 |
| FTDNA. A2d Discover Report. Mar 2026. |
FamilyTreeDNA shows I have another rare ancient DNA connection, this time to a Mayan man who lived at Chichen Itza in the Yucatan between 500-900 CE. This is pretty cool as I've been to Chichen Itza twice over the years, most recently 10 years ago.
Last year I also shared a link to a study on DNA at Teotihuacan, and another study on DNA at the Mayan city of Copan.
Earlier in the week I sent an inquiry to the church secretary in LaSalle, Illinois who may hold the records from the time when the O'Briens were living in the town. The inquiry was on several printed forms, and dropped in the mail along with a donation research fee. This envelope should arrive today. Now I wait in the hopes that the records I seek still exist and contain the breakthrough information that has eluded my search so far.
In addition to the mail, we're still waiting on the results from several mtDNA kits and a Big Y with FamilyTreeDNA. Our daughter's results really should arrive any day now as we're in the 10th week of processing.
 |
| Photo by Patrick Jones. Mumbai. 5 Mar 2026. |
The photos above and below are ornate flower decorations at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai, our venue from the meetings earlier in the month. The sculptures were part of the lavish 2024 wedding of the year at the venue. Another wedding occurred at the building at the start of our event, and while there aren't photos, the flower sculptures are a reminder of what was. Here's a link from Vogue India on the spectacular from 2024.
 |
| Photo by Patrick Jones. Jio World Centre. |
 |
| Photo by Patrick Jones. Mumbai. 5 Mar 2026. |
 |
| Gem Theater, Deadwood, South Dakota. |
As I look into the timeline of Agnes Atherton's performances, one that I had previously overlooked stands out as incredibly adventurous. In January 1883, as part of Niblo's Humpty Dumpty company based in Chicago, Agnes ventured into Deadwood, South Dakota for performances at the New Gem Theater run by the notorious Al Swearengen. This 2019 article from True West magazine provides some interesting color (and historic photos) on Swearengen and the Gem Theater, which was known as a din of prostitution, drinking and gambling. Deadwood would have been a snow-packed mountain mining town transitioning from a lawless gold camp into a more permanent and rugged settlement. A dangerous place for a young 24 year old to be.
 |
| Daily Deadwood Pioneer-Times. 6 Jan 1883. |
I have not watched the HBO series Deadwood, featuring Ian McShane as Swearengen, but now I need to put it on my watchlist.
 |
| Black Hills Weekly Pioneer. 19 Jan 1883. |
Agnes likely arrived by stagecoach for the last miles from the nearest train to arrive in Deadwood. She was traveling apart from her first husband Fred Day, who was back in Detroit. It is unclear how long the Chicago company remained in Deadwood, or if Agnes stayed on for very long. By September 1883 Agnes had returned to Detroit. She and Fred separated permanently shortly afterward.
Over the past few days I've been catching up on things missed during my India trip, enjoying some celebratory time, and planning ahead for a potential RootsTech 2027 talk proposal. I've begun to assemble the talk and have been using Claude to bounce ideas for the structure. I think I have a better angle to pursue than the original proposal I submitted last June, and I'm working on making it more practically relevant to the RootsTech audience or a local/regional genealogy society. Perhaps I'll try to present this somewhere in advance of submitting again to RootsTech.
In the near term, we're now in my favorite sporting event of the year, March Madness. Last night's games were exciting. As with last year (and the year before that), the Hoosiers are out of the field, but we'll be watching anyway and cheering on some upset teams to make the early rounds interesting.
