livestock, crops, and furniture from her son John's inheritance. According to the bill of sale, the slaves included the men Frisby, Harry, George, John, and Jacob, the women Hester and Henny, the boys Sye, Philip, Mosses, and Clement, "one small boy John," and the girls Ann, Maria, Virlinda, and Nelly.12 They were likely among Henrietta O'Neale's thirty-four slaves in the 1820 census.13 In September 1831, the slaves Daniel Jackson and Peter Reader escaped. Henrietta placed runaway advertisements in the Daily National Intelligencer, describing the O'Neale farm as standing about a mile east of Poolesville, near the Seneca River.14

Henrietta O'Neale died on June 29, 1835 at her home near Poolesville. Like her late husband, she died without leaving a will. The obituary in the National Intelligencer referred to her home as "the Cottage."15
 

1.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1777-1781, Liber A, Folio 138, [MSA CE 148-1]. Charles Neill to Laurence O'Neale, December 4, 1777.
        John Goodwin Herndon. Robert Middleton (ca. 1651 - ca. 1707) of Charles and Prince George's Counties, Maryland, and Numerous Descendants of His (Lancaster, PA: Wickersham Printing Company, 1955) 69.

2.     Maryland Historical Society. Maryland Historical Magazine. Vol. 62 (Baltimore, MD: Maryland Historical Society, 1923) 24.
        The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine. Genealogies of Pennsylvania Families. Vol. 2: Hi-So (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1982) 323.

3.     U.S. Census Record (Census Record, MD) for Lawrence O'Neall, 1790, Montgomery County, district not stated, Page 28 (left side), Line 24 [MSA SM61-13 and MSA SM61-14, M 2053-1 and M 2053-2 ].
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1816-1817, Liber T, folio 328, [MSA CE 148-21]. Henrietta O'Neale, et al, to Adam Robb, October 14, 1816.
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1810-1812, Liber P, Folio 62, [MSA CE 148-16]. Laurence O'Neale to Eleanor Jamison and Francis Jamison, August 11, 1810.
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1819-1822, Liber V, Folio 430, [MSA CE 148-23]. Laurence O'Neal, estate, to Mary Ann O'Neale, et al., May 12, 1820.

4.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1777-1781, Liber A, Folio 138, [MSA CE 148-1]. Charles Neill to Laurence O'Neale, December 4, 1777.
        Ronald Hoffman, ed. Dear Papa, Dear Charley: The Peregrinations of a Revolutionary Aristocrat, as Told by Charles Carroll of Carrollton and His Father, Charles Carroll of Annapolis (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2001) 805.

5.     Allegany County Circuit Court, Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats, [MSA S1188]: (Certificates, Patented, AL). Fertile Meadow, Lawrence O'Neal, 149 Acres, December 10, 1794. Patented Certificate 846.
        Allegany County Circuit Court, Land Survey, Subdivision, and Condominium Plats, [MSA S1188]: (Certificates, Patented, AL). Big Spring, Laurence O'Neal, 216 Acres, July 30, 1806. Patented Certificate 272.
        ALLEGANY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1845-1846, Liber 1, Folio 637, [MSA CE 77-26]. James Smith [trustee of Laurence O'Neal's estate], to David McElfish, March 8, 1846.
        Hall of Records Commission. Calendar of Maryland State Papers No 1: The Black Books (Baltimore, MD: Clearfield, 1995) 217.
        Maryland Historical Society. Maryland Historical Magazine. Vol. 62 (Baltimore, MD: Maryland Historical Society, 1967) 24.
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1777-1781, Liber A, Folio 138, [MSA CE 148-1]. Charles Neill to Laurence O'Neale, December 4, 1777.
        The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 323.
        Peter Wilson Coldham. Settlers of Maryland, 1679-1783. Consolidated Edition (Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002) 492. Accessed through The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. www.ancestry.com.

6.     James W. Thomas and T.J.C. Williams. History of Allegany County, Maryland. Vol. 1 (Baltimore, MD: Regional Publishing Company, 1969) 4.

7.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1777-1781, Liber A, Folio 138, [MSA CE 148-1]. Charles Neill to Laurence O'Neale, December 4, 1777.

8.     "Ran Away From the Subscriber..." Maryland Journal and Baltimore Advertiser 20 September 1779: 3.

9.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Lawrence O'Neall, 1790, Montgomery County, district not stated, Page 28 (left side), Line 24 [MSA SM61-13 and MSA SM61-14, M 2053-1 and M 2053-2 ].
        U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Lawrence O'Neale, 1800, Montgomery County, District 2, Page 3b, Line 4 [MSA SM61-33, M 2056-3].
        U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Laur. O'Neal, 1810, Montgomery County, district not stated, Page 27, Line 22 [MSA SM61-53, M 2059-5].

10.   MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1816-1817, Liber T, folio 328, [MSA CE 148-21]. Henrietta O'Neale, et al, to Adam Robb, October 14, 1816.
        MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1822-1823, Liber W, Folio 486, [MSA CE 148-24]. Laurence O'Neal, estate, to Upton Beall, March 19, 1823.

11.   The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine 323.
        "Smith-Lynch Farm (Lynch-Butt Farm)." M-17-3. www.mdihp.net.

12.     MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURT, (Land Records), 1816-1816, Liber S-20, Folio 5, [MSA CE 148-20]. John O'Neale to Henrietta O'Neale, February 27, 1816.

13.     U.S. Census Bureau (Census Record, MD) for Henrietta O'Neal, 1820, Montgomery County, District 2, Page 6b, Line 6 [MSA SM61-73, M 2066-3].

14.   "200 Dollars Reward." Daily National Intelligencer 15 October 1831: 1.

15.   George A. Martin. "Vital Statistics from the National Intelligencer, 1835." National Genealogical Society Quarterly 25:1 (1974): 122.
 

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