Frequent Traveler Ancestry

Monday, April 13, 2015

Rainbow Steps

The following pictures are from this morning's run in Istanbul, Turkey. I spied a long set of rainbow-painted steps in last night's exploratory walk of the city. I returned this morning for a better view. The steps are about 2.75 miles from the hotel, so it was a good run to get there.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Istanbul, 13 Apr 2015.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Rainbow Steps, Istanbul.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Istanbul, 13 Apr 2015.

At the top of the stairs I was greeted by seven cats. Surely some sign of good luck for the day.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Cats on the rainbow steps.

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Newspapers as the social media of the day

Digging through Newspapers.com has provided a great bit of additional color to the family of my great-grandfather, Harry O'Brien. The local news section of the newspapers of his day read very much like a Facebook News Feed, with short 1-2 line briefs providing the visits and travels of Shelbyville-area residents.

I had wondered what might have been the cause for Harry's first wife Marguerite Barba to separate and return to New Orleans. The 24 June 1911 edition of the Decatur Herald provided an answer:

If one is researching John Henry O'Brien and Bertha Gordon's side of the tree, the Decatur Daily Review from 9 July 1916 had a great little blurb on Bertha's two brothers:

In 1910, Harry O'Brien was 26 years old. A short note in the 15 April 1910 Decatur Herald mentions the O'Brien-Hite-Crook orchestra. I know this was Harry's band, since Birney Hite was mentioned in a previous post involving letters at the University of Illinois' Sousa Archives.

The 27 February 1909 Decatur Herald included a short bit on Harry's two sisters, Anna and Rosa O'Brien:

Anna was born in 1882 and would have been 27 when this short note appeared in the paper. Rosa was born in 1887 and would have been about 22. There's more to the story on Anna and Rosa, but this will have to wait until I return from travel.

News of H.D.L. Lambert's Passing

The Illinois newspapers continue to be a goldmine in my search for information on various lines of my family. The 31 March 1909 edition of the Decatur Herald had a death notice on my 3rd-great-grandfather, Henry Donham Lee Lambert, noting his passing in Oklahoma. I had not seen this article before.

I had lost track of Eva Emma Lambert and Alice Lambert in the records, so this detail may help me bring their journeys to a close. The child who died in infancy was Lavinia Lambert (1863).

Friday, April 10, 2015

Gumpy with Fish

My grandfather (also called Gumpy), Keith D. Jones, loved to fish. These two pictures capture this well. The first photo is undated but likely in the 1940s showing Gumpy with a big catch of eight fish. The second photo is probably from the late 90s, showing my Gumpy gutting fish while my Dad's old Tom cat is trying to grab a bite.

Keith D. Jones with a big catch, 1940s

Gumpy closely watched by Tom

After Gumpy and Jeannie retired to Martinsville, Indiana, Gumpy would often come over to my parents' house and help Dad work on boats. Sometimes this led to fishing in one of the nearby lakes.

These photos come from a much larger set of family pictures that I was able to go through over Easter at my parents' place. I'll be posting photos from that set from time to time on the blog.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Brimstone Hill

This is another set of pictures from our Spring Break trip to St. Kitts. While on the island we toured the Brimstone Hill Fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The fort was known as the Gibraltar of the West Indies, and is now a national park. The site is massive, and provides excellent views of St. Kitts and neighboring St. Eustatius.