Street Art Shoreditch #3

This is the third and last set of photos from my street art walk through Shoreditch from 28 August 2014. The earlier sets can be seen at Shoreditch #1 and #2.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Shoreditch, 28 Aug 2014

There's a lot of detail in these small pieces on the old wooden door above. There is a Charles Dickens on the top right side, and a spaceship-looking poster of Westminster Abbey just below it. I've made the stencil on the top left larger, see below.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Stencil by Don.

Photo by Patrick Jones.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Butterfly and Westminster posters.

Obituary for Blanche Allene O'Brien Jones

Following on yesterday's post of the obituary and death notice for my great-grandfather Harry O'Brien, is the death notice for my grandmother Blanche Allene O'Brien Jones. The obituary appeared in the 4 December 1960 issue of the Indianapolis Star.

Source: Indpls Star, 4 Dec 1960

If correct, the obituary provides a closing date for Blanche's beauty shop about 1948. I know from the advertisements in the Broad Ripple Riparian yearbook that the shop was at least operating by 1937, not 1940 as mentioned in the obituary.

The reference to the Order of the Eastern Star is interesting. This post from 20 August 2013 by Historic Indianapolis describes the Millersville Masonic Lodge and Order of the Eastern Star chapters, see http://historicindianapolis.com/friday-favorites-millersville-masons/. A representative from the Chapter is checking their records to see what they may have on Harry and Blanche.

Thanks again to Denise Anderson-Decina for locating this obituary at the Indiana State Library.

Obituary for Harry O'Brien

Back in August, I wrote about how I was working to fill in the gaps on my grandmother Blanche O'Brien and her family. At some point in doing family history research, one needs to rely on the assistance of others to find certain documents and information. I had been looking for obituaries and news articles on Blanche and her father Harry O'Brien, but the Indianapolis Star/News archives for these years have not yet been digitized by the Indiana State Library. So, I reached out to a few researchers in Indianapolis.

Denise Anderson-Decina, a professional researcher in Indianapolis, was able to track down these articles at the State Library. I am separating this into a series of posts. This first set covers the obituaries and death notices for my great-grandfather, Harry O'Brien from 8 and 9 August 1957.

Indianapolis News, 8 Aug 1957

Ind. News, 9 Aug 1957

In addition to confirming information I already had, the obituary uncovered some new leads referring to his membership in the Millersville Masonic Lodge, Eastern Star and Sahara Grotto. All of these organizations still exist in Indianapolis. I've reached out to the Millersville Lodge to see what records or photos they may have on Harry, and also on Blanche, who was a member of the Order of Eastern Star as well.

Huge thanks go to Denise for locating these and other articles.

Those Places Thursday - Happy Birthday Los Angeles

The traditional founding of Los Angeles is recognized to be 4 September 1781 (although that's been called into question, see Nathan Masters' KCET post from 2011). In honor of the 233rd birthday of my West Coast home, here's a selection of images from one of my favorite places in the world.

Unsourced photo from Flickr. Capitol Records Building, LA, about 2008.

Source: Patrick Jones. View from Hollywood & Vine, 21 Sept 2008.

Source: Patrick Jones. Downtown LA view, 17 Apr 2009.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Rose Garden at USC, 5 Jun 2009.

Hausen im Killertal

After finding the German home of the Haiss family, I have been doing some reading on the village of Hausen im Killertal, located in the Swabian Alb of Baden-Wurtemburg. Hausen is now part of the nearby city of Burladingen, and not far from the picturesque Hollenzollern Castle.

Source: Google Maps. Hausen im Killertal, Burladingen.

Source: Wikipedia, Burladingen map.

Before the Haiss family immigrated to America, Hausen im Killertal was under the jurisdiction of the House of Hohenzollern. The Swabian Catholic branch of this family controlled the territory where the Haiss and related families lived.

While I am not yet certain when my third-great-grandmother Marianna Haiss departed the Hollenzollern lands, I think it is possible she left around the time of the 1848 revolutions (see this entry from Wikipedia).

Here's another map showing Hohenzollern while connected to Prussia:

Source: Wikipedia. Hohenzollern in red.

The Catholic church where the Haiss family was baptized and married still stands (see http://kath-burladingen-jungingen.de/html/hausen_ik.html). The church was built in 1785. A photo of the church from their website is below.

Church at Hausen iK. Source: Church website.