Pauline Marie O'Neill (née Schindler; January 13, 1865 – January 12, 1961) was an American

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and

legislator A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for ex ...

. In addition to her personal accomplishments, she is remembered as the widow of William Owen "Buckey" O'Neill.

Biography

O'Neill was born Pauline Marie Schindler in

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

on January 13, 1865. An only child, her parents, W.F.R. and Rosalie Young Schindler, had immigrated from

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

and her father worked as a purchasing agent for the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

. Around 1884 her father was transferred to Fort Whipple and she accompanied her parents to Arizona Territory. Schindler met her first husband, Buckey O'Neill, while working as a school teacher. At the time he was editor of the ''Hoof and Horn'' newspaper. The couple were married on April 27, 1886. Their first child, "Buckey" Jr., was born January 1, 1887, and died two weeks later. They adopted a second son, Maurice, on October 15 the same year. O'Neill was widowed on July 1, 1898, when Buckey died during the

Battle of San Juan Hill The Battle of San Juan Hill, also known as the Battle for the San Juan Heights, was a major battle of the Spanish–American War fought between an American force under the command of William Rufus Shafter and Joseph Wheeler against a Spanish fo ...

. Life insurance of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

200,000 along with property in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

and monies from her husband's onyx mine left her financially secure for many years to follow. She remarried on May 16, 1901, wedding her late husband's brother, Eugene Brady O'Neill. Eugene was a Phoenix-based lawyer who served two terms in the Council (

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

) of the

Arizona Territorial Legislature The Arizona Territorial Legislature was the legislative body of Arizona Territory. It was a bicameral legislature consisting of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Council. Created by the Arizona Organic Act, the le ...

before he committed suicide in 1918. The same year she lost her first husband, O'Neill resigned her teaching position and was elected president of the Arizona Territorial Women's Suffrage Association while her friend

Frances Munds Frances Lillian Willard "Fannie" Munds (June 10, 1866 – December 16, 1948) was an American suffragist and leader of the suffrage movement within Arizona. After achieving her goal of statewide women's suffrage, she went on to become a membe ...

was elected the group's secretary. Unlike earlier suffrage leaders in the territory, such as Josephine Brawley Hughes, O'Neill and Munds reached out to

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into severa ...

ladies within the territory. This outreach enable to organization to lobby Mormon member of the territorial legislature to support legislation supporting women, the result being passage of a women's suffrage bill by the

22nd Arizona Territorial Legislature The 22nd Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly was a session of the Arizona Territorial Legislature which convened in Phoenix, Arizona. The session ran from January 19, 1903, until March 19, 1903. Background Governor Oakes Murphy announced h ...

. The bill was later vetoed by Territorial Governor Alexander Brodie. O'Neill was quite productive in multiple women civil right's organizations following the passing of her first husband, such as being chairman of Women's Committee, member of the Council of Defense, playing a part in the Woman’s Relief Corps of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was an early member of th
Prescott Women's Club
In 1910, with the convening of Arizona's Constitutional convention, O'Neill joined other suffrage leaders in lobbying for women to be granted the vote in the new constitution. Her personal appeal was that unless they had governmental representation, women should not be taxed. Failing to achieve the desired outcome, she joined with Munds to launch a

ballot initiative In political science, an initiative (also known as a popular initiative or citizens' initiative) is a means by which a petition signed by a certain number of registered voters can force a government to choose either to enact a law or hold a p ...

. O'Neill set out to establish a nonpartisan club known as the Phoenix Civic League that assisted in this ballot initiative to collects signatures. The suffrage initiative passed during the 1912 election. O'Neill's first government position came with an appointment to the Yavapai County Board of Examiners in charge of teacher certification which she served as a member for from 1895 to 1899. This was followed in 1917 with her election to the first of two terms in the

Arizona Legislature The Arizona State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Arizona. It is a bicameral legislature that consists of a lower house, the House of Representatives, and an upper house, the Senate. Composed of 90 legislators, th ...

representing

Maricopa County Maricopa County is in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,420,568, making it the state's most populous county, and the fourth-most populous in the United States. It contains about ...

from 1915–1920. As a member of the legislature she supported a variety of children's and women's issues, including her vote for ratification of the

19th Amendment to the United States Constitution 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics 19 is the eighth prime number, and forms a sexy prime with 13, a twin prime with 17, and a cousin prime with 23. It is the third full re ...

. In 1924, O'Neill moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. She remained active in a variety of civic and charitable causes, even winning a commendation from the American Red Cross for her aid to soldiers and their families during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. She died in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

on January 12, 1961, and was buried in Los Angeles' Calvary Cemetery.

References

External links

Pauline Schindler O'Neill
from

Sharlot Hall Museum The Sharlot Hall Museum is an open-air museum and heritage site located in Prescott, Arizona. Opened in 1928 by Sharlot M. Hall as the Gubernatorial Mansion Museum, the museum that now bears her name is dedicated to preserving the history and ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Pauline Members of the Arizona House of Representatives Women state legislators in Arizona American suffragists 1865 births 1961 deaths