James Jonathon O’Brien (b. 1894)

James O’Brien was born in Forty Mile, the son of Thomas and Anna O’Brien. He was a bottler working in Dawson in 1916 when he enlisted to serve in the First World War.1) Brothers Charles and James, enlisted in the Canadian Army and arrived in England in 1917 with the Yukon Infantry Company, 231st Overseas Battalion.2) James was a Lance Corporal with the Canadian Expeditionary Force, Yukon Infantry Company.3) After the war he was discharged and returned to Seattle.4) James returned to the Yukon and settled in Mayo.5)

1)
Library and Archives Canada, Attestation Paper, WWI Reg. #1015766. 9 August 1916 in Sidney Camp.
2)
Eric L. Johnson, “Biographies: Thomas William O'Brien.” Unpublished manuscript (1993) in Dawson City Museum files.
3)
Nominal roll of officers, non-commissioned officers and men, 24 January 1917. Yukon Archives, PAM 1917-0015.
4)
Eric L. Johnson, unpublished biography of Thomas O’Brien in the Dawson City Museum archives.
5)
Delores Smith, “T.W. O’Brien: a gold rush entrepreneur.” The Whitehorse Star (Whitehorse), 28 June 1995.