Edward B. O'Neal Papers, 1968-1975

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

There are no restrictions.

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Edward B. O'Neal Papers, 1968-1975. Accession 41487. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Edward B. O'Neal Papers, 1968-1975. Accession 41487. Personal papers collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Papers, 1968-1975, of Edward B. O'Neal (1925-1999) of Norfolk, Virginia, and Atlanta, Georgia, consisting of his genealogical research files on the Cotten/Cotton families of Virginia and North Carolina, specifically the descendants of John Cotton (d. 1728) of Bertie County, North Carolina. O'Neal intended to publish a book entitled Our Southern Heritage: A History of the Cotten/Cotton Families of the South, Their Descendants, and Allied Families. The collection also contains research on the family of Alexander Rankin of Scotland and his descendants, many of whom settled in Tennessee.

There is a substantial amount of information on the allied families of Andrews, Braswell, Brown, Davis, Donelson/Donaldson, Holladay/Holliday, Powell, Rodgers, Turner, Upchurch, Van Tassel, Waugh, and Wilkinson. Areas represented in the collection include Isle of Wight, Nansemond, Princess Anne, Surry, Sussex, and York Counties, Virginia; Betie, Edgecombe, Hertford, and Northampton Counties, North Carolina; and Blount and Knox Counties, Tennesssee.

The papers contain abstracts, transcriptions, and copies of Bible records, census records, deeds, land patents and grants, marriage records, obituaries, pension records, published sources, tombstone inscriptions, and wills. In addition, there is correspondence, family group sheets, and genealogical charts.

Biographical / historical:

Edward Bert O'Neal was born in Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina on 14 July 1925. He was the son of Bert Edward O'Neal (1896-1939) and Clara Eleanor Brown (1905-1971). He attended St. Paul's School in Baltimore, and later moved to Norfolk, Virginia. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. O'Neal attended the division of the College of William and Mary in Norfolk, where he took a course in business administration, and was employed by an architectural and engineering firm as office manager and bookkeeper. In 1970, O'Neal moved to Atlanta, where he was employed by Atlanta Airport Engineers as an accountant. Edward B. O'Neal died in Norfolk, Virginia on 16 May 1999.

Acquisition information:
Gift of the Portsmouth Public Library.
Physical description:
7 cubic feet (16 boxes)