Mame and Henry O'Neill

This is a beautiful picture of Mary Frances McIntyre O'Neill, best known as "Mame".  She was so well loved, by both her children and her husband, Henry.  She was born in New York. (I have yet to determine exactly where.) Her family moved to Richmond, Virginia and then up to Catasauqua, PA.  She and her husband were married in the tiny St. Lawrence's Church in Catasauqua.   Below is a transcription of the newspaper article.








There are several copies of the letters that Henry sent to Mame before they were married.  Henry seems a bit OCD. He wrote them out first in a copy book, which Matt Mulqueen has the originals.  They are kind of funny.  In one of them Henry was kidding Mame about her "Catholic" views.  I guess she was a bit more pious than he.  In another it tells about her trip to visit her cousins and Henry's reaction. I can't imagine what a fiance he would have been.  Talk about a sit-com!









My grandmother told me that every morning Henry brought Mame a cup of tea and he got the children up and off to school.  One day I will just have to put up all the family portraits.



Henry, or "Papa" as my grandmother Anne called him, was born in Merthyr Tydvil, Wales on 30 August 1859.  He was the twin brother of Bryan P. O'Neill the photographer.  He also had a sister either Mary Alice or Alice who died either at birth or as an infant.  I can not find any records of other children.  He came to this country at the age of 8.  He was a lawyer in Allentown and had an office at the corner of 5th and Hamilton.

Henry not only was a lawyer, he was very much into buying and selling and renting real estate in Allentown, and much to the joy of my cousins and fellow genealogists he kept copious records and journals.  If anyone comes across any of these, please let me know.  I have one, but I do know there were quite a few others, including the "Big Journal".

He wrote several books including The Travels of John Wryland, a take off on Gulliver's Travels.  The reviews were not too good in the New York Times.  One that I have the transcript of is Robert Emmet: The Apostle of Universal Justice And Peace, Love And Kindness.  It is a long winded book, more like a lecture.  There may be another book on the flat tax.  

Henry and Mame are buried in Holy Savior Cemetery in Bethlehem, with quite a few of the cousins and relatives close by.