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Collection Number: 02631

Collection Title: Edward Asbury O'Neal Papers, 1833-1908.

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities; this finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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Size 1.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 500 items)
Abstract Edward Asbury O'Neal (1818-1890) was a lawyer, local secession leader, Confederate Army officer, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1875, and governor of Alabama from 1882 to 1886. The collection chiefly consists of Civil War letters among O'Neal and his two sons in the Confederate Army, and his wife at home in Florence, Ala.; postwar letters and papers relating to his law practice in Florence, Ala., and Huntsville, Ala.; and correspondence concerning his two gubernatorial campaigns and Alabama politics, with very little concerning the United States presidential election of 1876. Volumes are chiefly scrapbooks of clippings and manuscripts pertaining to O'Neal's political career, as well as other members of the O'Neal family.
Creator O'Neal, Edward Asbury, 1818-1890.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Information For Users

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Restrictions to Use
No usage restrictions.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Edward Asbury O'Neal Papers, #2631, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Acquisitions Information
Deposited by Mrs. George Erwin Roulhac, Florence, Ala., 1942 and 1946.
Additional Descriptive Resources
A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Adam Fielding, Kate Stratton and Jodi Berkowitz, October 2010; Nancy Kaiser, January 2021

This collection was rehoused and a summary created with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This finding aid was created with support from NC ECHO.

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Edward Asbury O'Neal (1818-1890) was a lawyer, local secession leader, Confederate Army officer serving in Alabama, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1875, and governor of Alabama from 1882 to 1886.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

The collection contains legal, personal, and political correspondence of Edward Asbury O'Neal (1818-1890). The collection chiefly consists of Civil War letters among O'Neal and his two sons in the Confederate Army, and his wife at home in Florence, Ala.; postwar letters and papers relating to his law practice in Florence and Huntsville, Ala.; and correspondence concerning his two gubernatorial campaigns and Alabama politics, with very little concerning the United States presidential election of 1876. Volumes are chiefly scrapbooks of clippings and manuscripts pertaining to O'Neal's political career, as well as other members of the O'Neal family.

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Contents list

expand/collapse Expand/collapse Edward Asbury O'Neal Papers, 1833-1908 and undated.

Folder 1a

Original finding aid

Folder 1

1833-1839

Folder 2

1840-1859

Folder 3

1862-April 1863

Folder 4

May-December 1863

Folder 5

1864-1869

Folder 6

1869-1871

Folder 7

1872

Folder 8

1860s-1870s

Folder 9

1873-1874

Folder 10

1876-1881

Folder 11-12

Folder 11

Folder 12

1882

Folder 13

1883-1884

Folder 14

1885-1889

Folder 15

1890-1893

Folder 16

Undated

Folder 17

Printed material

Folder 18

Pamphlets

Folder 19

Pictures

Image P-2631/1

Edward Asbury O'Neal, ca. 1865-1885

Reproduction of drawing.

Image P-2631/2

Jefferson Davis, ca. 1886

Mounted albumen print.

Image P-2631/3

Jefferson Davis, ca. 1886

Duplicate of P-2631/2.

Special Format Image SF-P-2631/1

Sarah Andrews, Florence, Ala., 1865

Tintype.

Folder 20

Newspapers

Folder 21

Folder number not used

Oversize Volume SV-2631/1

Volume 1

Scrapbook containing clippings on O'Neal's administration, political career, Confederate veterans' activities, and family affairs. Contains several letters pasted in scrapbook, including some from Jefferson Davis. 1861, 1872, 1879, 1884-1901

Folder 22

Volume 2

Account book of Edward Asbury O'Neal Junior, Florence, Ala., 1873-1875.

Folder 23

Folder number not used

Oversize Volume SV-2631/3

Volume 3

Scrapbook, 1876-1902. Contains letters, telegrams, and clippings related to the deaths of Edward Asbury O'Neal in 1890, Edward Asbury O'Neal Junior in 1876, Mrs. Rebecca O'Neal Shotwell, Elizabeth O'Neal, George H. Moore, Samuel H. Moore, Eugene F. Williams, C.A. Crow, and Thomas R. Roulhac.

Folder 24

Volume 4

Scrapbook, 1876-1902. Contains clippings related to the Moores, O'Neals, and Phelans.

Folder 25

Volume 5

Scrapbook, 1883-1885. Contains clippings about Edward Asbury O'Neal's career as governor.

Folder 26

Volume 6

Scrapbook, 1884-1885. Contains chiefly clippings on O'Neal's political career.

Folder 27

Volume 7

Scrapbook, 1884-1899. Contains clippings on O'Neal, chiefly about his nomination for governor in 1884.

Folder 28

Folder number not used

Oversize Volume SV-2631/8

Volume 8

Scrapbook, 1884-1904. Contains chiefly clippings of the political careers of Edward Asbury O'Neal, Emmet O'Neal, and James Phelan; also clippings on Confederate veterans' activities, the death of Jefferson Davis, the social activities of the O'Neals, the musical career of Mrs. Ruby Shotwell Piper (granddaughter of Edward O'Neal), and Caroline Lee Hentz.

Folder 29

Folder number not used

Oversize Volume SV-2631/9

Volume 9

Scrapbook, 1904-1908. Contains clippings on Emmet O'Neal's political career, activities of the O'Neal family, and the musical career of Mrs. Ruby Shotwell Piper.

Folder 30

Volume 10

Composition book of Emmet O'Neal, undated. Contains notes on school lectures and clippings related to national politics.

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