Kitesurfers

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Kitesurfers, 16 Mar 2023.

Off Mexican Time

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. El Cuyo, Yucatán. 16 Mar 2023.

We've returned from post-meeting holiday in México. More photos to follow shortly.

Chichen Itza, 2005

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Chichen Itza, 16 Jan 2005.

Another Musician in the O'Brien Family

 

Roy O'Brien, 1918.

I've previously shared this photo of Roy O'Brien, youngest brother of my great-grandfather Harry O'Brien. Like Harry, Roy was also a musician, and played clarinet and cornet in various bands. In October 1914, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee as a cornet player in a music store. A few months later, Roy returned to Illinois in January 1915, and considered opening a music store of his hometown of Shelbyville.

By 1917, Roy had tried out for Bohumir Kryl's band in Chicago. He must have been successful as he lists his employer as Kryl's band in June 1917 on his World War I Draft Card.

Decatur Herald & Review. 10 Apr 1917.

WWI Draft Card for Roy O'Brien.

With the start of World War I, Roy was called up into service and joined the 327th Field Artillery Band. The article below mentions another musician who was later associated with Harry O'Brien, Birney Hite.

Decatur Herald & Review. 5 Feb 1919.

Roy deployed to France. He returned from the war via Bordeaux in 1919.

After the war, Roy moved to Texas, where he married Mary Delilah Aiken. He worked as a piano tuner in Mount Pleasant, Texas (according to the 1920 US Census). By 1930, Roy was working as a music teacher in Clarksville, Red River, Texas. I have not yet found them in the 1940 Census, but in 1942 per Roy's WWII draft card, he and Mary were living in Avery, Red River, Texas.

Mary died in 1954 in Clarksville, Texas. Upon Roy's death in 1962, his sister Rose applied for a veteran's headstone to commemorate his military service.

Marriage Record for Anna and Charles

 

FamilySearch. Illinois Marriages, 1912.

The image above shows a marriage register for Anna A. O'Brien and Charles C. Stretch. The couple were married on Christmas Day, 1912 in Shelbyville, Illinois. Anna was a sister of my great-grandfather Harry O'Brien. I wrote about her life back in 2015, how she bought her own building and opened a millinery store. Anna regularly traveled to St. Louis and Chicago to keep up with the latest fashions and purchase goods for her business.

NYPL. Millinery example, 1912.

Surprise Wedding

 

Decatur Herald & Review, 11 Nov 1914

Above is a clipping from the Decatur Illinois Herald and Review, on the surprise wedding between Rose O'Brien and Roy Miller. Rose was a younger sister of my great-grandfather Harry O'Brien. 

Bertha May

 

Decatur Daily Review, 24 May 1938

Another search of the newspaper archives uncovered this photo of Bertha May Gordon O'Brien with grandson William Larry O'Brien. A further search uncovered a wedding recap, published in the Daily Republican-Register on 15 December 1906, see below.

Daily Republican-Register, 15 Dec 1906.

Bertha was born on 19 October 1887 in Shelbyville, Shelby County, Illinois to parents Charles A. Gordon and Mattie Hall. She died in Buffalo, Minnesota in 1973.

John Henry

 

Decatur Daily Review, 30 Oct 1944

Above is an obituary for John Henry O'Brien, oldest son of my 2nd-great-grandfather, John J. O'Brien. I posted this article in 2015, for some reason without the photo.

Some additional facts that I glossed over when I posted this before, were on his successful election to Shelbyville City Clerk and City Treasurer.

Decatur Daily Review, 28 Feb 1911.

John married Bertha May Gordon on 5 December 1906 in Shelbyville, Illinois.

Another article highlighted John's musical skill, leading an orchestra during a revival in 1910.

Decatur Daily Review, 4 Mar 1910.

Watching the virtual Rootstech Conference this week inspired me to look back into the records on several lines of the family, and I'll be sharing some of the finds over the next few days.

Hybrid Rootstech

The calendar has flipped to the month of March, which to me means the arrival of Spring, March Madness, an upcoming international meeting, and this year, following Rootstech from home. I already watched several of the sessions since Thursday's opening, and it's been really good. I am glad there is a virtual option to view the sessions without having to attend in person.

The big family history players have rolled out some new features, databases and tools. Ancestry updated its AncestryDNA with a new DNA compare view. It's interesting to see who inherited what percentages, and an example below shows me on the far left, with my kids' percentages in the middle and right.

Source: AncestryDNA.

I haven't been researching much due to the return of in-person meetings and I've taken on a new role in my organization since the start of the new year. I'm interested to check out Ancestry's Storymaker Studio tool, which means trying out the Ancestry mobile application instead of only using it on desktop.

Most of the sessions appear to be recorded for later viewing, and there is a full schedule of live talks on tap for later today.