. Volume 2 Jump to Page Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Go Back to Index TOGA NEWS Issue 9, September, 2002

On day two of TOGA-X we got up bright & early and departed Connellsville for Bedford, Pennsylvania. Our first stop of the morning was at Denny's Restaurant where we met other TOGA Members and researchers. Among them was Harriet Clapper, from Florida, Glenn Nave from Maryland, and Bob Rose, who drove his camper in all the way from Washington State to attend the activities over the weekend. After breakfast we toward Everett to attend the James O'Neal Cemetery Dedication Ceremony.

It was a perfectly beautiful day for a drive and we soon arrived at the site. We parked our vehicles along the road and trekked back through some brush, across a tree line and out into the center of a large field. Being recently planted, the stones and the fence were visible from quite a ways off. As we crossed the field, the first thing to catch your eye is the glass chips Ken spread around the site to keep the woodchucks at bay. The sunlight caught them and they glistened like myriad little jewels spread around the site. It was quite spectacular to see.

Below is a transcript of the ceremony Ken gave...............

     We are gathered here today to dedicate the James O'Neal Cemetery. This cemetery was found in september of 2001. We (TOGA Members) decided to fix it up and make it look like a cemetery once again. If you remember last year when the site was found the weeds were all grown up covering the stones.  Groundhog holes had caused some of the stones to tip, and some to break. As you can see here today it once again looks like a cemetery.
     I'd like to share some information on James O'Neal and his family. James was the son of our Great-Great Grandparents, Peter O'Neale and Sarah Sparks O'Neale..At one time this land was probably owned by Peter. As his sons married he would give them a hundred acres of property as a wedding gift. Being that James is buried here, there's no doubt in my mind that his homestead was located near here and that his family lived on this property.
     James was born December 04, 1791, in Providence Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania and died there on October 20, 1869. He married Catherine Snively in 1824. she was born May 09, 1792, in Washington County, Maryland and died in Providence Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania on May 12, 1848. This information was taken from their stones, which were found here.