A display centering around Edward O'Brien, shipbuilder and one of Thomaston's foremost historic residents, was unveiled at the library last week. A portrait of O'Brien, an oil painting of one of the three ships that bore his name (The Edward O'Brien 2nd, called "Little Edward") and a water pitcher from the ship were installed on the south facing wall of the library.
O'Brien, local shipbuilder, politician, philanthropist and businessman, was one of the nation's first millionaires. He built his first shipyard in Thomaston in 1854 and by the time of his death was one of the oldest shipbuilders still engaged in actually building ships. This portrait of O'Brien, by an unknown artist, was donated to the library by Margaret Demmons.
The Edward O'Brien 2nd was launched in 1863. She was 200 feet long, 40.3 feet beam, and 28 feet deep, with a weight of 1,803 tons. She was converted into a coal barge after 31 years under sail. This oil painting of the Little Edward by J. Hughes was donated to the library, along with the water pitcher used on the ship, by Walter O. Berg.
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My Gr-Gr grandmother emigrated to Philadelphia from Derry, Ireland on a ship named "The Edward O'Brien" (departed Apr 16, 1855; arrived June 7, 1855. Could you identify that as the Edward O'Brien built in 1850? And do you have an graphics of that ship? Thank you,
ReplyDeleteJay Dooling (rdooling@swbell.net)