Margaret O'Neil - Part I - About the Women

Margaret O'Neil - Pioneer and Story Teller - Part 1

Margaret O'Neil might be just another name in a long list of names of my ancestors. An ordinary woman in a faraway corner of 19th-century America, she was a wife, mother, sister, and aunt who was born in small-town Wisconsin and grew up, lived, and died in small-town Iowa. In those days, letter writing (correspondence) and journaling were common occupations of those who could read and write. Margaret was no different, except for one thing that stands out, which helps us shine a light on her existence. She wrote a story, a story of her family and their traveling adventure across the Midwest in a covered wagon - it's a pioneer's story. She told it well enough to get it published in a local newspaper and through that, it found its way to others. Not unlike a more famous writer and contemporary, Laura Ingalls, Margaret told her 'Little House on the Prairie' tale.

Margaret (center) with brother Loren and sister Hannah. They
were just little kids on the month-long journey to far western Iowa.

Margaret, who was often referred to as Maggie or Mags, came from a large and extended O'Neil family. Both of her parents had prior marriages, but had lost their spouses. When Francis O'Neil and Elizabeth Nevin married, they brought some children from their first marriages (about 11) into their new family and then proceeded to have eight more. Coming from Ireland and Scotland, they first lived in the newly formed State of Wisconsin. After the Civil War, a large portion of the family headed west to the far west side of Iowa to start again. Margaret was only four years old on the trip to Iowa, but she remembered it vividly (or maybe her older siblings helped fill in the blanks) and wrote about the journey. It is unclear how much of her story survived, but a part of it was published for Mapleton's 50th Anniversary. 

Margaret was born on February 28, 1862, in Wisconsin. She married James Hammond (b.1856, d.1930) in 1892. They had one son, James, and lived out their lives in Mapleton, Monona County, Iowa. Her husband served for 10 years in local government, including a couple of terms as Mayor of Mapleton. Margaret died on September 10, 1939, in her home on South Fourth Street; she was 77 and is buried at Heisler Cemetery in Mapleton along with her husband and son (who never married).

The gravesite of Margaret O'Neil and James Hammond.

We really don't know that much about Margaret, just the bits and pieces of her life that can be found in vital records, census data, and other documents, plus a few photographs. But in her writing, we just might get to know her and the world she lived in a little better. Her contribution to our family history is something to be thankful for. 

In transcribing Margaret's story, I have tried to be faithful to her original text (in italics), making very few edits. I have divided her story into two parts, and I do comment occasionally (in parentheses).

PART 1: THE  JOURNEY 

On June 15, 1866, my father, Francis O'Neil, left Columbia County, Wisconsin, bound for Monona County, Iowa. We had a covered wagon drawn by horses; our first team of horses, Billy and Fly. We had always used an oxen team before we started our journey to Iowa, so it was a great treat to us children to ride in a big covered wagon drawn by horses. I was but a mere child, only four years old, but I remember nearly everything that happened on the way here. My mothers was in poor health and the doctor advised a change of climate for her, so with her in the wagon, just able to sit up on a feather bed, my father loaded Grace (about 7), Mary (about 6), Hannah (about 8), Maggie (the author, about 4), Loren (about 2), and Sarah (or Sadie, about 3 months) into the wagon together with a big load of household goods, bedding and his big chest of carpenter tools, a big old country chest, and even a cook stove. The stove was soon broken to pieces, and mother was glad of it as she did not want to bring it.

(Ed. Note: Baby Sadie was not in good health on the trip, the family though she might not make it but she gained strength in route and survived)

Following the wagon came my sisters, Agnes (about 15) and Ella (about 15) and my brother Edward (12), driving two cows, a yearling heifer and a colt. Those children walked every step of the way, except when we crossed the rivers on the boats. We crossed the Wisconsin River at Cruise's Ferry and the water came clear up to the wagon bed. Father would let us children out to walk and exercise, and I nearly fell into a coal pit while crossing Iowa, and it gave them a scare. Father slapped me and put me back in the wagon. That was the last time I got to walk. We would watch the girls and Ed. Sometimes they would get out of sight and how glad we were when they would show up again. Mother was taken sick and we had to stop for two weeks. 

(Ed. Note: Ella was from Elizabeth's' first marriage and Agnes and Edward were from Francis' first marriage)

When nightfall came, father would drive to some shady spot to camp, always near a steam where we could get water, or near a farm house. He would stop and say, "girls watch the horses while Ed and I go for water and find some wood to build a fire." The horses would get uneasy, as flies were bad. We would be so glad when we saw them coming back with their arms full of wood and perhaps carrying water. They would build a fire, and the girls would milk the cows, and Ed would take care of the team while we would cook our supper. We brought plenty. We all slept in the wagon except Ed, who slept under the wagon. The wolves would howl around some nights, but we brought our shepherd dog and she would bark and keep them back from the wagon. Her name was Nettle and she lived to be 13 years old, a grand faithful old dog.

We crossed the Mississippi River on a steam ferry boat. One of the horses got frightened, and mother and us children also were afraid. Ella held him by the bridle until we were across the river. We crossed the Des Moines River in a flat boat. The cows swam ahead of the boat. The colt was in the boat and it jumped out and swam ahead of the cows. On the night of July 4th we saw the Indians dance at Cedar Rapids. They were inside a high fence and father mounted us children upon the wall so we could see them dance. It was a great night to see them for the first time. I saw the first train of cars as we were crossing the prairie of Iowa. Father said, "look children, there goes the iron horse." The next time I saw it was when it pulled into Mapleton in the year 1877.

One bad feature of the journey was my brother's accident. One of our horses proved to be balky, she stopped on every hill. On one hill my brother was blocking the wheel to keep the wagon from going back and he had his finger nail torn from his hand, and they took him to a doctor and had them dress it. This happened in Dubuque. Mother gradually grew stronger as we traveled, and when we reached our destination she was feeling quite well, also the baby was better, she was very puny when we started. We arrived in Maple Valley at noon on July 15, just one month from the day we started. We landed right here on the spot where Mapleton stands. There were only a few houses here then, the Muchey house and a new log house just being built across the creek where Avis now lives; it belonged to Benjamin Taylor, and the John and Samuel Heisler houses, that was all on this side of the river. The prairie grass was higher than our heads. The spot where the town now stands was the prairie then, no trees except on the river, and no houses. They were so scarce that in many instances two or three families lived in one house, until such a time as they could build their own homestead.

This is the end of Part 1 - The Journey. Part II, the stories of the family's settlement into their new home in Monona County, Iowa, can be found here . . . (coming soon)

Additional Information:
You can find links to stories about other Women here . . .

Research Notes: Much of the information for this story has been provided by the collections of my distant cousin, Peggy. Other sources include the United States Census and other web-based sources, and my own personal family information. I have heard that there is extensive information on the O'Neil family in the small local museum in Mapleton.

This is one of the 'Women's Series,' of short biographies; specifically dedicated to writing about the Women in my ancestry. These will be undertaken, from time to time, when enough information becomes available about an individual.