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Grady O'Neal & the Girl Next Door

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Grady O'Neal
Jan 27, 1890 - Oct 20, 1954
Magnolia Park Cemetery
Warner Robins, Houston County, Georgia

Grady O'Neal was born in Crawford County, Georgia. He and his wife Josephine Harbuck (22 December 1894 - 29 October 1961) were both buried at Magnolia Park Cemetery.

Grady, Josephine, and family can be found in the 1930 US Federal Census records. They were living on a farm in Randolph County, Georgia:

Militia District 954
2 April 1930
Dwelling 13
Oneal, Grady (head) - age 40 - 1st m. age 21 - b. Georgia - occ. Brick Layer
Oneal, Josephine L. (wife) - age 35 - 1st m. age 18 - b. Georgia
Oneal, Alfred (son) - age 17 - b. Georgia - occ. Saw Mill Laborer
Oneal, Florence (dau) - age 16 - b. Georgia
Oneal, Laurie (son) - age 14 - b. Georgia - occ. Saw Mill Laborer
Oneal, Roy (son) - age 12 - b. Georgia
Oneal, Evelyn (dau) - age 10 - b. Georgia
Oneal, Joe (son) - age 8 - b. Georgia
Oneal, Margaret (dau) - age 4 ?/12 - b. Georgia
Oneal, Marion (dau) - age 4 ?/12 - b. Georgia
Oneal, Malcolm (son) age 1 - b. Georgia
Oneal, Martha (mother) - age 64 - widowed - 1st m. age 25 - b. Georgia

Going backward to possibly find the parents of Grady O'Neal, I found this 1910 US Federal Census entry:
[Disclaimer: I found this page very difficult to read. While I'm confident I got the correct families, please verify family members' names and such with the original record.]

District 91, Russelville [Russellville], Monroe County, Georgia
Sheet 18B
27 April 1910
Dwelling 12 (line 51)
Oneal, Louie? T. G. (head) - age 55 - m1 31 yrs - b. Georgia - occ. General Farmer
Oneal, Martha (wife) - age 51 - m1 31 yrs - 6? children, 3 living - b. Georgia
Oneal, Grady (son) - age 20 - b. Georgia - occ. Home Farm Laborer

Can you guess who was next door?

Dwelling 13 (line 54)
Harbuck, Hiram (head) - age 46 - b. Georgia - occ. General Farmer
Harbuck, Josie S. (dau) - age 15 - b. Georgia
Harbuck, Nellie G. (dau) - age 12 - b. Georgia
Harbuck, Gennie C. (dau) - age 10 - b. Georgia
Harbuck, Lars W. (?) - age 8 - b. Georgia
Harbuck, Henry T. (son) - age 6 - b. Georgia

That's right! Grady's future wife, Josephine Harbuck!

In the 1900 US Federal Census, I think I got a better idea of the proper name of Grady's father:

Enumeration District 2, Georgia Militia District 497, Crawford County, Georgia
Sheet 18B
19 June 1900
Dwelling 337 (line 61)
O'Neal, Gideon T. D. (head) - b. Dec 1855, Georgia - m. 20 yrs - occ. Overseer
O'Neal, Mattie (wife) - b. Apr 1858, Georgia - m. 20 yrs - 6 children, 3 living
O'Neal, Sallie (dau) - b. Mch 1882, Georgia
O'Neal, Vallie (dau) - b. June 1885, Georgia
O'Neal, Grady (son) - b. Jan 1890, Georgia

A few doors down was another O'NEAL family. Could this be a brother to Grady's father?

ONeal, David A. (head - age 49)
ONeal, Allice (wife - age 38)

While Grady and Josephine were not yet married in 1910, they were by 1917. According to Grady's World War I draft registration card, he was married with 4 children. He was farming for self, and he was described as tall with blue eyes and brown hair.

I still cannot figure out the correct name for Grady's father. A couple of Public Member Trees online at Ancestry give two different names: William Gideon O'neal and David William Teophilus O'Neal.

A World Family Tree entry offers Grady O'Neal's full name as Joe Grady O'Neal with a father named William Gideaon O'Neal.

All agree Grady's mother's full name was Martha Caroline Baggarley (1859 - 1936). And all agree on the birth and death dates for Grady's father, 1855 - 1930.

Ancestry.com

In my search for a possible tombstone transcription for Grady's father, I found a survey for the Russellville Baptist Church Cemetery in Monroe County, Georgia. There are several HARBUCKs and O'NEALs buried there, including Grady's mother Martha Baggerly O'Neal (b. 1859, d. 1 September 1936). Could Grady's father be there in an unmarked grave? More investigation shall be required. Maybe I'll take a trip to the Russellville Baptist Church cemetery and visit the HARBUCKs and O'NEALs.

Sources Include:
- Gravemarker Transcriptions
- US Federal Census Records
- Georgia Deaths, 1919-98
- World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
- Ancestry Public Member Trees, Talbott Family and This Large Family of Mine
- Ancestry World Tree, The Descendants of Matthew (I) Talbot, Gentleman

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Comments

Unknown said…
Hi Stephanie,
Just stumbled upon your wonderful blog while researching my O'Neal and Baggarley ancestors. I was so excited to see your article about Russellville Baptist Church Cemetery and also this post. Grady O'Neal and Josephine, "the girl next door", are my great-grandparents. His father, whose name I am still not sure of but I have heard and read both Gideon and Theopilus, is buried in a cemetery in Randolph County, GA. My mother and I took a trip and went looking for it when I was a little girl, but we found out later we were in the wrong cemetery (we were in a city cemetery in Cuthbert.) Since then, an uncle told us that we should have gone to a cemetery out in the country (still Randolph Co.), but he couldn't remember the name. I still hope to one day track it down.
We have also visited the Russellville Cemetery, and you have done a lovely job of capturing the beauty of it. My mother was born in Russellville in Grady and Josephine's home (her grandparents).
Thank you again for your lovely write-ups about my ancestors!
June 26, 2017 at 7:19 PM
S. Lincecum said…
Thanks so much for visiting and taking the time to comment with those nice words! It's much appreciated.
June 27, 2017 at 9:42 AM
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The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"

So I answered, "O Lord God, You know."

Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!' Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live...'" (Ezekiel 37:1-5, NKJV)