John O'Neill (October 18, 1829May 12, 1914) was a

Canadian American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to Citizenship of the United States, American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadians, Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can ...

immigrant, miner, farmer, and Democratic politician. He served two terms in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

, representing western Lafayette County.

Biography

John O'Neill was born in

Douglastown Douglastown is a hamlet in Kinnettles in Angus, Scotland, three miles south-west of Forfar. It takes its name from the landowner who in about 1789 provided land for James Ivory & Co. (in which Mr Douglas was a partner) to build a flax mill to ...

, in Miramichi, New Brunswick, in 1829. In 1845, he emigrated with his parents and siblings to Lafayette County, in the Wisconsin Territory, where they all engaged in

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mining. In 1846, the family acquired a tract of land in the town of Seymour from the federal land office. In 1852, he crossed the country with an ox team to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he remained for several years. Upon his return to Wisconsin in 1859, he engaged in farming and livestock raising. He was a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

and was elected chairman of the Shullsburg town board in 1872 and 1873. In 1881, he was elected to the

for Lafayette County's 2nd (western) Assembly district. He was subsequently re-elected in 1882. He did not run for a third term in 1884.

Personal life

O'Neill never married and had no children. He retired from his farm in the 1890s and went to live in the care of his brother's family. His brother, Brien, preceded him in death, but his care continued under Brien's wife and children. For the last five years of his life he was completely blind. He suffered a

stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...

on the morning of Tuesday, May 12, 1914, and died that afternoon. His body was interred at Saint Matthews Catholic Cemetery in Shullsburg.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1881, 1882)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 1881 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 1882

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, John (Wisconsin politician) British emigrants to the United States People from Shullsburg, Wisconsin Wisconsin city council members 1830 births Year of death missing Emigrants from pre-Confederation New Brunswick to the United States Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly