William John O'Neill fonds
https://search.bvmuseum.org/link/descriptions4998
- Date Range
- [18-?]; 1912-1913; 1960
- Collection
- William John O'Neill fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- GMD
- textual record
- Scope and Content
- Fonds includes photocopies of manuscripts written by O’Neill, "Steamboat Days on the Skeena River", correspondence with The Province, finances during his partnership with Larocque, a war savings investments form, and a book awarded to him.
- Collection
- William John O'Neill fonds
- Description Level
- Fonds
- GMD
- textual record
- Fonds No.
- PF3
- Accession No.
- 1971.5
- 1995.2
- 2001.11
- 2000.9
- 2019.35
- Physical Description
- 6.5 cm of textual records
- Date Range
- [18-?]; 1912-1913; 1960
- History / Biographical
- William John “Wiggs” O’Neill was born in Barkerville, B.C., on September 16, 1882, to Charles Patrick O’Neill and Mary Thressa Gertrude O’Neill (nee Veasy). He had two sisters, Martha Washington and Catherine Lily Beatrice. His father passed away when he was five-years old and his mom sent him and his eldest sister, Martha, to live with his grandparents on their farm on the Bonaparte River, sixteen miles below Clinton, B.C. His mother eventually remarried to James Marsden Lindsay-Alexander, a widower with six children of his own, who worked for the Hudson Bay Company. The family then moved to Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) to attempt beef farming and by 1892, had settled in Port Simpson. During this time two additional children were born; however, Lindsay-Alexander passed away in 1901 at the age of sixty. O’Neill held a number of jobs during his lifetime. He worked on stern-wheel steamers, a truck freighter, and a government ferry. In 1911, O’Neill bought a tunnel boat with gasoline power named the Kitexchen (people of the Skeena). With his partner, Larocque, he made 4 trips a day from Hazelton to Sealy, transporting passengers and freight. In 1912, they moved to the Bulkley River, continuing to transport both passengers and freight. Reservations were made through Aldous & Murray. By August 1912, Larocque was replaced by Bigelow in advertisements for their service (although in financial statements Larocque is still listed). As the Grand Trunk Rail neared completion, O’Neill had to move his boat once more, contracting it out to a freighter to use on Decker and Burns Lakes. By 1916, the boat was sold to the Provincial Government and taken to Francois Lake to be used as the first ferry boat there. Around the same time, O’Neill partnered with Bill Henry, operating a Packard truck to carry freight and passengers from Hazelton to Aldermere. In 1913 he helped in clearing the Smithers’ town site and built and ran various businesses, including a garage, theatre and electric plant. In 1913, being the only master mechanic in Smithers, he built the town’s first electric power distribution system. On July 23, 1914, O’Neill married Edith Marion Steele, an employee at the Union Bank in Hazelton, at Point Grey, Vancouver, BC. The couple had three sons, Charles Patrick, Michael and Bill. O’Neill passed away in 1964 at the age of 82.
- Scope and Content
- Fonds includes photocopies of manuscripts written by O’Neill, "Steamboat Days on the Skeena River", correspondence with The Province, finances during his partnership with Larocque, a war savings investments form, and a book awarded to him.
- Arrangement
- Records were rearranged intellectually in October 2016 by Manda Haligowski to better reflect archival standards and to improve accessibility.
- Type of Record
- Archival Description