Emmet O'Neal (September 23, 1853 – September 7, 1922) was an American Democratic politician and lawyer who was the 34th

Governor of Alabama A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

from 1911 to 1915. He was a reformer in the progressive mold, and is best known for securing the commission form of government for the cities of Alabama.

Career

O'Neal was born on September 23, 1853, in

Florence, Alabama Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama, the oldest college in the st ...

to Edward A. O'Neal and Olivia Moore O'Neal. His father Edward A. O'Neal was a lawyer who became a

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

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 The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

in 1870 and 1871. He received the degree of A.B. from the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

in 1873. Reading law under the supervision of his father, he was admitted to the bar in Florence in 1876. In 1901 and in 1910 he was elected and served as president of the

Alabama Bar Association The Alabama State Bar is the Bar association#Mandatory, integrated or unified bar associations, integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of Alabama. The Alabama State Bar was established in 1923 and is governed by th1975 Alabama ...

. In 1911 he was made a member of the governing board of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

State politics

O'Neal served as a

presidential elector The United States Electoral College is the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of appointing the president and vice president. Each state and the District of Columbia appo ...

Alabama's 8th congressional district Alabama's 8th congressional district, now obsolete, was established in 1877. Alabama currently has seven congressional districts represented in the United States House of Representatives. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Alabama was app ...

in 1888 and was an elector at large from Alabama in 1892 and 1908. He was appointed as

United States District Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Northern District of Alabama and served in that capacity from 1893 to 1897. In 1901, he served as a member at large in the Constitutional Convention of 1901, where he was member of the committees on rules and regulations, and suffrage; and chairman of the committee on local legislation. He played a large role in framing the suffrage provisions, adding a

poll tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments fr ...

literacy test A literacy test assesses a person's literacy skills: their ability to read and write have been administered by various governments, particularly to immigrants. In the United States, between the 1850s and 1960s, literacy tests were administered t ...

(administered subjectively by white officials), and property ownership requirement. These changes to the Constitution resulted in a "precipitous" decline in voter registration, with a dramatic drop in election turnout for both Black and poor white voters. Most blacks were effectively disenfranchised until after passage of federal civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s, including the

Voting Rights Act of 1965 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the height of the civil rights movement ...

. In the runup to the 1908 presidential election, O'Neal made an extensive speaking tour in the West campaigning for

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

. In 1909, he campaigned against the addition of a

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

amendment to the

Constitution of Alabama The Constitution of the State of Alabama is the basic governing document of the U.S. state of Alabama. It was adopted in 2022 and is Alabama's seventh constitution. History Alabama has had seven constitutions to date, all but the current one est ...

Governor 1911–1915

O'Neal was elected governor in 1910, began his term of service in January 1911, and served for four years. Among the more important achievements of his administration were the improvement of the convict system, the impetus given to good roads, and creation of the State Highway Commission. Enforcement of law was achieved by the calling of special terms of court 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 was active in urging a new constitutional convention, and his legal writings were published and read. He was an active member of the Governors' conference and took part in all the debates during his term. At the meeting of the Governors' conference 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 Congressional passage of legislation on the subject, with Presidential signature. O'Neal was chairman of the Alabama delegation at the

1912 Democratic National Convention The 1912 Democratic National Convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory off North Howard Street in Baltimore from June 25 to July 2, 1912. The Convention The convention was held at the Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore from June 25 t ...

, which nominated

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

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 the executive committee of that body. Middle-class business and professional activists in the cities were frustrated with the old-fashioned politicized city governments, and demanded a commission form in which municipal affairs would be very largely run by experts rather than politicians. Governor O'Neal made the commission system his favored reform, and secured its passage by the legislature in 1911. The cities of Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile quickly adopted the commission form.Allen W. Jones, "Political Reforms of the Progressive Era," ''Alabama Review'' 21 (1968): 175—206.

Other activities

He was a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Presbyterian church, and the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

society. In 1915, Governor O'Neal was appointed referee in bankruptcy, with offices in the Federal building in Birmingham. After his term as governor, he also worked in manufacturing in Birmingham, serving as secretary and treasurer of the

Southern Steel Works Company Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

. Governor O'Neal was a frequent contributor to ''

The North American Review The ''North American Review'' (NAR) was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until revived a ...

'' and other publications. He also served as a vice-president of the

. He was a speaker 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.

References

External links

Alabama Department of Archives and History, Emmet O'Neal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneal, Emmet 1853 births 1922 deaths Alabama lawyers Neo-Confederates Governors of Alabama Politicians from Florence, Alabama University of Mississippi alumni University of Alabama alumni Democratic Party governors of Alabama United States Attorneys for the Northern District of Alabama 19th-century American lawyers