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Miles O’Brien and Luke O’Brien were granted land in Ramsheg (Wallace) in 1784. They had served with the Royal American Fencibles (a Nova Scotia-based regiment) at Fort Cumberland near the present New Brunswick – Nova Scotia border during the American Revolution (1775-1783). There is no futher record of Luke, but Miles is listed in the area in 1791 and 1792 as a taxpayer and local government official (Surveyor of Hay & Fence Viewer). Miles O'Brien married a Hannah Boss and they have four known children, the last of which was born in 1788, this leaves the possibility that Miles and Hannah may have been John's father.
First Generation. John O’Brien (1789-1844) and Mary Margaret (1791-1882, maiden name unknown). I assume John was a son of either Miles or Luke but I have no proof of this. Mary’s tombstone says she was born in Quebec, it is unclear if this means Quebec City or anywhere in the province of Quebec. It is also not clear where Mary lived after the death or her husband as I cannot find her in the 1871 or 1881 census, it is possible that she was remarried but then was buried with her first husband. They are buried in the old cemetery next to the St. John's United Church along the main road in Wallace.
Second Generation. Joseph R. O’Brien (1813-1882) and Jannet Russell (1823-1880). Joseph was the son of John and Mary. Jannet was a relative of an Alexander Russell of either Pictou or New Glasgow (Alexander signed her marriage bond, he could have been her father or brother. After Jannet died, Joseph lived with his brother-in-law Alexander Russell at the time of the 1881 census). They are buried in the old cemetery next to the St. John's United Church along the main road in Wallace.
Third Generation. Thomas Russell O’Brien (1846-1898) and Mary MacKenzie Hogg (1850-1938). Thomas was the son of Joseph and Jannet. Mary was the daughter of John Hogg and Catherine Fraser of Lyons Brook near Pictou. Thomas and Mary settled in Mary’s parents home and Lyons Brook. Mary was Thomas’ second wife. His first wife was Margaret Irving (c. 1856-1880) of Pictou, the daughter of Charles Irving and Janet. Thomas and Margaret had at least one son John O’Brien born in 1785. Margaret died in c. 1880 and it is not clear what became of their son John as he was not living in Thomas’ household in either the 1881 or 1891 census.
Joseph and Jannet had four other children: two sons Alexander Russell (1851-1932) and John Russell (1843-1870), and two daughters Margaret (1845-1895) and Elizabeth Primrose (1854-?). Alexander married Emily Irving (a younger sister of Thomas’ wife Margaret), she died young and they had no children. Alexander did not remarry but became an evangelist in the Western United States and died in California in the home of his neice, Margaret’s daughter. His body was returned to Nova Scotia and buried there. John married Susannah West of Halifax. They had two daughters Bessie Olga (1869-1931) and Jannet (1870-1871). Bessie lived in Wallace with her mother until she died. Bessie then moved to Chicago where as best as I can tell she died unmarried. Margaret married David MacLean (1836-1876) and they had at least one child Jennie who eventually settled in California and married a Mr. Way. Margaret may have had other children and may have remarried after David’s passing but this isn’t clear. Elizabeth Primrose (known as Primrose) married a Nathaniel Purdy. It is unclear whether or not they had children.