Francis O'Neil

Ryan is my husband. He has a grandfather (der!) named William O'Neil. He was raised by his mom's family, so he stayed O'Neil, not taking his biological dad's surname of Price. So he feels connected more to the O'Neil family.
Grandpa O'Neil's grandpa was Edward O'Neil. He was one of the founding fathers of Lynden, Whatcom, Washington, owning lots of land and holdings. His father was Francis O'Neil, who immigrated from Ireland in May of 1848. I noticed that that is right at the tail end of the famed potato famine in Ireland. I wonder what led him to come to America and not just move to Scotland or England. I wonder what heartache he left behind in Ireland. Did he know he would never return to him homeland again? Did he stop by the cemetery and put flowers on the graves of the family members he would never be able to visit again? Did he put a rock in his pocket to remember his homeland?
I wish I knew him. He sounds so fascinating. He had two wives. Elizabeth Nevin, or Lizzie on the census records was from Scotland. They had 7 children together. SEVEN! Six girls and one boy. Wowza! And that boy was number 6 of 7.
Then Lizzie died and he remarried, this time to Rose Hoy. She was his Irish beauty. They had 3 children that I can find, and one of those 3 was Edward.
Now to find the proof in land records, tax records, etc. I have census records of Francis from 1860-1880. And his ship manifest.
Time to put the pieces together. Man, what a puzzle!