Odeneal, Odineal, Odneal & O'Neal
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HUGH MARVIN ODNEAL
HUGH MARVIN ODNEAL
Who are the ODENEALS?
There are six families
with descendants living today with no known common ancestor. For John and
William B. the dates are the approximate birth dates and the state is where
they were first found in any records. For Thomas it is know his father
was also John but to avoid confusion I am starting with Thomas as no descendants
of siblings are known.
The family lines are;
John
Odeneal 1750 (NC)
William
B. Odeneal 1770 It is believed William B., Priscilla and George M.
Odeneal 1802 (VA) are the children of Bartholomew. Bartholomew was
one of the signers of a petition to get TN seperated from NC as a state.
Priscilla
Odeneal 1780?
William
Odeneal (died 1833 Giles Co., TN) beleived to be the father of Levi 1800,
Stephen Peter Odeneal 1807 & Sarah "Sallie" 1812 (VA) and perhaps
George L. C. 1821 (TN). The 1830 Giles Co. census shows this is possible.
Thomas
1784 (VA) Father John Odineal. Thomas most likely was born
in Pittsylvania Co., VA which is almost directly north of where the other
John Odeneal lived in Guilford and Rockingham Co., NC.
Where are we from?
To my knowledge no one has
found a record showing where our ancestors came from or when they first
came to the New World, although many are looking for this person or persons.
The first record found for
the name (by Mary Ann Odneal) is a for the reading of Thomas Odeneals will,
1690,Stafford Co., VA. and in 1691 the will of John Odeneale also
in Stafford Co., VA is read. There is no mention of children
in either will. In 1724 John and Timothy Oduneal are listed as working
in tobacco and 10-16 years old, this is also in Stafford Co., VA.
A James Oduneal marries in 1755, Stafford Co., VA and changes the name
to Deneal or Deneale. This name is found in France and perhaps this
is our country of origin. It seems most of the families believe we
are of Irish descent, but there is no proof and this is most likely due
to the similarity to the name O'Neal and its variations in spelling.
The Deneals may be Irish that left Ireland in the early 1600's to get away
from the persecution of the English crown.
The Name Yesterday and Today
While the name Odeneal/Odineal
is unique to America the six families do not all spell it the same. Five
of the families used the spelling Odeneal while Thomas uses Odineal.
In county records and wills of the six families, the name is found spelled
many different ways at different times and many records have the name spelled
three or more ways in the same document.
The descendants of John, Stephen
Peter and George L. C. have retained the spelling Odeneal, except for one
Grandson of George L. C. who began using Odneal about 1900. The descendants
of William B. and George M. changed the spelling to Odneal in the
mid 1800's. In the late 1800's or early 1900's the descendants
of Thomas Arnold Odineal, Thomas Odineal's son, changed the spelling to
O'Neal. The original name or why these changes were made are not known
but the name has only been found in America.
Other ODENEALS
As of March 2000 these did
not have know living descendants:
1. Rueben Odeneal in NC in 1800 Halifax Co.,
NC. Another Rueben Odeneal in TN in 1850 Blount Co., TN.
2. James Odyneal in 1830 KY census. His son James
R. Odneal (age 58) & family, living in Barton Co., MO. src. 1900 MO
census.
3. Daniel B. Rhodes son-in-law of George M.,
wife Ellen Elizabeth Odeneal (seven children) last known place of
residence, Mercer Co., MO 1874.
4. Elly Odeneal, 1780 C., daughter of John Odeneal
5. Willmoth Odeneal Edmondson, 1790 C., daughter of John Odeneal, married
Robert Edmondson. src. Her probate/will listed in 1822-1835 court records
of Madison Co., TN. It is believed they had four daughters whose
names were, Sarah A., Eliza, Wilmouth and Elvina. Last record about
1833 Madison Co., TN.
6. Lucy Odeneal Grant, 1790 C., daughter of John Odeneal, married a
man named Grant (James?). James Grant mentioned in Lucy's mothers probate
in Hardman Co., TN 1841. In Montgomery Co., TN records she is also listed
as Susan. They were living in Montgomery Co., TN in the 1830's.
7. Harvey Derrough great-grandson of John Odeneal born in Cleburne,
TX late 1800's, father John & mother Julia B. Fewell Derrough.
John was a gunsmith.
[William Odeneal ?]