Daniel O'Neill (editor)
Daniel O'Neill (born Daniel O'Connell O'Neill) was an Irish-born American journalist and the editor and owner of the Pittsburgh Dispatch. He was born on January 1, 1830, in Cloughbawn, County Wexford, Ireland, the eldest of twelve children. His father was a school principal, his mother Kate Navin O'Neill, and he showed an early interest in writing for the Wexford Independent.
O'Neill immigrated to the United States in 1851 and settled in Pittsburgh. He began as a reporter for the Pittsburgh Dispatch, later becoming local editor of the Chronicle. During the Civil War he worked as a war correspondent for the Chronicle. After the war, he bought a stake in the Dispatch and, with his brother Eugene M. O'Neill, eventually ran the paper as editors and managers.
He served several terms on Pittsburgh City Council and was a member of Pennsylvania's Electoral College.
O'Neill married twice. His first wife was Mary O'Neill; they had no children. His second wife was Emma Seely (1851–1910) and they had three children: Florence O'Neill (a writer and composer who later helped manage the Dispatch), Emily Martha O'Neill, and Daniel O'Neill Jr. After Daniel's death, Emma married his brother Eugene M. O'Neill.
Before his death, he completed Linden House, the family home at the corner of Penn Avenue and Linden Street in Pittsburgh. Daniel O'Neill died on January 30, 1877, at age 47, and is buried in Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh. A memorial statue at his gravesite shows him at an editor's desk to honor his long career in Pittsburgh journalism.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:14 (CET).