A member of the Centre College Athletic Hall of Fame, his brother was Louisville Mayor Joseph T. O'Neal.

[2] O'Neal was the youngest of four children in his family and he graduated from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky in 1907.

[3] During his tenure at Centre College, he participated in football, basketball, baseball, and tennis in which he won a championship title.

[1] He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1946 to the Eightieth Congress losing to Thruston Ballard Morton.

[1] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress