Biographical Database of NAWSA Suffragists, 1890-1920
Biography of Luella Morrow (O'Neill), 1881-1968
By Linda D. Wilson, Independent Historian
New Jersey suffragist Luella Morrow was born on July 17, 1881, in Paterson, Passaic County, New Jersey. She was one of five children born to William Bogert Morrow (1836-1904) and Margaret Louise [(1844-1931) née Corby] Morrow. In 1903 Luella Morrow married Addison O'Neill, an osteopathic doctor living in Ridgewood, New Jersey. They had four daughters. According to the 1940 federal census, Luella attended high school for two years.
The first mention of Luella Morrow's involvement in the suffrage movement occurred in 1911. She appears as "Dr. Luella Morrow" in volume six of The History of Woman Suffrage. At a January 1911 New Jersey suffrage meeting, Dr. Luella Morrow, Clara Laddey, Grace Selden, and Florence Howe Hall were appointed to work on a suffrage measure to be presented before the New Jersey legislature. In December 1911 four New Jersey suffrage associations formed the Joint Legislative Committee headed by Mrs. George T. Vickers. The committee submitted a resolution, to have a woman's suffrage amendment put to a vote of the people, that was presented to the New Jersey legislature in January 1912. New Jersey women waited until the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920 before they gained suffrage. On February 9, 1920, New Jersey was the twenty-ninth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment.
During their marriage, the O'Neills enjoyed a summer home at Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, and a winter home at Daytona Beach, Florida. In 1919, Dr. Addison O'Neill became a member of the Florida state board of osteopathic examiners. Luella O'Neill remained busy rearing their daughters. She and other local women organized an eight-day camping trip for young girls. Luella and her husband divorced in 1933 at Saint Johns, Florida. Apparently, she gained custody of the children, because she is listed as head of household and her four daughters are living with her on the 1935 Florida state census.
Luella (Morrow) O'Neill never remarried. She died in January 1968, in Volusia, Florida. She was buried in Hillside Cemetery at Ormond Beach, Volusia County, Florida.
Sources:
Daytona Daily News (Daytona Beach, FL), January 4, and February 25, 1915.
Florida State Census, 1935, Precinct 8A, Volusia County, Florida, accessed through Ancestry.com on March 19, 2022.
Florida, U.S., Death Index, 1877-1998, accessed through Ancestry.com on March 12, 2022.
Florida, U.S., Divorce Index, 1927-2001, accessed through Ancestry.com on March 12, 2022.
Ida Husted Harper, The History of Woman Suffrage, Vol. 6 (New York: National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1922) [LINK].
New Jersey State Census, 1885, accessed through Family Search on March 10, 2022.
New Jersey, U.S., Births and Christening Index, 1660-1931, accessed through Ancestry.com on March 12, 2022.
New Jersey, U.S., Marriage Index, 1901-2016, accessed through Ancestry.com on March 12, 2022.
Orlando (FL) Sentinel, July 15, 1930.
Ridgewood (NJ) Herald, August 13, and September 3, 1908; April 29, 1909.
Tampa (FL) Tribune, October 12, 1919.
U.S. Census, 1900, Borough of Midland Park, Bergen County, New Jersey.
U.S. Census, 1910, Ridgewood, Bergen County, New Jersey.
U.S. Census, 1920, 1930, and 1940, Daytona Beach, Volusia County, Florida.
U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current, accessed through Ancestry.com on March 12, 2022.