O’Brien Genealogy Project

By: John O’Brien

 Family Tree
James O’Brien
Patrick Francis
O’Brien
Elizabeth Burke
John Cameron
O’Brien
John D Cameron
Annie Isabella
Cameron
Catherine Beaton
John Cameron
O’Brien Jr
John Cameron Charles J
O’Brien III Pfriemer
Maureen Charles J
Elizabeth O’Brien Pfriemer Jr
Emily Mary Evans
Mary Margaret
Pfriemer
Thomas Joseph
Duffy
Mary Margaret
Duffy
Anna Higgins
Where am I from?
• Mostly Ireland
• Tipperary, Cork, Kings
• Some England
• Some Canada
• Nova Scotia
 Ireland History

The Meaning of the Irish Flag’s Colors, 2018, Patrick McCarry, Fans Urged to Answer Ireland’s Call and Win
https://www.patriotwood.com/blogs/news/17779417-the-meaning- Guinness Series Tickets while they’re at it, Sport’s Joe, 2018,
of-the-irish-flag-s-colors Accessed March 2019, https://www.sportsjoe.ie/rugby/irelands-
call-guinness-series-tickets-183150

- Green stands for Catholics - Ireland has two national

- Orange stands for Protestants Anthems
- White stands for peace and hope - The Soldier’s Song
between them - Ireland’s Call
- IRFU are from Northern
Ireland and deem The
Soldier’s Song inappropriate
 Who Immigrated from Ireland?
• James O’Brien
• Elizabeth Burke
• Thomas Joseph Duffy
• Anna Higgins
• Were all my great-great-grandparents
• Probably due to little economic opportunity and lingering effects of potato
famine
Who Immigrated from England?
• Emily Mary Evans
• Great-great-grandmother
 Nova Scotia?
• John D Cameron
• Catherine Beaton
• Earlier generations immigrated from Ireland
• Due to little economic opportunity
• Daughter immigrated to United States (Annie Isabella Cameron)

Whitney Smith, Flag of Nova Scotia, Britiannica, 2019, Accessed March 2019,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Nova-Scotia
 Immigration
• By way of passenger boat
• Early 20th Century
• Came through Ellis Island

Comfort, Courtesy, Safety, Speed, American History, 2018, Accessed March 2019.
https://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/exhibition/5_3.html
 Charles Pfriemer
• Began manufacturing piano hammers to make a living in 1874
• Left the company to his two children, Charles J. Pfriemer and William
Pfriemer

Charles Pfriemer

Charles Pfriemer, Accessed March 2019

 Pfriemer Hammers

• Originally Pfriemer Hammers

• Eventually, two company employees
founded Rosen Piano Hammer
Company

Music Trade Review, Pfriemer Re-Enforced Hammers Are a Distinct

Advance in Piano Construction, 1960, Accessed March 2019.
https://mtr.arcade-museum.com/MTR-1917-64-
11/index.php?page_no=20
 Pfriemer relate to O’Brien?
• Pfriemer was into the music industry
• Dad Plays trumpet and guitar
• Sister Plays Violin
• Grandma plays piano
• Is this due to ancestors in music industry?
 WWII Veteran
• Donald Cameron (great-great-uncle)
• Member of Canadian Air Force
• Plane shot down August of 1943
• Is buried in France