Ada Mae O'Brien Woodruff

Quite often people will ask me what got me interested in genealogy research. There is a standard answer that I rattle off. But, really, there are hundreds of little things that all added up over the years to spark my interest and continue to fan the flames of my passion for family history.


My parents monthly visits to the Family History Library when I was a baby where I would rest in my carrier under the microfilm reader.

…...My grandmother's endless stories of people and places.

………...My Nana's parade of pictures each time we visited.

…………………The class I took in college.

………………………...The reunions I attend each summer.

…………………………………...The cousins I love getting to know.

…………………………………………...The list goes on and on.

Today, however, I would like to pay tribute to another reason my passion was inevitable. My great-grandmother died a few days before my grandfather's 3rd birthday so I never met her (never met him either as he died when my mom was 17). But, my mom (who carries HER great-grandmother's middle name) chose to give me MY great-grandmother's middle name.

And so, I have always had a unique fascination with Ada Mae O'Brien, this woman whose name I bear.

She was born 116 years ago today in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas to Eliza Louisa Frances Jones. Eliza was married three times and we aren't certain which of her last two husbands is the father of Ada Mae. Ada Mae was raised and married as an O'Brien, the third husband, and her obituary lists him as her father. Certainly, he is the only father she ever knew.

Ada Mae married a farmer, Walter Edward Woodruff, when she was 22 years old and had her first son 14 months later. Four more sons followed, one every two years until 1916. The second son died shortly after birth. My grandfather was born five years later in 1921 when Ada Mae was not quite 37 years old. Within three years she died, just weeks before her 40th birthday, leaving behind five sons ranging in age from 2-16.

That's really all I know of her. I wish I knew more. And that curiosity to really come to KNOW my ancestors - not just their names and the dates of their birth and death but to come to understand about their lives and the circumstances they lived in - are what keep me fascinated with family history.

Happy Birthday, Ada Mae! Your blood runs through my veins and I bear your name proudly. I hope you are pleased with what I am doing with it.