The Only Kind of Snow to Have

Why?  Because it's far away!

William O'Connor

2019 brought me a new genealogy puzzle.  My husband's genealogy tree is online at Ancestry and I had hooked up his ancestors to a Jerome O'Connor of San Diego, California.  A descendant of Jerome's contacted me to compare notes which led me to try to verify a connection.  Oh, if only it were that easy!  The search continues - and if the connection of Jerome's mother and my husband's great uncle is the right connection, it may have been a, shall we say "chance encounter"??  Or it may have been a short-lived marriage.  My William O'Connor was born in Ireland on 20 June1869 and came to America with his parents in about 1885.  The family settled in Oneida County, New York and after a short time, William and his older brother, Mark Michael O'Connor, known as Michael, headed West.  My husband visited with Arthur, Michael's son, in Alhambra, California in the late 1950's when he was stationed at Camp Pendleton.  Arthur had served in the U. S. Army in France in WWI and was awarded a Silver Star by General Black Jack Pershing. I've pretty much found all the family of Mark Michael O'Connor, but the brother, William, remains elusive.  I don't tend to think Michael was the father of Jerome, as he was no where near Montana during the suspect years.  He was married and having children with his wife, Jessie Babcock, mostly in Arizona.

William O'Connor was supposedly in Denver, Colorado for most of his career.  I don't yet know his occupation but railroading is suspected but might have been mining.  I don't find a marriage certificate.  He may have moved around Idaho, Montana and Colorado.  Both William's mother's obituary of 1914 and his sister Helen of 1913 state that William was in Denver, Colorado.

There is a transcribed record on Ancestry which gives William's death date as 18 May 1927.  It gives his father and mother's names and indicates he died in Idaho.  Yet when I located the image of the original death certificate, the parents' names are not on the certificate, William's name is stated as William "P" O'Connor, single, and with a different birth date and location.  It may be a transcriber error but is odd that the parents' names are on the transcription but not on the original certificate itself.  The original certificate did, however, give his occupation as "tailor," which was the occupation of my William's father and brother. 

William died prior to 1935 because he is not mentioned, nor are any children of his, if they existed, listed as survivors in brother Joseph's obituary of 1935. 

Back to the San Diego O'Connors:  Jerome located in California and would give no details of his circumstances other than to say he was born in Montana in 1904.  We have located his mother, who also eventually migrated to San Diego, and her information was even sketchier than Jerome's.  I have heard from the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives that there is no birth record or school records for Jerome O'Connor.  So until I find some indication of Jerome's father, we don't know if he was "my" William O'Connor or another O'Connor in Montana (or Wisconsin - or Colorado!) during the 1904 timeframe.

My Husband's Ring

The wedding ring is an emblem of love through time, a symbol of devotion and an agreement between two parties to love and cherish one another for the rest of their days.

2018 Christmas Tree by Cher

My friend, Cher, has once again blessed me with her talent of tree decorating:

 

For My Husband

On your second Heavenly birthday, I'm missing your unquestioned love and support.

A million times

I’ve needed you

A million times I’ve cried,

If love alone

Could have saved you 
You never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly,

In death I love you still.

In my heart you hold a place,

No one else can ever fill.

It broke my heart to lose you,

But you didn’t go alone.

Part of me went with  you,

The day God took you home.

 

New Crowns

It's been almost 3 years since I started the dental implant process.  Once the crowns were affixed, they needed a lot of tweaks.  Finally, I asked for replacements and just got them today.  I'm going to live with them a little to see if they're a better fit.  I'm hoping these two crowns will work better.  I'm ready for an upbeat fall and winter after the Summer of Issues!  Bad reaction to shingles shot, adjustment of pain meds by doctor, landscaping water issues from broken main to replacement of valves and a wacky controller that either went bad or someone set to run 13 hours per day - I'm SO done with it all.  Looking forward to a visit with my daughter next month.

40 Years Ago

40 years ago, these two happy people said "I do."