Collection #

M 0597

 

 

Cornelius O’brien
Papers, 1938–1944

Collection Information

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Contents

Cataloging Information

 

 

 

Processed by

Charles Latham
3 January 1992
Revised 22 April 2002
Updated 26 March 2004

Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

www.indianahistory.org

 

COLLECTION INFORMATION

VOLUME OF
COLLECTION:

1 manuscript box

COLLECTION
DATES:

1938–1944

PROVENANCE:

Jeffrey L. Huntington, Hillforest Historical Foundation, P. O. Box 127, Aurora IN 47001, 12 November 1991

RESTRICTIONS:

None

COPYRIGHT:

 

REPRODUCTION
RIGHTS:

Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society.

ALTERNATE
FORMATS:

 

RELATED
HOLDINGS:

M 115 Goodwin Family, Box 7; M 368 Cornelius O'Brien (1818-1869); M 393 A. D. Cook Co (also BV 2048-2075)

ACCESSION
NUMBER:

1992.0028

NOTES:

 

BIOGRAPHiCAL SKETCH

Cornelius O'Brien (1883–1953), banker and Democratic politician, lived in Lawrenceburg, Indiana.  His father, William H. O'Brien (1855–1933), was co-owner of the Democratic Lawrenceburg Register, served two terms (1903, 1905) in the State Senate, and was longtime president of the People's State Bank.  His grandfather, Cornelius O'Brien (1818–1869), was a Democratic lawyer and legislator.

The younger Cornelius O'Brien attended Lawrenceburg schools and nearby Moores Hill College, then graduated from Purdue University.  He maintained the family interest in People's State Bank, and also was president of A. D. Cook Pump Company (his wife was a daughter of the founder).  He later served on the board of Purdue.

O'Brien had a continuing interest in local history.  He was a board member of the Indiana Historical Society and the Indiana Historical Bureau.  He bought and restored "Veraestau," the home of the Holman family, and wrote a book about the house.  He worked with John P. Goodwin of Brookville on the restoration of the Whitewater Canal, and did research on other local historical subjects.

Sources:
Materials in collection.

Indiana Biographical Series (Indiana State Library), vol. 40 p.88, p. 117; vol. 41 p. 4.

Biographical Directory of Indiana General Assembly, Indianapolis: Select Committee on the Centennial History of the Indiana General Assembly in cooperation with the Indiana Historical Bureau, 1980–1984. JK5630 .B56 (Reference Room and General Collection).

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection, filling one small manuscript box, is arranged by subject and contains correspondence, articles, and clippings, many undated but most centering around 1940.

Folders 1–4 have to do with the early history of Lawrenceburg.  Folders 5 and 6 concern the history of local bridges. Folders 7 and 8 cover O'Brien's research into the life of Colonel Zebulon Pike of Lawrenceburg, father of explorer Zebulon Montgomery Pike.

Folder 9 contains three clippings about Moores Hill College, and Folder 10 material about the local celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Northwest Territory.  In Folder 11 is correspondence about an address on "The Historical Society and the Community" given in 1944 by William G. Roelker of Rhode Island Historical Society.

O'Brien material can be found in two other collections in the Indiana Historical Society Library.  Box 7 of the Goodwin Family Papers (M 0115) contains considerable correspondence between the younger Cornelius O'Brien and John P. Goodwin of Brookville about restoration of the Whitewater Canal.  Papers of the elder Cornelius O'Brien and his son William H. O'Brien are in M 368, the Holman-O'Brien papers.

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Corrections to Springer's 1837 map of Lawrenceburg

Box 1, Folder 1

Correspondence re: 1840 map of Lawrenceburg

Box 1, Folder 2

Diary of John Parsons, "Lawrenceburgh in 1840"

Box 1, Folder 3

Big Four Depot at Lawrenceburg

Box 1, Folder 4

Bridges: Guilford, Logan Creek

Box 1, Folder 5

Correspondence with Charles H. Wesler, Batesville, 1939–40

Box 1, Folder 6

Correspondence Re: Col. Zebulon Pike

Box 1, Folder 7

Correspondence Re: Old Cemetery, Newtown (Pike burials)

Box 1, Folder 8

Correspondence Re: Moores Hill College

Box 1, Folder 9

150th anniversary, Northwest Territory

Box 1, Folder 10

Correspondence with William G. Roelker, Rhode Island Historical Society

Box 1, Folder 11

General historical research

Box 1, Folder 12

Clippings

Box 1, Folder 13

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1.      Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog:  http://157.91.92.2/

2.      Click on the "Basic Search" icon.

3.      Select  "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.

4.      Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, M 0597).

5.      When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.