John E Courtney (TN) +Sappho Shearer (TX)
John E Courtney ,TN+Sappho Shearer,Young Co, TX
Posted by: C Schuetzeberg (ID *****7113) Date: August 28, 2003 at 23:10:24
of 1841
John Ellis Courtney, fresh from Tennesse, met and married Sappho Shearer, daughter of rancher George Christian and Martha Jane (Hawkins) Shearer in Young Co, Texas. George Ellis came along in 1886. John("Jack") and Sappho had two other sons who died when they were young. But they had a string of pretty girls, starting with my grandmother Edith, that caught many an eye. Following Edith were Florence, Cecil, Kate, Zillah, Ruth, Hazel, Lethel and finally, Johnnie, born on Valentines Day, 1907. Sadly, "Jack" Courtney died in 1908 and was buried in the Farmer Cemetery with his two sons, Louis and Henry.
I'm sad that I didn't know most of these women other than my grandmother, Edith...who started teaching when she was 16 years old in Farmer along with her dear friend, Bernice Cox. We all enjoyed the delightful company of Lethel and Johnnie Courtney. Cecil Courtney worked for Arthur Duncan in Floyd and Lethel married his son, Arthur. They moved to Canyon, TX where Lethel, an astute business woman, and Johnnie ran the title and abstract company after Arthur died.
I've thrown in lots of names and places because there are lots of holes in what I know about the Courtney family. Some of them were reported to have been born in Canadian, OK. It would seem that they came back to Young Co. Sappho and her three youngest girls moved to Floydada at some point. I have lots of pictures of grandchildren and adults at her home, many whom I don't know. If you know members of this family, I'd love to hear from you. I wish I'd asked lots more questions while my grandmother Edith Sanders was still alive.
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