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.
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
Comments
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!