The O'Neal Genealogy Association Newsletter

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TOGA NEWS Volume III, Issue 2, February, 2003

Looking at the names in the census we can see that Peter O'Neale's descendants were living in the same county as William O'Neale's Descendants . (Peter O'Neale & William O'Neale were brothers, and sons of John (Jo Owneill) O'Neale.) Barton was the son of John O'Neale, while Bernard, William, Jr. Henry, David and Lawrence were the children of William O'Neale. (Actually William is William Jr and William Jr is William, III.)

The reason we find Peter's descendants John & Family in the 1776 Census and not the Descendants of William is evident after some map study. William's descendants were not living in Sugarland Hundred in 1776. William's properties were south of the city of Rockville. On today's map you'd find them in downtown Rockville. So where exactly can we find Sugarland Hundred? Here's an excerpt from an article written by Charles W. Elgin, Sr.

"Imagine, if you will, the entire area in and around what is now Poolesville (Maryland) as a wilderness. This is exactly what existed in this area in the early seventeen hundreds when a few hearty souls began settling the area. There were a few wagon roads and Indian trails available for the early settlers of this area to ride. There were tribes of Indians around and the State of Maryland appointed Rangers to range about the area to spot Indian bands to determine if they were friendly or hostile to the white settlers.
What we now know as Montgomery County was originally part of Frederick County. In 1776 the Maryland General Assembly (at the urging of Laurence O'Neale) took part of Frederick County and made Montgomery County and Washington County. Counties were divided into "Hundreds", an old English custom. The area in and around Poolesville was known as "Sugarland Hundred".
Source: BRIEF HISTORY OF POOLESVILLE, By Charles W. Elgin, Sr.

So, to make a long story short, if you want to see where the descendants of William O'Neale lived, locate Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland. To find Peter O'Neale's descendants find Poolesville, Montgomery County, Maryland.

We're continuing to work with the old and new maps to locate additional properties such as Conclusion, Wheel of Fortune, etc. and will post further updates in the newsletter as they become available. To view the 1865 map we've been working from visit  the Library of Congress digital map collection.  The 1865 map is at:  <http://memory.loc.gov> To begin, click on search. When the next page opens, type in  "Montgomery Maryland" and enter. Find the map in the collection entitled "Martenet and Bond's map of Montgomery County, Maryland".  Select the map.  You can then enlarge it to see specific areas of interest.. You will need to download the Mr. Sids viewer to use this map. Once you download the viewer you can also download the map for future reference. Then, if you zoom in on the Rockville section of the map, you'll find the Misses O'Neale's near Rockville. This is Ann, Eleanor and Elizabeth, three spinster daughters of William O'Neale, II who resided there. Also in this area you'll find numerous families who intermarried the O'Neale's such as Jones, West, Magruder, Nicholls, Spates, Wootten, etc.