Los Angeles County
Biographies
GROSVENOR
PIXLEY O’NEALL
O’NEALL, GROSVENOR PIXLEY, Attorney at Law, Los Angeles, California, was born in Idaho Springs, Colorado, November 27, 1872, the son of Dr. Jefferson Cyrus O’Neall and Josephine (Pixley) O’Neall. He married Frances Grace Church Dampler at St. Paul, Minnesota, October 17, 1900, and to them there has been born a son, Grosvenor Pixley Hugh O’Neall. While his family has been prominent in America since 1730 and Mr. O’Neall, of the sixth generation, is distinctly and typically American, there are combined in him four strains—Irish, Scotch, English and Dutch. He is directly descended from the Earls of Tyrone, Ireland, and one of his early ancestors was Sir Tristram Coffin of Nantucket.
The American branch of the family was of Quaker belief and resided for four generations in Newberry, South Carolina. Chief Justice John Belton O’Neall of the Supreme Court of South Caroline, was the head of the family and the most prominent member during his lifetime. During the Revolutionary War four of Mr. O’Neall’s great-great granduncles were under arms. One, Major James O’Neall, was on the Staff of General Washington, and a younger brother was a drummer boy in the Continental Army. Two others, British sympathizers, served the Crown, as Colonel and Captain, respectively, in the English Army. Mr. O’Neall’s great-great-grandfather, brother of these four soldiers, was a devout Quaker and refused to bear arms against his fellow-man, but his sympathies were with the Colonials and he furnished the American forces with a large amount of supplies.
The O’Neall and allied families have been prominent in the affairs of the South since their earliest days, various members having served in Congress or held other positions of trust. One of these is Governor Emmet O’Neal, of Alabama. On the paternal side, Mr. O’Neall is connected with the Coffin, Gilbert and Cary families, all noted names in the South, and on the maternal side he is connected with the Kipp, Radcliffe, Sturgis, Noxon and Pixley families of New York and Massachusetts, and the Clarks, of Hartford, Conn.
Mr. O’Neall received his preliminary education in the public schools of Massachusetts and later attended Holderness Church School, at Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was graduated from Washington College, at Tacoma, Washington, in 1892, and in 1895 took up the study of law in the University of Minnesota. He was graduated in the class of 1897, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws.
Admitted to practice in the courts of Minnesota shortly after his graduation, Mr. O’Neall began his professional career in the office of Morphy, Ewing & Gilbert, a law firm of St. Paul. He remained with this firm for about a year, at which time it was dissolved, and he then became associated with Phillip Gilbert, who had been a member of it. He was with Mr. Gilbert for a short time and then opened offices alone.
Early in his career Mr. O’Neall became affiliated with the Republican party in St. Paul, and took an active part in the local and State campaigns. He was one of the organizers of the first Roosevelt Club in the country and served as its chairman for a time. In 1901 he was nominated for County Attorney, but failed of election, being defeated by a small majority.
The stress of his professional work and political activity greatly impaired the health of Mr. O’Neall, and in 1903 he was compelled to give up his work in St. Paul and quit the cold climate of the North for the more congenial climate of Southern California. Locating at Los Angeles, he was admitted to the bar and practiced there for about a year. He then went to New York City as attorney for several large corporation interests and during the next two years devoted himself almost exclusively to corporation law.
In 1906, Mr. O’Neall was chosen attorney for the Chicago, Milwaukee & Puget Sound Railroad Company, with headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and went to the latter city. He continued as attorney for the railroad for about five years, resigning in March, 1911, to return to Los Angeles, where he has been engaged in general practice.
Mr. O’Neall has devoted himself to his profession and is reckoned among its successful members. He has taken an interest in public affairs during his entire career and, while a resident of Seattle, served in the National Guard of Washington. He is a Master Mason and a member of the American Bar Association.
Transcribed 7-12-10
Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Press
Reference Library, Western Edition Notables of the West, Vol. I, Page 470, International News Service, New York, Chicago, San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta.
1913.
© 2010 Marilyn R. Pankey.
GOLDEN NUGGET'S LOS ANGELES
BIOGRAPIES