Greetings, marhaba & welcome! Week 4 of Amy Johnson Crow challenge #52Ancestors!
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Week 4: Favorite Photo
As I was looking at scanned old photos of my mother’s family, I came across a photo that stood out to me. This photo is purported to be my ancestor, Robert Nimrod O’Kelley. He is standing in a barn. From some of the tools shown, it may have been taken in a blacksmith or carriage barn. I do not know the identity of the other person. I do not have the original to evaluate its physical attributes other than it is sepia toned.
Robert O’Kelley was born September 7, 1891 in Lewisville, Polk County, Oregon and died in Roseburg, Douglas County, Oregon on January 1, 1967. His middle name, Nimrod, was carried down to his father, from his great-grand father Nimrod O’Kelley (1789-1869), a person whose story I will share another day. He lived in Oregon and California. His mother, Margaret Elizabeth Robertson (1866-1920), was born and died in Oregon, while his father, William Nimrod O’Kelley (1851-1942), was born in Texas and came to Oregon when he was 19 years old.
Robert was 21 years old when he married Julia May Richards (1989-1982) in Clark County, Washington. They had 6 children (Richard Nimrod, Rachel Naomi, Dorothy Minnion, Stanley Keith, Durvil Lewis and Julian Norris).
The 1910–1920 censuses list him as a farmer in Oregon. The 1914 Portland directory, however, lists him as a carman for the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company. By 1930, he and his family had moved to Siskiyou County, California, where he was listed as a car inspector for the Southern Pacific Railroad. He registered for the US military draft in World War I and World War II, but never served in the military.
As I go through the photos, I want to know more about Robert Nimrod O’Kelley. I know information about his birth, death and marriage. I have researched his 6 children. There are several documents I am in the process of obtaining to learn more about his life. I will have to wait to get most of them until the Covid shutdown is over. Until then, I will look at the photos.
(several of the above links are only available with an Ancestry.com account)