num_pages: 212
description: William O'Neal (1827-1907) was born in Woodville, Mississippi. He was hired out to nearby planters and manufacturers. In 1850, O'Neal married an enslaved woman named Ellen. When Ellen's mistress died, O'Neal purchased her freedom. Then O'Neal's master offered him the chance to buy his freedom, and O'Neal-after ensuring that the purchaser would resell his wife to him for the same sum-sold his wife back into slavery to raise the funds for his own purchase. Ellen's purchaser, Mrs. Johnson, kept her word and she was eventually freed at the end of the Civil War.
language: English
title: The Life and History of William O'Neal: The Man Who Sold His Wife
titlecomplete: The Life and History of William O'Neal: The Man Who Sold His Wife
publisher: The Everett Companies