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. Our maternal grandfather, Dennis Courtney, son of Daniel and Mary Savage Courtney, was born in 1833 at Castlegregory, County Kerry, Ireland. In 1849, when sixteen years of age, he came to America with his parents, two sisters, and one brother. The family settled in Lowell, Massachusetts and worked in a mill until they accumulated enough money to move to Garryowen, Iowa, where Mrs. Courtney's two sisters, Mrs. Patrick Doyle and Mrs. Patrick Curran were living. An uncle, Mike Courtney, and his family lived in Chicago, Illinois. Our maternal grandmother, Bridget Sullivan Courtney, was born in about 1822 in Crowobello, County Cork, Ireland. She was the daughter of John and Ellen Welch Sullivan. She attended a Convent School. We have a hand-made sampler with her name on it. The date is obscure, just 183-. It could be 1835 or 1837. She came to America in 1849 and was one of a family of nine, five sons and four daughters. Her father, and five of the children left Ireland first. Her mother and the other children were to follow. Her father and his sons landed in New Orleans and came up the Mississippi by boat to Galena, Illinois, where his brother, Jeremiah, met him. His wife and the other children followed after the harvest was finished. They landed in New York and went from there by boat to St. Louis, Missouri. By the time they arrived, the Mississippi was frozen over and they could not leave until it opened up in the spring. (From a letter from Bridget Sullivan, niece to my grandmother.) In the meantime, a farm had been purchased by John Sullivan and a cabin was built at Washington Mills, not far from Garryowen. Here the family lived for many years. This farm was later purchased by Mrs. Margaret Cole, a granddaughter of John Sullivan. When she died in 1957, her estate was valued at about a million dollars. We do not know where or when Dennis Courtney and Bridget Sullivan were married. Bridget's father liked his young son-in-law and said he was "a bright, good looking man and much respected". We have proof that Dennis purchased a farm in Garryowen in 1855 and lived on it until 1883, when he sold it for $2,200.00. He moved his family to Lemars, Iowa, where his brother, John, had moved several years before. His wife, Bridget, had passed away in 1880 of a heart condition. She is buried in Garryowen, Iowa. Grandfather invested in a general store in Lemars as had his brother, John. However, this was sold after his two single sons became ill and died. His daughter, Ellen (Mrs. Mike Ryle), moved to Canada and later to a farm they purchased near Yankton, South Dakota. His son, Daniel, who also had gone to Canada, later bought a farm adjoining his sister's near Yankton. His daughter, Bridget (Mrs. Dennis Donovan), passed away in Lemars on March 7, 1888. His daughter, Mary, married Mr. John Culligan. After his home was broken up, grandfather lived for a while with Mrs. Mike Ryle before she moved to Canada. He then went to Sioux City, Iowa, and became a coachman for the Sisters at St. Joseph's Hospital. When he became too old to work, he went to Yankton, South Dakota, to live with his son, Daniel. He died there in 1908. He is buried in the John Courtney lot at St. James Cemetery, Lemars, Iowa. |