Emmet O'Neal
Emmet O'Neal | |
---|---|
Governor of Alabama | |
In office January 17, 1911 – January 18, 1915 | |
Lieutenant | Walter D. Seed Sr. |
Preceded by | B. B. Comer |
Succeeded by | Charles Henderson |
Personal details | |
Born | Florence, Alabama | September 23, 1853
Died | September 7, 1922 Birmingham, Alabama | (aged 68)
Resting place | Florence Cemetery |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Lizzie Kirkman |
Occupation | Lawyer |
Emmet O'Neal (September 23, 1853 – September 7, 1922) was an American
Career
O'Neal was born on September 23, 1853, in Florence, Alabama to Edward A. O'Neal and Olivia Moore O'Neal. His father, Edward A. O'Neal, was a lawyer who became a Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected as Governor of Alabama, serving from 1882 to 1886 in the post-Reconstruction era. Emmet O'Neal received his early schooling in Florence and was a student at the University of Mississippi in 1870 and 1871. He received the degree of A.B. from the University of Alabama in 1873.
Reading law under the supervision of his father, he was admitted to the bar in Florence in 1876. In 1901 and 1910, he was elected and served as president of the
State politics
O'Neal served as a
In the runup to the 1908 presidential election, O'Neal made an extensive speaking tour in the West campaigning for William Jennings Bryan. In 1909, he campaigned against the addition of a prohibition amendment to the Constitution of Alabama.[1]
Governor 1911–1915
O'Neal was elected governor in 1910, began his term of service in January 1911, and served four years. Among the more important achievements of his administration was the improvement of the convict system, the impetus given to good roads, and the creation of the State Highway Commission. Enforcement of the law was achieved by calling special court terms to handle backlogs. Special counsels were appointed in both civil and criminal cases where the interests of the public and the State were concerned. Legislation was passed to establish the commission form of city government in those jurisdictions that qualified. He also worked to improve the judiciary. He actively urged a new constitutional convention, and his legal writings were published and read.[1]
He was an active member of the Governors' conference and participated in all the debates during his term. At the Governors' conference meeting in Richmond, Virginia, he delivered an address on the importance of establishing a system for rural credit (including the availability of cooperative credit unions, cooperative land banks, and similar organizations). His work as a pioneer in that movement resulted in the Congressional passage of legislation with a Presidential signature. O'Neal was chair of the Alabama delegation at the 1912 Democratic National Convention, which nominated Woodrow Wilson for president; he was the first Southerner to be elected to the presidency since the war. At the time of the conference of Governors, Governor O'Neal served as a member of that body's executive committee.[1]
Middle-class business and professional activists in the cities were frustrated with the old-fashioned politicized city governments. They demanded a commission form in which experts rather than politicians would very largely run municipal affairs. Governor O'Neal made the commission system his favored reform and secured its passage by the legislature in 1911. Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile quickly adopted the commission form.[3]
Other activities
He was a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Presbyterian church, and the
He spoke at the 1919 National Conference on Lynching.
On July 21, 1891, Governor O'Neal married Elizabeth Kirkman, the daughter of Colonel Samuel Kirkman and his wife. They had three children, Kirkman, Olivia, and Elizabeth O'Neal.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Daniel Decatur Moore (1922). Men of the South: A Work for the Newspaper Reference Library. Southern Biographical Association. pp. 43, 151.
- ISBN 978-0-8173-1218-3.
- ^ Allen W. Jones, "Political Reforms of the Progressive Era," Alabama Review 21 (1968): 175—206.
External links
- Alabama Department of Archives and History, Emmet O'Neal Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine