New Orleans

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. New Orleans, 28 Oct 2023.

We're back from a quick trip to New Orleans to celebrate a milestone birthday for S and the start of a conference for Allison. We saw some gators in bayou, took in a history walk through New Orleans cemeteries and ate our way from the Garden District to the French Quarter.

Much more to follow, and I'm also a week behind in recapping Portugal and Germany. Travel pics coming up this week.

Hamburg

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Hamburg, DE. 19 Oct 2023.

I've been in Europe for the past several weeks, and a more lengthy recap on this trip is coming soon. Above is a shot from the Congress Center in Hamburg, Germany, where I've been supporting our Annual General Meeting.

Connection to a Half-Brother

 

Chicago Daily News, 11 Feb 1914.

I've previously posted about the link between the Dooner family and the O'Briens in La Salle, Illinois (see this post from August 2019). In looking closely, there may be another link between Michael Dooner, half-brother of Agnes, Annie and Belle O'Brien. In the death notice above, in 1914, Annie O'Brien passed away at the home of Michael Dooner, at 927 W. 35th Street in Chicago. Belle (not Dell in the clipping above) died at 931 35th Street in 1893, which likely the very close to Michael's address.

Michael Dooner was the surviving son of Bridget and Patrick Dooner, born on 16 March 1850 in La Salle, Illinois. After the untimely death of his father and two young brothers, John and Hugh Dooner, due to cholera in the summer of 1849, infant Michael and his mother Bridget appear together in the 1850 US Census in Salisbury, La Salle, Illinois. Shortly afterward, Bridget remarried, or moved in with John O'Brien, and had four children between 1852 and 1858:

- Anna Maria O'Brien

- Isabella (Belle) O'Brien

- John J. O'Brien

- Agnes O'Brien

After the death of Bridget sometime in 1859, John O'Brien Sr placed the girls in the care of the Sisters of Charity, and moved to Shelby County, Illinois. It appears Michael Dooner went to live with his uncle Owen Dooner and family in La Salle, as he appears in the 1860 US Census living in their home.

1860 US Census. La Salle, Illinois.

Owen died a year later, on 6 October 1861. It is not clear when Michael made the move from La Salle to Chicago, but he reappears in the records from 1886, when he married Annie Byrnes on 19 January 1886.

Daily Inter Ocean. 20 Jan 1886.

They appear together in the 1900 US Census, living at 931 35th Street in Chicago (same address as Belle O'Brien in 1893). Michael's profession is listed as "ironworker", and they had no children.

1900 US Census. Chicago.

In the 1910 US Census, Michael and Annie were at 927 W. 35th. His profession was listed as ironworker, in a packing house. They had no children.

Michael died on 18 February 1918, his profession was listed as rail man.

Chicago Street Scene

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Chicago, 24 Apr 2019.

Street art in Chicago, 2019

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Mural, Chicago, 24 Apr 2019.

This huge mural of blues guitarist Muddy Waters is by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra, and is in Downtown Chicago. I grabbed a photo of this mural during a Chicago visit in April 2019. It seems that I didn't post about it previously. My recent recap on family connections to Chicago reminded me to look back at photos from that trip.

From the Tile Museum, 2019

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Lisbon. 20 Aug 2019.

A throwback to a visit to the National Tile Museum in Lisbon, from our family trip to Lisbon, Portugal in August 2019.

Chicago, the vacation city

 

Boston Public Library Collections.

A colorful travel poster promoting Chicago as a vacation destination. Certainly the beach along Lake Michigan might be an attractive spot, but more likely in the summer, not in the winter!

Chicago, 1893

 

Photo by C. D. Arnold. Chicago Public Library. Chicago, 1893.

Above is a photo from 1893, when Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exhibition, a World's Fair commemorating Columbus' 400th anniversary arriving in the Americas. The event was located on Chicago's South Side, from May through October 1893. It is very likely Agnes Atherton was in Chicago during the exhibition, but I do not have a record of her in Chicago in 1893, only up to November 1892.

Agnes' sister Isabella, or Belle O'Brien, was living in the city during this time, and was living nearby the exhibition at 931 Thirty-Fifth Street. She died on 12 November 1893.

Chicago Inter Ocean, 14 Nov 1893.

I do not have a copy of her death certificate, but from a text entry of the Cook County, Illinois Deaths, 1871-1998, it lists her as 37, born in Illinois, single, with an occupation as "housework."

The only other confirmed record I have for her is the 1860 US Census entry in La Salle, Illinois, when she appears as 7 year old Isabella, between sisters Anna Maria O'Brien and Agnes O'Brien on the next page, under the care of the Sisters of Charity at the St. Patrick's Church Convent. How and when she moved from La Salle to Chicago is not clear. 

La Salle to Chicago

 

Chicago, 1872. U. of Chicago.

When Agnes Atherton and her siblings made their way to Chicago from nearby La Salle in the 1870s, the city was organized according to map above. The distance is about 93 miles.

La Salle to Chicago, via Google Maps.

Per Wikipedia, by 1870 Chicago was the second largest city in the US. Many immigrants, and children of immigrants, like the O'Briens and Dooners, moved to Chicago for opportunity. 

At the beach

 

Photo by B. Jones. Hawaii, 2 Oct 2023.

Taken decades apart, photos by my Mom and Granny, on separate visits to Hawaii.

Photo by L. Campuzano Reid. Hawaii, 1980s.

Obituary for Agnes

 

Alphonse Mucha. Rêverie (1898).

This post serves as an obituary for Agnes Atherton O'Brien Gillette, my 2nd-great-aunt, sister of my 2nd-great-grandfather John J. O'Brien, and daughter of my 3rd-great-grandfather John O'Brien and 3rd-great-grandmother Bridget Dooner O'Brien.

Agnes was born in La Salle, Illinois in 1858. After the untimely death of her mother in 1859, she was left in the care of the Sisters of Charity in La Salle with her sisters Anna Maria and Isabella. Agnes learned to sew, developed a talent for singing and dancing, and eventually made her way to nearby Chicago.

What followed was an over thirty year career on the stage, starting in the Midwest, but eventually starring  in the Northeast, Southeast, and Canada. Agnes began as a dancer and singer, received top billing and rave reviews for her performances. She later evolved into bigger roles as a producer, stage director, theater manager, costume and set designer. From humble beginnings, through hard work and probably a bit of good fortune and skill, Agnes became a well-known and sought-after performer in the early days of vaudeville.

It is unclear where Agnes had a permanent home. Chicago may have been a base for a while, but she also spent extended time in St. Paul, Minnesota; Omaha, Nebraska; Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and later in Lima and Cincinnati, Ohio. She performed on a new stage in a different city every few weeks for decades. Although she died in Chicago in 1910, she had only been living in the city for six months by that time.

In her personal life, Agnes was married at least twice, first a short-lived marriage to musician Frederick Day in 1881 (later annulled by Day in 1887 so he could marry someone else), and a second marriage to acrobat and fellow performer Alfred M. Gillette. It is unclear where or when they married, but they were together at the end, living in Cincinnati and Chicago in 1910. Agnes does not appear to have had children.

In 1899, she reconnected with her father, John O'Brien, when he was about 106. During this visit she may have met the family of her brother, John J. O'Brien, and his talented children. This visit may have inspired several of them to go into business for themselves, as musicians or milliners.

Although there is no mention of Agnes in the American Vaudeville Museum archive, the frequent references to her performances in newspapers around the US and Canada over her lengthy career show that she had been seen by many and touched the lives of countless other women in the theatre profession between the 1870s and 1910.

Over the years of family history research, I have run across the stories of many branches in the family worthy of recap on film or television. Agnes' story seems similarly deserving of a limited series on your streaming platform of choice. I am sharing this obituary of Agnes' life and my previous posts resurfacing her story from family mystery to recovered history, so that her memory lives on beyond the paper trail, census entries and city directories.

Tranquil Garden

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Kyoto Imperial Garden. 10 Sept 2023.

Biscuits Champagne

 

Mucha Foundation. Alphonse Mucha, 1896.

Mitla

 

Huntington Library. Christian Jorgensen. 

Hawaii, Decades Apart

 

Lydia Campuzano Reid. Hawaii.

The photo above is of my Granny, visiting Hawaii during a trip likely in the late 1980s. Below is a shot of my sister, from Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii (2023).

Photo by B. Jones. Sept 2023.

Lydia Campuzano Reid. Haleakalā, Maui.

Photo by L. Jones. Volcanoes National Park, Sep 2023.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2023

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Venice, CA. 6 Sep 2023.

Hispanic Heritage Month runs from 15 September to 15 October. I have not posted about this in a while, but in honor of the month I'm sharing a photo from a section of a mural on the side of Paloma restaurant in Venice, California. The photo below was taken outside Atla restaurant in Venice on the same walk.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Venice, CA. 6 Sep 2023.

AncestryDNA 2023 Update

 

My AncestryDNA July 2023 update

Ancestry has released the 2023 DNA update, and the are some notable changes from the prior results that I administer. In the new ethnicity estimate, my England & Northwestern Europe went up from 44 to 56%, while Scotland dropped from 29% to 14%. Germanic Europe and Wales went up 2 percentage points to 7%, while Spain held steady at 7%. My Indigenous Americas - Mexico went up a point to 5%, and Ireland remained the same at 4%. Cameroon, Congo & Western Bantu Peoples has become Nigeria - East Central, and Indigenous Americas - Yucatan has dropped off.

For my Mom, her map now looks like this:

AncestryDNA for my Mom, July 2023 update

Her Scotland percentage dropped from 33 to 20%, and now Spain is her highest at 30%. Her England & Northwestern Europe went up to 17%, while her Indigenous Americas - Mexico remained the same at 12%, her Sweden & Denmark increased to 10%, along with Wales, up from 4 to 6%. Northern Italy remained steady at 3%, so did Basque at 1%, but her Cameroon, Congo & Western Bantu also changed to Nigeria - East Central.

My Aunt Patty still has the most regions (14, an increase of 1 from the 2022 results), with an incredible new addition. Her Spain dropped by 1 point to 30%, and her England & Northwestern Europe went up from 19 to 24%. Her Scotland also decreased by 4 points to 15%. Her Indigenous Americas - Mexico went up a point to 11%. The latest addition was Jewish at 1%. This is not that surprising, I have seen prior research linking the Amado family to converso Jews who fled Spain.

AncestryDNA July 2023 update for my Aunt Patty.

My Aunt Linda retained 5% Portugal and 5% Basque. My son had 2% Portugal instead of Spain, and 1% Indigenous Americas - Central (yay Mayan).

A Closer Look

Mexico & Spain for me.

Zooming in on Nigeria - East Central for my Mom

Closer look for my Aunt Patty.

Agnes and Alfred

 

Variety, 19 Nov 1910.

During my review of the life of Agnes Atherton, I have run across a few references to her marriage to Alfred M. Gillette, acrobatic performer and promoter. It is unclear where they may have married or when. She was listed as Mrs. Gillette in the news article on the reunion with her father in March 1899, and she was performing with Gillette from at least 1884. On few occasions, she went as Agnes Gillett of the Gillett Family in 1888, she predominantly went by Agnes Atherton or Miss Agnes Atherton throughout her career.

New York Clipper, 28 Jan 1888.

Agnes returned to performing with the Gillett Family after recovering from her fractured arm, joining the Gilletts in Louisville in September 1889, Pittsburgh in October 1889 and appearing the billing for the Rochester, New York show in December 1889.

Democrat & Chronicle, 29 Dec 1889.

There is little indication Agnes and Alfred were often living in the same place. They seem to have been on separate paths, performing in different cities or circuits. Alfred appears as single in the 1900 US Census in Battle Creek, Michigan, living with his brother Leon and family. He seems to have been using Battle Creek as a base to train a new company of acrobats between 1899-1901. I have been unable to locate Agnes in the 1900 US Census, likely because she was constantly on the road touring in shows. They seem to have been in different locations up to 1904, when they reunited professionally after Agnes' tour in Boston and were planning a new show together. It is unclear if that fell through, or they went separate ways until moving together to Cincinnati before 1910. Agnes was clearly working and likely living in Lima, Ohio in 1906-1907. She may have moved to Cincinnati after the closure of Fred Harrison's theatre.

Battle Creek Enquirer, 1 Jan 1951.

They did appear together in the 1910 US Census, living in Cincinnati, Ohio. The census gets Alfred's state of birth wrong (listed as Ohio, he was actually born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1862). Agnes' age is also wrong, or maybe Alfred did not know her age. She was listed as 40, when she was actually closer to 52 (!). I'd like to think from her time on the stage, time as a dancer and performer, she looked young for her age.

1910 US Census, Cincinnati, OH.

Agnes' profession was listed as "dressmaker", and we now know from the recap on her career that she was much more than that. Actress Mae Pleau and singer Cecilla Hall were living with Agnes and Alfred during this time. Agnes' profession was listed as "costumer" in the 1910 City Directory for Cincinnati. In the same entry, Alfred's profession was listed as "actor". As far as I can tell, Agnes and Alfred never had children.

Sometime around April 1910, Agnes and Alfred moved from Cincinnati to Chicago, Illinois, probably for medical care. She had a moving party at her home, attended by many old friends and vaudeville performers. Agnes passed away in Chicago on 7 November 1910.

New York Clipper, 2 Apr 1910.

It appears the family back in Illinois may not have heard of Agnes' death in 1910. Jennie O'Brien (Matilda Jane Lambert O'Brien, my 2nd-great-grandmother) sent a letter in 1914 to Billboard, asking if anyone knew the whereabouts of Agnes Gillett "whose stage name was Agnes Atherton", and to write back to her in Shelbyville, Illinois. It is a sad note, but shows the family in Illinois still wanted to connect with her.

Billboard, 14 Mar 1914.

Alfred

Alfred M. Gillette was born on 1 February 1862 in St. Louis, Missouri. He died on 14 June 1947 in Battle Creek, Michigan. He is known for his high-wire and acrobatic acts that toured the country. His obituary makes no mention of Agnes.

Battle Creek Enquirer, 15 June 1947.