20 Facts About Emmet O'Neal

Emmet O'Neal was an American Democratic politician and lawyer who was the 34th Governor of Alabama from 1911 to 1915.

Emmet O'Neal was a reformer in the progressive mold and is best known for securing the commission form of government for the cities of Alabama.

Emmet O'Neal's father, Edward A O'Neal, was a lawyer who became a Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War.

Emmet O'Neal received his early schooling in Florence and was a student at the University of Mississippi in 1870 and 1871.

Emmet O'Neal served as a presidential elector in Alabama's 8th congressional district in 1888 and was an elector at large from Alabama in 1892 and 1908.

Emmet O'Neal was appointed as United States District Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama and served in that capacity from 1893 to 1897.

Emmet O'Neal played a prominent role in framing the suffrage provisions, adding a poll tax, literacy test, and property ownership requirements.

Emmet O'Neal was elected governor in 1910, began his term of service in January 1911, and served four years.

Emmet O'Neal actively urged a new constitutional convention, and his legal writings were published and read.

Emmet O'Neal was an active member of the Governors' conference and participated in all the debates during his term.

Emmet O'Neal was chair of the Alabama delegation at the 1912 Democratic National Convention, which nominated Woodrow Wilson for president; he was the first Southerner to be elected to the presidency since the war.

At the time of the conference of Governors, Governor Emmet O'Neal served as a member of that body's executive committee.

Governor Emmet O'Neal made the commission system his favored reform and secured its passage by the legislature in 1911.

Emmet O'Neal was an advocate of regulating child labor; calling for a rise in the age limit of children working in mills and factories during his time as governor.

Emmet O'Neal was a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Elks, the Presbyterian church, and the Phi Beta Kappa society.

In 1915, Governor Emmet O'Neal was appointed referee in bankruptcy, with offices in the Federal building in Birmingham.

Governor Emmet O'Neal frequently contributed to The North American Review and other publications.

Emmet O'Neal served as a vice-president of the American Bar Association.

Emmet O'Neal spoke at the 1919 National Conference on Lynching.

On July 21,1891, Governor Emmet O'Neal married Elizabeth Kirkman, the daughter of Colonel Samuel Kirkman and his wife.