Joseph T. O'Neal
Encyclopedia
Joseph Thomas O'Neal, Jr, was interim mayor
of Louisville, Kentucky
, from June to December 1927. His father was a respected Louisville lawyer who ran for mayor in 1905, losing in a rampantly fraudulent election to Paul C. Barth
. The younger O'Neal graduated from Louisville Male High School
, Centre College
and then the University of Louisville
School of Law in 1903, and practiced law in his father's firm.
In 1925, the Democrat candidate for mayor was William T. Baker
. Republican Party boss Chesley Searcy discovered in October that Baker had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan
as recently as April 1925. After the Louisville Herald-Post broke the story, O'Neal was appointed the emergency replacement for Baker a week before the election. O'Neal lost narrowly to Republican Arthur A. Will
.
Democrats alleged voting fraud had occurred in the election, and in June 1927 the Kentucky Court of Appeals
overturned the election. Governor William Fields
appointed O'Neal to serve the remainder of the term until a November 7 special election. O'Neal ran in that election against Republican William B. Harrison
and lost by a narrow margin. He served briefly as a judge on the Court of Appeals following his term as Mayor.
O'Neal died in 1944 and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, from June to December 1927. His father was a respected Louisville lawyer who ran for mayor in 1905, losing in a rampantly fraudulent election to Paul C. Barth
Paul C. Barth
Paul C. Barth was Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1905 to 1907. The son of a cabinetmaker who died when Barth was 11, he took financial responsibility for the family at an early age...
. The younger O'Neal graduated from Louisville Male High School
Louisville Male High School
Louisville Male Traditional High School is a public secondary school serving students in grades 9 through 12 in the southside of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is part of the Jefferson County Public School District....
, Centre College
Centre College
Centre College is a private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky, USA, a community of approximately 16,000 in Boyle County south of Lexington, KY. Centre is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution. Centre was founded by Presbyterian leaders, with whom it maintains a loose...
and then the University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
School of Law in 1903, and practiced law in his father's firm.
In 1925, the Democrat candidate for mayor was William T. Baker
William T. Baker
William T. Baker is an American residential designer, and author.Baker was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from Auburn University in 1979 with a BS in finance, then Emory University with an MBA....
. Republican Party boss Chesley Searcy discovered in October that Baker had been a member of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
as recently as April 1925. After the Louisville Herald-Post broke the story, O'Neal was appointed the emergency replacement for Baker a week before the election. O'Neal lost narrowly to Republican Arthur A. Will
Arthur A. Will
Arthur A. Will was Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1925 to 1927. The son of a building contractor, Will was born in the Portland neighborhood of Louisville and educated in public schools. He dropped out at age 16 to become a carpenter, and eventually founded his own construction company with his...
.
Democrats alleged voting fraud had occurred in the election, and in June 1927 the Kentucky Court of Appeals
Kentucky Court of Appeals
The Kentucky Court of Appeals is the lower of Kentucky's two appellate courts, under the Kentucky Supreme Court. Prior to a 1975 amendment to the Kentucky Constitution the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky....
overturned the election. Governor William Fields
William Fields
William Fields may refer to:* William J. Fields, U.S. Representative and Governor of Kentucky* William M. Fields, American qualitative investigator studying language, culture, and tools in non-human primates...
appointed O'Neal to serve the remainder of the term until a November 7 special election. O'Neal ran in that election against Republican William B. Harrison
William B. Harrison
William Benjamin Harrison was mayor of Louisville, Kentucky from 1927 to 1933. He graduated from Louisville Male High School in 1907 and the University of Virginia School of Law in 1910. He served as a captain in the United States Army during World War I...
and lost by a narrow margin. He served briefly as a judge on the Court of Appeals following his term as Mayor.
O'Neal died in 1944 and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.