U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: ------------------------------------------------------------------- O'Brien, William Smith (1862-1948) ------------------------------------------------------------------- The History of Upshur County West Virginia From its Earliest Exploration and Settlement to the Present Time by W. B. Cutright Buckhannon, W. Va., July 1, 1907 Pages 526-527 WILLIAM SMITH O'BRIEN was born in Barbour County, West Virginia, January 8, 1862, and is a son of General Emmet Jones O'Brien and Martha Ann O'Brien. General Emmet J. O'Brien was of Irish and English descent. His father, Daniel O'Brien, was born in County Clare, Ireland, and was a descendant of two branches of the O'Brien family, his father's name being Daniel O'Brien and his mother's name Mary O'Brien. His mother, Hannah Norris O'Brien was a daughter of John Norris, of Lewis County, Va., now West Virginia, and a descendant of the Norris and Jones families of Farquier County, Va., General O'Brien died at his home, near Weston, in the year 1887. Martha Ann O'Brien, the mother of William Smith O'Brien, was a daughter of Jonathan Hall of Lewis County, and a descendant of the Regers and Halls of Upshur County. Her mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Reger, a daughter of Abram Reger, Sr., who was one of the eleven children of Jacob Reger, who settled on the Buckhannon River, near Burnersville, about the year 1776. For further information as to the Reger family, reference is here made to the sketch by Mrs. L. E. A. Heavner. Jonathan Hall was of English descent, his father's name was Joseph Hall, who settled at an early day on Peck's Run, of Upshur County, and married Ann Strange, whose first husband was named Martin, her maiden name being Ann Hitt. She was a French Huegunot, originally from Virginia. Among Ann Hitt's descendants, the Martins, Stranges and Halls, are numbered some of the most noted preachers of Methodism, and stable business and professional men in this and many of the western states. William Smith O'Brien is one of four children, viz: Lieutenant Alonzo Lee, of the United States Cavalry, now dead; Captain Daniel U., an officer in the late war with Spain, now a prominent farmer and grazier of Glenville, W. Va.; Mary Lillian, the wife of Hon. William M. Arnold, stock dealer of Keyser, Roane County, W. Va.; and William Smith, the subject of this sketch. When William Smith O'Brien was quite young, his parents moved from Barbour County, W. Va., to Weston, Lewis County, where he grew to manhood. He passed his early life in working on the farm, in brick yards, and on public works, and in acquiring an education. He attended the West Virginia University for a few terms in the early '80's. He taught in the public schools of Lewis County for thirteen years. While engaged in teaching, he commenced the study of the law, secured his books and received instructions from the late Hon. John Brannon, of Weston, then one of the most able and distinguished lawyers and jurists of the state. He graduated in the law at the West Virginia University in 1891, having the degree of Bachelor of Laws conferred upon him. He located at Buckhannon for the practice of his profession in 1892. He was commissioned Captain in the West Virginia Militia about the year 1893. In 1896 he was united in marriage with Emma White, eldest daughter of A. P. White and Mary Fetty White. A. P. White is a prominent farmer and grazier of Camden, Lewis County, W. Va., is of Scotch- Irish descent, and is of the White family of Maryland and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. His mother's name was Jackson, an aunt of Stonewall Jackson. The writer is not acquainted with the lineage of Mary Fetty White, except that her immediate ancestors, the Carmacks and Fettys are well known and respected in Lewis County, of this state. William Smith O'Brien and Emma White O'Brien have four children, Perry Emmet; Daniel Pitt; Mary Martha; and William. In 1903, William Smith O'Brien and Hon. William Talbot, one of the most prominent lawyers of Upshur County, formed a partnership in the law, under the firm name of Talbot & O'Brien. This firm was acquiring a lucrative practice among a reliable and stable clientage, until it was dissolved on February 21, 1907, by the death of the senior member, Mr. Talbot, who died at Charleston, W. Va., while serving as senior State Senator from the Thirteenth Senatorial District. William Smith O'Brien is identified with the business development of Buckhannon, and has been a Director of the Peoples Bank of West Virginia since its formation. In politics he is a Democrat, in religion a Methodist Episcopal. He is a Mason and a Knight of Pythias. ------------------------------------------------------------------- From Death Certificate, Upshur County, WV #11231 FULL-NAME: William S. O'Brien BIRTH-DATE: January 8, 1862 BIRTH-PLACE: Barbour Co., W.Va. DEATH-DATE: August 10, 1948 (at age 86y-7m-2d) DEATH-PLACE: 1 Cleveland Avenue, Buckhannon, Upshur County, WV USUAL-RESIDENCE: 1 Cleveland Avenue, Buckhannon, Upshur County, WV MARITAL-STATUS: Widowed (Emma White O'Brien) OCCUPATION: Lawyer / Sec'y of State FATHER: Col. Emmet J. O'Brien MOTHER: Martha Ann Hall CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Heart failure / Myocardial Weakness / Age INFORMANT: William L. O'Brien (of Buckhannon, W.Va.) BURIAL: Heavner Cemetery, Buckhannon ------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Upshur County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/upshur/bios.html -------------------------------------------------------------------