Scattered Stones: The Orphan’s Journey
Scattered Stones: The Robertson Family of Blairgowrie
Lillian Josephine Robertson
The Orphan's Journey
1905–1991 · Brooklyn, NY to Caldwell, NJ
In January 1924, both her parents were dead. This is the story of what she built from that loss.
She was eighteen years old when they buried her father. Twelve days later, they buried her mother. The same tuberculosis. The same North Caldwell house where the family had lived for only three months. She was left with a sixteen-year-old sister and a four-year-old brother, and not much else.
Lillian Josephine Robertson was born on July 9, 1905, at 125 Ryerson Street in Brooklyn — the first child of Joseph Robertson and Mary Agnes Kenny. Through her father she was the granddaughter of David Paterson Robertson, the Scottish stone cutter who vanished in Georgia. Through her mother she descended from John Kenny, the Brooklyn mat maker whose craft had sustained four generations of women.
Two years later, her sister Helen Gladys arrived. The girls were close from the start — photographed together in their Sunday best, the very picture of early twentieth-century girlhood. Family stories tell of summers in Saugerties, New York, at the home of "Aunt Marie MacKinney," and at Cape Elizabeth, Maine. These were the golden years.
Lillian Josephine Robertson (left) and Helen Gladys Robertson (right), circa 1910. The "little Misses" who vacationed in Saugerties with Aunt Marie MacKinney — before everything changed.
In 1920, a baby brother arrived: Joseph Jay Robertson, named for his father. The family had settled well — their father Joseph was working as Manager of the Marine Department at Frank Baldwin & Son, doing well enough to move the family from Brooklyn to suburban North Caldwell, New Jersey, in October 1923.
Three months after that move, their world collapsed.
On January 14, 1924, Joseph Robertson died of a cerebral hemorrhage at their new home. He was thirty-nine years old — killed by the same kind of stroke that had taken his own mother twenty-two years before. Mary Agnes was already fighting tuberculosis. Whether his death accelerated her decline or whether her body simply gave out, we cannot know. She died on January 26 — twelve days after her husband. She was forty years old.
In less than two weeks, Lillian and her siblings had lost both parents. Even in death, the couple could not lie together: Joseph was buried at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn — Protestant tradition — while Mary Agnes went to rest at Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Montclair, New Jersey. The religious divide that had marked their lives followed them to their graves.
The three Robertson children remained in North Caldwell, cared for by extended family — the Kenny women who had always stepped in when this family needed them. But four-year-old Joseph Jay posed a particular challenge. Too young to care for himself, he passed between his older sisters' households as they each established their own lives. Family oral history records that he wasn't always thrilled about staying with Lillian and her husband. Miles, it seems, was a bit strict.
The orphaned daughter of a stone cutter's son and a mat maker's daughter had nothing left in North Caldwell but a sister, a baby brother, and whatever strength the Kenny women had passed down through four generations.
It would prove to be enough.
By 1927, Lillian had moved to an apartment at 610 Bloomfield Avenue in Verona, New Jersey, working as a clerk. She was twenty-two years old and supporting herself. It was there, through an introduction by "Aunt Betty" Mulholland — whose husband Danny was a friend of a young Brooklyn carpenter named Miles Murtha O'Brien — that her story turned.
They married on January 28, 1928, at St. Gabriel's Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn. It was Miles's twenty-fourth birthday. Lillian was twenty-two. Both listed their residence as 376 Milford Street, Brooklyn. Her sister Helen Verhoek stood as witness — the two girls who had once posed together as the "little Misses Robertson" now standing as married women, having survived together what might have broken them apart.
Marriage certificate of Miles M. O'Brien and Lillian J. Robertson, January 28, 1928. St. Gabriel's R.C. Church, Brooklyn. Witnesses: James O'Brien and Helen G. Verhoek — Lillian's sister, standing beside her one last time.
The marriage certificate records everything about where these families came from. Miles's mother was Margaret Egan, born in County Mayo, Ireland. Lillian's parents were Joseph Robertson and Mary A. Kenny — both listed as deceased, a quiet reminder of the orphan's journey that had brought her to this altar.
This marriage united two family lines shaped by the same kind of loss. Miles had been two years old when his own mother died. Lillian had been eighteen. They were building a new family from the remains of old ones — and they would do it together for fifty-six years. (Miles's story is told in full in Hidden Bonds, Episode 7.)
Lillian and Miles began their family immediately. Lillian Marie arrived in 1928, the same year they married. Jeanne followed in 1930. In 1935, Barbara Ann was born. In 1938, the family moved from Brooklyn back to Caldwell, New Jersey — the same community where Lillian had been orphaned fourteen years before. She was returning to build a new life in the place where her childhood had ended.
In 1940, she gave birth to a fourth daughter. She named her Helen Grace — an unmistakable tribute to her sister Helen, the girl who had shared the loss of January 1924, who had stood as her wedding witness, who had survived with her.
Two years later, in July 1942, the sister died. Helen Gladys Robertson Verhoek — who had been there for everything — died of tuberculosis in North Caldwell. She was approximately thirty-five years old. The same disease that had killed their mother eighteen years before. The "little Misses Robertson" were separated at last.
Helen Grace O'Brien, circa 1942–1943. Named for the aunt who died that same year. She would survive only to age eight herself, dying in 1948.
Six years later, in 1948, Helen Grace died. She was eight years old. The family had now lost two Helens — the aunt in 1942, the daughter in 1948. Lillian's eldest, Lillian Marie, wrote a poem for her little sister.
For Helen Grace — by Lillian Marie O'Brien
Dear little Helen, so sweet and so fair,
With beautiful eyes and lovely hair,
A more beautiful baby we could have not seen,
In all God's creation, you reigned as a queen.
Your burdens were heavy, your tasks were few,
And we of your kingdom, so little could do
To lighten the burdens He gave unto you.
Dear little Helen, so lovely and pure,
Burning with love of that we are sure,
One morning quite early He called unto thee
To come unto Him, the fair Countenance to see.
And so you departed from us here below
To kneel by the side of the Sacred Heart's glow,
And pray for the family, who loves you so.
Lillian had lost both parents before she was nineteen. Her only sister at thirty-seven. Her own daughter before she turned fifty. Yet the family grew. In 1946, she welcomed twin sons — Miles Murtha Jr. and Michael Joseph — who would both serve as officers in the United States Air Force, retiring as Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel respectively.
Their Six Children
Lillian Marie (1928–1995) — married Dr. Severino Ambrosio, Parlin, NJ
Jeanne (1930–1993) — married John Garrison, Longwood, FL
Barbara Ann (1935–2022) — married Hamall, Atlanta/Peachtree City, GA
Helen Grace (1940–1948) — died age eight
Miles Murtha Jr. (1946– ) — twin; retired Colonel, USAF; Warner Robins, GA
Michael Joseph (1946– ) — twin; retired Lieutenant Colonel, USAF; Warner Robins, GA
On January 28, 1978 — Miles's 74th birthday — the couple celebrated their golden anniversary. Seventeen of their nineteen grandchildren gathered around them. Fifty years had passed since Lillian stood at the altar of St. Gabriel's with nothing but hope and her sister beside her. Now she sat as the matriarch of a family that numbered in the dozens.
She had returned to the place of her orphaning and built something that could not be taken away.
Miles died on January 16, 1984. They had been married for nearly fifty-six years. Lillian outlived him by seven years. In the summer of 1991, her brother Joseph Jay Robertson died on August 22. Three weeks later, on September 13, 1991, Lillian followed him. She was eighty-six years old.
The pattern had held to the end. Their parents had died twelve days apart in January 1924. The two surviving siblings died three weeks apart in the summer of 1991. The three orphans of North Caldwell had stayed connected for sixty-seven years, and in the end they left the world together — just as their parents had.
Both Miles and Lillian are buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in East Hanover, New Jersey — together at last, unlike her parents, who rest in separate cemeteries divided by faith.
Six Generations
George Robertson (1809–1872)
Mason · Blairgowrie, Scotland
↓
David Paterson Robertson (1842–c.1910)
Stone Cutter · Brooklyn & Georgia
↓
Joseph Robertson (1884–1924)
Marine Industry · Brooklyn
↓
Lillian Josephine Robertson O'Brien (1905–1991)
The Orphan · Caldwell, NJ
↓
Barbara Ann O'Brien Hamall (1935–2022)
Keeper of Stories
↓
The Next Generation
Carrying the story forward
From George Robertson's stone cottage in Blairgowrie to Lillian's home in Caldwell — six generations, 180 years, one family's journey across an ocean and through the American experience.
The stones are no longer scattered.
They are gathered here.
For Descendants of Miles & Lillian O'Brien
Family Archive
The primary documents and family photographs supporting this biography are available in a password-protected archive for family members.
Archive Contents
Marriage Certificate — Pages 1 & 2January 28, 1928 · St. Gabriel's, Brooklyn
Miles Murtha O'Brien Birth CertificateJanuary 28, 1904 · Brooklyn
1930 Federal CensusBrooklyn · early family
1940 Federal Census38 Central Ave, Caldwell, NJ
1950 Federal Census58 Central Ave, Caldwell, NJ
Helen Gladys Verhoek ObituaryJuly 22, 1942 · Brooklyn Eagle
Miles Murtha O'Brien Death CertificateJanuary 16, 1984
Miles Murtha O'Brien Obituary1984 · Retired carpenter
Lillian J. O'Brien ObituarySeptember 15, 1991 · Age 86
Complete Family Photo c.1946–47Only photograph with Helen Grace
50th Anniversary Photo · 197817 of 19 grandchildren
Lillian with Barbara & Helen · c.1940sThe Caldwell years
This archive is password-protected and maintained for the descendants of Miles and Lillian O'Brien. If you are family and need the password, please contact Mary.
🔒 Enter Family ArchiveLegacy Letter
"The Orphan's Promise"
A letter from Lillian to the generations who carry her story — the promise she made in January 1924 and kept for sixty-seven years.
Read the Legacy Letter →Companion Story
Four Generations in Hats
The Kenny women who rallied around the three Robertson orphans — a story of resilience passed down through hats, style, and quiet dignity.
Read the Story →Scattered Stones, Episode 8, is the series finale. Lillian married Miles Murtha O'Brien, whose own story of loss, survival, and fifty years of solo carpentry with double vision is told in Hidden Bonds, Episode 7. Their marriage united the Robertsons of Blairgowrie, Scotland, with the O'Briens of County Clare, Ireland — two immigrant families, each shaped by orphaning, building something lasting together.
Continue the Story
