Hello Mignon: On the various spellings of the O'Brien/O'Brian/O'Bryan name. I had always been told that the differences were based on religion. The original family spelling had been O'Brian or O'Bryan but my G-grandmother, Mary Bridget Stanton, an Irish Catholic immigrant who worked for the Colgate's refused to marry my G-grandfather, Clarence O'Brian unless he changed the spelling of his name from the Protestant to the Catholic spelling. He was a plumber and they met when he went to the Colgate's to repair their plumbing. True or not... I don't know. Another part of the O'Brien lore holds that the name is not really Irish, but actually of Dutch origin. I have absolutely no evidence of this. I've had no luck breaking through any of these O'Brien mysteries. Tom

If O'Bryan/O'Brien etc is of Dutch origin, I'll eat my hat!! :-) No kidding - I've never seen anything even remotely resembling O'Brien in the Dutch families. Sounds very irish to me. Sylvia ----- Original Message ----- From: <VTvending@aol.com> To: <NYGREENE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 7:11 PM Subject: Re: [GREENE COUNTY] Lord > Hello Mignon: > On the various spellings of the O'Brien/O'Brian/O'Bryan name. I had always > been told that the differences were based on religion. The original family > spelling had been O'Brian or O'Bryan but my G-grandmother, Mary Bridget > Stanton, > an Irish Catholic immigrant who worked for the Colgate's refused to marry > my > G-grandfather, Clarence O'Brian unless he changed the spelling of his name > from the Protestant to the Catholic spelling. He was a plumber and they > met > when he went to the Colgate's to repair their plumbing. > True or not... I don't know. > Another part of the O'Brien lore holds that the name is not really Irish, > but actually of Dutch origin. I have absolutely no evidence of this. > I've had no luck breaking through any of these O'Brien mysteries. > Tom > > > ==== NYGREENE Mailing List ==== > Over 1400 pages of Greene County information, fully indexed, to help you > find your lost link! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~nygreen2 > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx >

Hi Tom, The meanings of the different spellings of the O'Bs is very interesting. Religion was such a factor in acceptance in those days, wasn't it? I love the story about your G-grandparents! I guess he proved his devotion by changing his name and that is a sweet story. As to the mysteries, the O'Bs have no corner on that problem. My maiden name is Matthews and, after I divorced, I took it back; so, I find it particularly annoying that I cannot get back the next generation on them. I have my GGGgrandparents, John Albert (1803-1855) and his wife, Salina Hosford (1809-1884), but they both seem to have sprung into Ashland fully grown without parents for all I can find. I guess I should stop chatting and get to some serious research. They MUST be out there somewhere. It's always good to hear from you. Take care. Mignon "There are many intelligent species in the universe. They are all owned by cats." Anon. ----- Original Message ----- From: <VTvending@aol.com> To: <NYGREENE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 09, 2005 7:11 PM Subject: Re: [GREENE COUNTY] Lord > Hello Mignon: > On the various spellings of the O'Brien/O'Brian/O'Bryan name. I had always > been told that the differences were based on religion. The original family > spelling had been O'Brian or O'Bryan but my G-grandmother, Mary Bridget > Stanton, > an Irish Catholic immigrant who worked for the Colgate's refused to marry > my > G-grandfather, Clarence O'Brian unless he changed the spelling of his name > from the Protestant to the Catholic spelling. He was a plumber and they > met > when he went to the Colgate's to repair their plumbing. > True or not... I don't know. > Another part of the O'Brien lore holds that the name is not really Irish, > but actually of Dutch origin. I have absolutely no evidence of this. > I've had no luck breaking through any of these O'Brien mysteries. > Tom > > > ==== NYGREENE Mailing List ==== > Over 1400 pages of Greene County information, fully indexed, to help you > find your lost link! > http://www.rootsweb.com/~nygreen2 > > ============================== > Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the > last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: > http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx > > >