My last post was on William Kelly, murdered in 1911 in a saloon in Duryea. As I mentioned, his widow Mary married a man named O'Brian/O'Brien between 1920 and 1930 and
he subsequently died prior to 1930 - so in the 1920 census she was Mary Kelly, widow, and in 1930 she was Mary O'Brien, widow! In both she was
living at 135 Foote Ave, Duryea.
So who was this O'Brien, married and died within a decade? Thankfully after much searching around, Familysearch has a page dedicated to records available for Luzerne county, PA, in which Duryea is located (https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Luzerne_County,_Pennsylvania). By searching the marriage records for Luzerne county scanned into Familysearch I uncovered the following marriage. Not only does it answer who this O'Brien was, but Mary KELLY nee MULLIN states her parents names - the Shanley family story is that she was sent to the US by her family as a young girl after losing the family goat, and so this may be one of the only documents listing her parents names:
No. 91491
James O'Brien, born in Pittson PA, Age 37, Color white, Residing in Pittston Pa.
Occupation Laborer, not married before. Not related by blood or marriage to the person he desires to marry. Not afflicted with any transmissable disease.
Name of father John, of mother Mary, maiden name Coyne.
Residence of father desceased, residence of mother deceased.
Birthplace of father Pittston Pa, birthplace of mother Pittston, Pa.
Mary Kelly, born in Ireland, Age 38, Color white, Residing in Duryea Pa.
Occupation Housekeeper. Was married before death Aug 4, 1911. Not afflicted with any transmissable
disease.
Name of father Patrick Mullen, of mother Cecelia, maiden name Grady.
Residence of father deceased, residence of mother deceased.
Birthplace of father Ireland, birthplace of mother Ireland.
Marriage license issued 24 Dec 1920
Married 29 Dec 1920 by Rev. C.A. Staib, Duryea Pa.
So Mary the widower married James later in the census year of 1920 - at the census he was living with two sisters on Main St in Pittston. By 1930 James was dead. A search of newspapers.com showed that he died almost ten years later, in 1930 immediately prior to the next census:
The Scranton Republican
11 January 1930
James
O'Brien
Taken
By
Death
in
Duryea
DURYEA,
Jan
10.
James
O'Brien,
well
known
resident
of
this
borough,
died
this
morning in
his
home,
York
avenue,
after
an
illness
of
two
weeks.
He
was
a
communicant
of
Sacred
Heart
Catholic
church.
Surviving
are
his
widow;
two
daughters,
Mrs.
James
Donlin
and
Gertrude
O'Brien;
two
sons,
George
and
William
O'Brien,
and
two
sisters, Mrs.
Edward
Grady
and
Mrs.
Michael Stration.
