Descendants of William & Frances O'Daniel
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Evolution of our O'Daniel to Daniel, Daniell, and Daniels
William O'Daniel was in Stafford County, Virginia before 1717. He received two Northern Neck land grants, 1717 and 1724, on Accotinck Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River. William was recorded as O'Daniel on his first Northern Neck Land Grant (5-159) and as O'Daniell on the second grant (A-132). William died about 1728 in Stafford County, Virginia, leaving his wife, Frances, three sons, John, William, and James, and three daughters, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Ann, all known from wills, deeds, and court proceedings.
Family lore relates a feud between three brothers over finances, possibly over shipping interests. As a result, one brother is said to have changed the spelling of his name so as to no longer be associated with another. The story might be true. Before 1755, William and James had migrated to South Carolina while John lived out his life in Fairfax County, Virginia. Both William and James can be found as Daniell, but James was obviously insistent upon it. In their mother's will of 1755, Frances GLADIN, widow of William O'Daniel, listed her sons as "James DANNELL"... "William DANNELL"... and her executor as "John O'DANNELL." Frances must have known of the feud.
The eldest son, John, used O'Daniel throughout his life, naming himself and his children as O'Daniel in his will of 1798 in Fairfax County, Virginia; although, some records name him as Daniel. John's children dropped the O' in favor of Daniel.
A second son, William (II), and his children are found as O'Daniel in records as late as 1807, but regularly as Daniel and, infrequently, Daniell. William (II) named himself and his children as O'Daniel his will of 1795 in Kershaw County, South Carolina. Incongruously, his tombstone is engraved William Daniel. His children also dropped the O’ in favor of Daniel.
The third son, James, changed his surname to Daniell. On 16 August 1757, in Fairfax County, Virginia, after identifying himself as James O'Daniel of the Province of South Carolina, he signed his name four separate times as James Daniell in the indenture and acknowledgments surrounding the sale of 100 acres, inherited from his father, to Charles Green of Truro Parish. Although James used Daniell, he too is often Daniel in records. He named himself and his children as Daniell in his will of 11 May 1797 in Hancock County, Georgia. His children and many of their descendants have continued the spelling as Daniell, but some have lost their second "L".
1807 is the last year the surname O'Daniel has been found among William’s descendants. All had became Daniel or Daniell. Toward the late 1800s, the surname Daniels appeared in isolated family records. Several lines had adopted this surname by 1900. Variant spellings are found throughout the lines and individuals' records.
Particularly curious are the three surnames of the three sons of Elijah Leroy DANIELL, 1855 - 1906, of Pulaski County, Georgia, who are buried in Bleckley County, Georgia. Two sons, buried beside Elijah Leroy DANIELL, Sr., in the Evergreen Baptist Church Cemetery are Elijah Leroy DANIELL, Jr. and William Anderson DANIELS. The third son, Jesse Damascus DANIEL is buried in the Antioch United Methodist Cemetery.
The assignment of William Daniel of Edgefield County, South Carolina, born 1747 in Centreville, Fairfax County, Virginia, as a son of John and grandson of William O'Daniel of Stafford County, Virginia is proven by an indenture recorded in Fairfax County Deed Book Z, wherein John O'Daniel of Fairfax County, Virginia, and his wife Ann, for love and ten dollars, deeded 1000 acres in the County of Fayette and State of Kentucky to their son, William, identified as "William O'Daniel of the County of Edgefield, District of Ninety six and State of South Carolina." The $10 was paid May 13, 1797; witnesses: Robert Ratcliffe, Courtney Askins, Patrick McAtee, and Barton Boswell.
Unrelated O'Daniel lines: There are at least three other O'Daniel families in the Carolinas and Virginia that may be confused with the William O'Daniel Family of Stafford County. First, in Stafford/Fairfax County, Virginia in the mid-1700s, there is a Thomas O'Daniel who has not been linked to the William O'Daniel family. Second, is the family of John O'Daniel who died in Orange County, North Carolina on 16 June 1825. The first mention of the O'Daniel name in Orange County , North Carolina is in 1761. It is said that this O'Daniel line immigrated from Ireland in 1760. They moved into the Laurens County area of South Carolina as early as 1769 and lived near Raeburn's Creek. Other members of this family included William, Henry, Samuel, and Elizabeth O'Daniel. Henry and Elizabeth married into a McDaniel family, and Elizabeth later married James Abercrombie. Third is Daniel O'Daniel, born in Ireland and died in 1839 in York County, South Carolina. There may well be others, including the Thomas and Joseph O'Daniel families of Maryland. Ref: "Abstracts of the Minutes of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions of Orange County, North Carolina," the notes of researchers Bill O'Daniel, Natalie Hughes, Wayne McDaniel, and Junius O'Daniel, Sr., a descendant of the Rev. Joseph O'Daniel of Gaston County, North Carolina.
DNA NOTES: William O’Daniel’s descendants have a 37 marker DNA test result from the line of his son, James. A 25 marker test from the Joseph O’Daniel of Maryland line shows no family connection. Contact your compiler to discuss DNA results.
Updated: 23 August 2008
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Descendants of William O'DANIEL, I
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