Evening star., 1935-06-23

the more refined def1nition-especially
applicable in this case-namely: "a
public house for travellers or other
transients," such as the one Thomas
jefferson went from in this city to
be inaugurated President.
In the early days in Washington,
some of the foremost people kept pri-
yate boarding houses or taverns, and
their wives and their daughters were
not regarded as shop women or bar
maids, and there is no reason why
Miss ONeale should have had asper-
sion cast upon her because her father
was engaged In this kind of business
Indeed, If everybody were excluded
from society because Of an ancestor
or two In the ranks Of tavern keeper,
shoemaker, tailor or cooper. then there
would be few people In society.
AS q matter Of fact, where it is nice
to have q good line Of ancestors, yet
healthy and respectable forbears mean
more In the long rum Thousands of
cases in our own country might be
mentioned where great men have had
humble parents, and the world has
produced some notable examples in
such men as Cardinal Wolsey, whose
father was q pork butcher. Oliver
Cromwell YVES the son of a London
brewer. Whitefield was the son Of an
inn keeper at Gloucester. Columbus
was the son Of a weaver, and q weaver
hi vraColf E2nHfvvnp a AFTf0oicf Me-
hemet Ali was q barber. Virgil was
the son of a potter. Milton was the
son of a scavenger. Horace was the
son of a shopkeeper. Demosthenes
was the son of a cutler. Robert Burns
was q plowman Of Ayrshire. Shake
speare was the son Of wool stapler,
and 20 on.
A CCoRDING to her own statement,
n Margaret ONeale was born In
Washington. D. c., on December 3,
1899, in her fathers boarding house
on I street, between Twentieth and
Twenty streets. Incidentally,
Mrs. Eaton, when using her maiden
name, spells it "O'Nef," Her father,
in signing his will, gives the form
"ONeale." and the various persons
who have written about her have
spelled it just as they saw At. The
writer will follow the spelling given
by the father, William o'Neale, as
the name appears in the Inteligencer
at the time Of his death, and as
copied from other strictly reliable
sources.
The daughter tells us her father.
William O'Neale, was not Irish; that
he was born in Trenton, N. j., and
came to Washington In 179s, and
built the first house-a three-story
brick-in the Capital City. But this
is probably q mistake, since the six
buildings, within q block from the
o'Neale home, were sold In Deem
Der. 1795. while partly finished, and
completed by Isaac Pollock, who had
purchased them for $4,000. How
ever, it Is known that Mr.. O'Neale
did come here during or prior to
1896, for In that year we find him
advertising his trade in the Wash
ington Gazette.
The census of the District of Co
lumbia for 1900 includes In his house.
hold one male between Is and 26
years of age, nine males (maybe
boarders) between 26 and As, two
females under 10 and one above As.
It is probable the census taker failed
to include Mrs. O'Neale, the wife Of
the head OF the house.
As to her father not being Irish,
she is to an extent correct, because
her father was born In the United
States. But the name O'Neale, with
its variations. Is certainly Of irish
origin; %" meaning grandson, de-