Return from Mumbai

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Ganesha, Mumbai. 9 Mar 2026.

After an overnight flight and connection through London, I arrived back home yesterday evening from our events in Mumbai, India. Above is a shot of flower art and a painting depicting Hindu deity Ganesha. This is the remover of obstacles, lord of beginnings, and patron of arts and sciences - all things needed in family history research.

There's a lot to catch up on that I missed from RootsTech 2026. Fortunately for many of the sessions, online recordings are available. I created and saved a playlist of sessions for future viewing. I did manage to watch a few sessions while on a time delay, and have some good ideas for next steps on a few of my research challenges. I also viewed some of the sessions to get a better understanding of what topics and format FamilySearch seemed to favor, as this influences my approach to submit a talk for RootsTech 2027. I'll have another post on how I'm moving forward using examples from the DNA Swim School sessions led by Diahan Southard.

While I was away a letter arrived from the Illinois Regional Archives Depository (IRAD) at Northern Illinois University. Unfortunately there's no breakthrough yet on the questions I am seeking related to John O'Brien and Bridget in LaSalle.

Save the Dates for RootsTech 2027

FamilySearch has officially announced the dates for RootsTech 2027 in Salt Lake City. The world’s largest family history conference will take place 4-6 March 2027. My plan is to be back in-person for next year’s event.

Dinner Party on the Pullman

 

Getty Museum collection, Google Arts & Culture. 1872.

About 127 years ago this week, Agnes Atherton reunited with her father and long separated family in Illinois. She certainly used trains for connecting across the country to her performances over her 30+ year career. Perhaps some of those train rides included a dining car experience like the one above, or shown below from the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

Getty Museum. 1880.

Shortly after the family reunion in early March 1899, Agnes is said to have gone to Dallas, Texas for an engagement. I haven't found a record or newspaper reference to any performance she had in Texas, but she did appear from 21 March on a multi-week run of vaudeville shows in Minnesota's Twin Cities. By the end of April 1899, Agnes would perform in Buffalo, New York. 

The Great Flood of March 1849

 

The Evening Post. 28 Mar 1849.

On this date 177 years ago, spring flooding and freezing led to a major disaster for the town of Peru, Illinois. This is where my 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget was living with her first husband Patrick Dooner and sons. According to a history of La Salle County, Illinois (PDF), a spring flood inundated a lowland area. "With the spring thaw, much water had poured into the valley. Suddenly the temperature had dropped, and the water had frozen. A thaw again sent the water swirling over the bottom lands, driving out families and doing untold damage to business and shipping enterprises. It was reported at the time that the water extended from the north to the south bluff entirely covering the bottom lands."

O'Brien land in the present

 

Google Maps. LaSalle, Illinois.

Two years ago I looked at the land deed for John and Bridget O'Brien, where they purchased the east half of Lot 5, Block 61 in LaSalle, Illinois on 27 May 1854. It looks like the land today is located on the red pin in the Google Maps image above, on a block between 5th and 6th Streets, bounded by Hennepin and Tonti Streets. It's interesting to see this is a very close walk to St. Patrick Catholic Church, the same place where the O'Brien girls were placed with the Sisters of Charity some time before the 1860 US Census.

Ideogram. 1850s LaSalle, Illinois.