James O'Brien

Born on Isle of Man, an island and self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, James O'Brien made his way to America and Illinois in the early 1800s, where he struck it rich -- in both life and love, it would seem.

Details are scant on the early life of James O'Brien, who likely came to America and Ohio in the early 1830s, married, and sired four children. His first wife -- no records exist of her life -- must have died young, leaving the young father with quite a handful.

James married Jane Ayers in 1845 in Illinois (the first concrete record of his life!) brought Catherine into the world, and made his way to Denton, Texas, by way of Bastrop and Grimes in 1850 and Waco in 1860. By 1868 he had saved enough money to spend a small fortune ($340) on nearly 1,000 acres of farmland in Lewisville, part of Denton County. He clearly knew the value of the land: He deeded a good chunk of it to his daughter in 1872, possibly a gift on the birth of her first child. (A decade later, the proceeds from the sale paid for Catherine O'Brien and her family to move West to Yuma.)

What happened to James and Jane is anyone's guess.