O'NEALL, Abijah - Montgomery InGenWeb Project

Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal Saturday, 13 June 1874

Abijah O'Neall, an aged and greatly respected citizen of Ripley Township, died at his home near Yountsville last Tuesday, the 9th inst. He had been in feeble health for some months. The funeral took place from the family residence at 2 o'clock on Thursday afternoon, Pres. Tuttle, of Wabash College, conducting the services. The remains were followed to their resting place by a large concourse of friends, many of them from this city. The funeral sermon will be preached on the 21st inst., by Rev. B. F. Foster, of Indianapolis, in Yountsville Church. -s

Source: Crawfordsville Weekly Journal Saturday, 20 June 1874

One by one the men who from personal knowledge and experience can relate the story of our country’s progress are going to their reward. At his home in Yountsville, on Tuesday evening, the 9th inst., at twenty minutes past 9 o’clock, Mr. Abijah O’Neall breathed his last. He was in the seventy sixth year of his age, and had been a resident of Ripley Township for nearly forty years.

Mr. O’Neall was born in Newbury district, South Carolina, December 9, 1798, and in the following year removed to Ohio with his father’s family. On their journey they passed through Cincinnati and were unable to procure a loaf of bread in that village, owing to its scarcity. Mills were nowhere near, and the only way the settlers had of making bread was from the flour by pounding the grain in huge mortars. His father had traded his property in South Carolina for military land grants aggregating ten thousand acres, located in Warren County, Ohio, and it was to this land they were journeying. In order to reach their new home, they were compelled to cut a roadway through the forest for a distance of eight miles. They had with them the first teams and wagons ever taken to that country.

On the 12th of June, 1828, Mr. O’Neall was united in marriage with Miss Ellen Hall, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Hall. Of this union eleven children were born, eight of whom survive. He resided in Ohio thirty five years, during the time holding several offices of trust and profit. In 1834 he removed to Crawfordsville, Indiana, and remained there one year, when he purchased the Crooks mill property, at Yountsville, now owned by A. J. Snyder, and removed to that place. He carried on the dry goods business in connection with the mill, hauling his merchandise in wagons from Louisville, Kentucky. Sometimes the teams were months on the way, with no facilities for sending the news to headquarters, and the first notice of their approach would be their appearance over the hill. In 1839 he sold the mill property to A. and D. Mount, and removed to the farm upon which he resided at the time of his death. He served several years as a Justice of the Peace and in 1839-40 represented Montgomery County in the General Assembly.

He was first and foremost in all the public enterprises of the community in which he resided. When the Wabash & Erie Canal was being constructed, two of the canal commissioners, James R. Johnson and David Burr, spent several days at his house, where he frequently discussed internal improvement of our State with them. At that time, he foresaw that the development of the wonderful resources of Indiana would require the construction of many hundred miles of railway, and so expressed himself to the commissioners. But they, representing popular opinion, argued in favor of canals, and stoutly maintained that railways for the transportation of freight were impractical, and not to be thought of. They acknowledged that very likely a line of railway would be constructed between New York and Philadelphia, and perhaps between other large cities, for the transportation of passengers exclusively, but considered that they would add but little to the substantial improvement of the country. All three lived to see the question conclusively decided.

Mr. O’Neall for years took an active part in politics. His father was a prominent member of the Society of Friends, and he was early taught that human slavery was a curse that our government could not afford to rest under. He was a warm friend of the Union during the war, and no man watched the varying success of the loyal army with more interest than he.

A remarkable trait of his character was his broad and liberal charity. No man came to his door in want and left unsatisfied.

When the country was new and early settlers were compelled to encumber their homes to enable them to procure a little money, he in many instances, advanced the means and prevented the foreclosure of mortgages. Today more than one prosperous farmer in Montgomery County has reason to cherish a feeling of gratitude toward the man who saved to him his home.

He was a firm believer in the universal salvation of mankind, and often talked of the wonderful love and mercy of the All-wise Being. He calmly passed away in the full triumph of his faith. He was a great sufferer for many days previous to his death, and was conscious that his end was near. He frequently told his family that his last moments would be quiet and peaceful, and so they were. Though many relatives and friends surrounded his bedside, none knew the exact moment when the spirit took its flight. He seemed to have fallen asleep to awake in another world. -s