Keokuk-Courtney-Mississippi river
COURTNEY, OHEA
Posted By: Catherine Green (email)
Date: 3/28/2007 at 12:19:12
In ancestry.com's new index and images of the 1925 State Census of Iowa, I learned (finally!!!) the birthplace of my Courtney great-great grandparents John and Ellen O'Hea Courtney: Keokuk, Iowa. I knew the couple's daughter Mary Ella Courtney Lee was in Iowa in 1925, so I looked her up in the census and found that she answered the place of her parents' message, on the census that year.
John and Ellen lived across from Keokuk, on the Illinois side of the river in Hancock County. Family researchers diligently pursuing this family were only able to acquire Ellen's burial record from St. Peter-Paul church at Nauvoo, Illinois and were told parish records were "incomplete." Imagine our surprise to learn their marriage and possibly baptism records of Courtney children was at Keokuk! I was happy to learn this, and also delighted when I found the Lee County, IA website to be so very full of information and data posted by volunteers! In fact, I think the "John Courtney and Ellen "Plaze" marriage transcription on Lee County IA genweb might be a handwriting-interpretation error of Ellen O'Hea's name and a baptism of John Henry "Courterrey" in 1857 matches our record of the year of birth for this couple's son John H. Courtney! My hat is off to the wonderful Lee County volunteers and this great website.
While awaiting hearing back from the Davenport diocesan archive how to access Keokuk church records from the 1850s and 1860s, I am pondering the life along the river and particularly, how would the Courtneys have crossed to Keokuk? Were there ferries? A truly lovely color, topographical map showing Keokuk and Montebello township in Hancock Illinois just across the river is at the link (below.)
I would like an idea of how the Courtneys might have gone back and forth...I don't think there was a bridge til later...and eventually, I hope to learn every tiniest scrap of information possible about John Courtney and Ellen O'Hea Courtney in Keokuk. This couple, both born in Ireland, died young and my great grandpa Michael Courtney was only a small boy at the time, and all the children were separated, placed in homes as young workers rather than adopted. Michael's story ends happily with having a large family of his own, but he always wondered about his family and the generations since have always wondered too. We are happy to be on the verge of finally learning more.
thanks, Catherine
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/united_states/keokuk_io_75.jpg
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