| 4. | John Cunniff (Cuniff) was born on 9 Mar 1818 in Ireland; died on 20 Aug 1907 in Jefferson Co, Texas; was buried in Magnolia Cem, Beaumont, Jefferson Co, Texas. Other Events and Attributes:
- Other-Begin: 17 Oct 1849, New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana; naturalization
- Residence: Abt 1852, Jefferson Co, Texas
- Census: 11 Jul 1860, Sabine Pass, Jefferson Co, Texas
- Military: Between 1861 and 1865, Spaights 11th Battalion, Company B, Sabine Pass, Jefferson Co, Texas
- Military: Between 1861 and 1865, Spaights 11th Battalion, Company B, Sabine Pass, Jefferson Co, Texas
- Census: 1870, Sabine Pass, Jefferson Co, Texas
- Residence: 1904, Labelle, Jefferson Co, Texas
- Military: 5 Aug 1904, Jefferson Co, Texas; Pension Application
- Research Notes: 28 Nov 2012; Lucy Courts
Notes:
Birth:
birth date given on tombstone.
Other-Begin:
Not yet verified that this John is our John.
Cunniff, John
New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Minute Book 1849-1850, pg 475
4th Dist Ct., New Orleans, LA
Country of Birth or allegience: Ireland
When there (or age) Not shown on F/O
Date and ort arrived in U.S.
date or port not shown on F/O
Date of naturalization: F/O - Oct. 17, 1849
Names and addresses of witnesses:
M.L. Martin New Orleans, LA
John McLane New Orleans, LA
Civil Dist. Ct. Bldg.
Residence:
Veteran Pension Application filed in 1904 stated he has lived in Jefferson county for 50 years; i.e. 1954. But 3rd child Ellen born in 1852 in Texas. First two children born in Louisiana.
Census:
John Cuniff 44 1816 Laborer Ireland 300 100
Nancy (Osborn) 30 1830 LA
Mary 13 1847 LA
Ellen 8 1852 TX
Joseph 6 1854 TX
Clarah 4 1856 TX
Adella 4 1856 TX
Elizabeth 3 1857 TX
Leddia 1 1859 TX
Next door to the Neil and Hannah McGaffey
no other Cuniffs in Sabine Pass in 1860
Military:
Name: J. Cunniff
Side: Confederate
Regiment State/Origin: Texas
Regiment Name: 11 (Spaight's) Batt'n Texas Vols.
Regiment Name Expanded: 11th Battalion, Texas Volunteers (Cavalry and Infantry) (Spaight's)
Company: B
Rank In: Private
Rank In Expanded: Private
Rank Out: Private
Rank Out Expanded: Private
Film Number: M227 roll 8
Military:
U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865
Name: J. Cunniff
Side: Confederate
Regiment State/Origin: Texas
Regiment Name: 11 (Spaight's) Batt'n Texas Vols.
Regiment Name Expanded: 11th Battalion, Texas Volunteers (Cavalry and Infantry) (Spaight's)
Company: B
Rank In: Private
Rank In Expanded: Private
Rank Out: Private
Rank Out Expanded: Private
Film Number: M227 roll 8
Source Information:
National Park Service. U.S. Civil War Soldiers, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.
Original data: National Park Service, Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System, online , acquired 2007.
-------------------------------
American Civil War Soldiers
Name: J Cunniff
Side Served: Confederacy
State Served: Texas
Service Record: Enlisted as a Private.
Enlisted in Company B, 11th Battn Cavalry Regiment Texas.
Sources: 425
Source Citation: Side served: Confederacy; State served: Texas;
Source Information:
Historical Data Systems, comp.. American Civil War Soldiers [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 1999.
Original data: Data compiled by Historical Data Systems of Kingston, MA form the following list of works.
Copyright 1997-2000
Historical Data Systems, Inc.
PO Box 35
Duxbury.
Census:
residence 70
B Johnson 29 Texas
Mary Ann Johnson 26 Texas
Theresa Johnson 4 Texas
Jacob Johnson 2 Texas
John Johnson 26 1844 Texas
Jeff Bonds 10 black Texas
residence 71
Bellar (Bellard) Paul 42 1828 Louisiana
Mahala 33 1837 Texas
Clifton 15 1855 Texas
Mary 13 1857 Texas
Adam 9 1861 Texas
Noa 6 1864 Texas
Albert 4 1866 Texas
Amanda 1 1869 Texas
residence 72
McGaffey I.W. 23 1847 Texas
Alice 18 1852 Texas
Mary H. 11/12 1869 Texas
residence 73
I Kenniff 65 1805 Ireland
Nancy Kenniff 40 1830 Louisiana
Mary Kenniff 22 1848 Louisiana
Thomas Kenniff 20 1850 Louisiana
Ellen Kenniff 18 1852 Texas (later married Henry Belke)
Joseph Kenniff 16 1854 Texas
Atley Kenniff 14 1856 Texas
Clary Kenniff 14 1856 Texas
Elizabeth Kenniff 13 1857 Texas
Liddy Kenniff 11 1859 Texas
Sary Jane Kenniff 8 1862 Texas
Nancy E Kenniff 6 1864 Texas
Edny I Kenniff 2 1868 Texas
I B Meaux 26 1844 Louisiana
H Belke 24 1846 Prussia (Henry Belke, later married Ellen)
Sarah Sealye 44 1844 Indiana
H Johnson 21 negro 1849
residence 74
King Louis 45 1825 Prussia
Sarah (Courts) 35 1835 Texas
Homer 17 abt 1853 Male White Texas
Hillen 15 abt 1855 Female White Texas
Neal 13 abt 1857 Male White Texas
Sanford 10 abt 1860 Male White Texas
Harris 8 abt 1862 Male White Texas
Smith Elias 36 abt 1834 Male White Michigan
residence 75
Cronia C E 65 1805 Male France
Alinda 53 1817 Louisiana
Cronia Elizabeth 22 1848 Texas
Mary F 18 1852 Texas
Charles 15 1855 Texas
Margaret 11 1859 Texas
James M 9 1861 Texas
Thomas B 7 1863 Texas
Mary L 3 1867 Texas
Military:
P.O. LaBelle, Texas
Approved 30 Sep 1904
pg 2
Name: John Cunniff, abt 85 yrs old
Jefferson County, 50 years, Fannett.
Previously applied Beaumont abt 1898
occupation: not able to do anything
physical conditon: poor in bed most of he time
unable to do your own labor: Most blind, kidney affection, old Age
Command originally organized Texas
How long: enlisted at beginning of war, discharged. Then enlisted and served till company disbanded at end of war.
name of company: Company B. Speights Regiment
artillery
received any pension: haven't received any
what real and personal property do you own: none
pg 3
What property have you sold within two years: none
What estate has your wife: has none. dead 20 years
what income do you receive: none
are you indigent: yes, only for help of my son who is poor and has large family
are you unable to labor to earn support: yes
have you transferred to other any property: no
did you ever desert the Confederacy: no
have you been continuously a bonefide resident of State: yes
when you enlisted were you a bonefied resident of Texas: yes
Signature (his mark) John Cunniff
5th Aug 1904
D.P. Wheat, County Judge
Affidavit of Witnesses:
S.E. Bigham
F.W. Kidd
5th Aug 1904
page 4
Affidavit of Physician
complete atrophy of bladder and Gueralt? Senile degenerative of muscular and atterial & nervous systems making him totally incapicated for any labor of any kind.
5th Aug 1904, D.D. Henderson, M.D.
Certificate of Judge: signed by D.P. Wheat ,Jefferson Co judge, 5 Aug 1904
Certificate of Commissioners
page 5
sworn affidavit by F.W. Kidd and Jacob Gallier, attesting to they served in Confederate Army with the said John Cunniff in Company B. Speights Regiment, that he enlisted with s at the beginning of the war and served until the war closed that he never dissented and was finally discharged. We served in Capt K.D. Keith Company. We further state that he is the same John Cunniff who served with us and that he is now unable to support himself by manual labor.
signed: F.W. Kidd; and Jacob Gallier.
Judge: D.P. Wheat, County Judge
Research Notes:
Ron found a death certificate for Elizabeth Cunniff, informant was her daughter Ida. Ida gave Elizabeth's mother as Lucy Courts. This is mindblowing. No Lucy Courts has been found. But John Cunniff, Elizabeth's father, is found living among Courts/Johnsons in 1860 and 1870 census records in Sabine Pass.
Theory 1: That Lucy was a 1st wife and mother of first 8 children where there is a 3 yr space between children, allowing for Lucy to die and he remarry Nancy. It seems logical that this Lucy could be daughter of Thomas. To mother these children, she would have to be born abt 1830, which is a feasible. The argument for this theory is that Child 2 and 3 were named Thomas and Ellen - as in Thomas Court and his mother Ellen Ainsworth. If Nancy came in the picture as 2nd wife at that time, it would allow for her to be newly wed in 1860 census, and first child of that union Sarah born 9 months later, then next child named Nancy. Argument against this is first children, Mary and Thomas were both born in Louisiana. If Lucy were a daughter of Thomas, she was taken to Texas as an infant. How did she get back to Louisiana to marry? This is assuming that she is a lost daughter of Thomas. Another thought is he later had a daughter named Lucritia. Would he have named two daughters with such a similar name?
Theory 2: That Lucy is a younger sister to Thomas. However, Thomas' parents did not come to America. Would Lucy, a sister, have come with him?
Theory 3: That Lucy Court was a 2nd wife to John Cunniff. Marriage would have to be between after 1870, last known date of Nancy, and 1884, the 20 yrs prior that John said his wife died when he filled out his Veteran Pension Application in 1904. If he was referring to Lucy as wife 2, he could have been potentially married to her 14 yrs before she died, leaving him widower for 20 yrs. Since Ida, a grandchild,would have been born during the time of Lucy, perhaps she assumed Lucy had been the one and only. It seems like she would have learned as her life progressed. John Cunniff lived next to Louis King (husband of Sarah Court) in 1870 as did sons Joseph and Thomas Cunniff in 1880, and nearby several Johnsons (Thomas Court m Ann Johnson). This makes you think Lucy could have showed up around that time. However, it seems all of Thomas' children's families are accounted for and no Lucy or similar name.
Theory 4: If Lucy was indeed, 2nd wife, probably not too young, and could she have been a Courts widow? But again, there is not record of the Thomas Court sons that this would be the case.
Theory 5: Lucy and Nancy were one and the same. Born abt 1830, married Osborn at about 14 yrs old, he died early, then remarried Cuniff by 1836.
Studying a timeline:
1800 Thomas Court b
1828 Thomas Court m Ann Johnson
1829 James Court b
1830-1834 John Adams Court and alleged Lucy born
1832 Thomas Court & Ann to Texas
1836 Sarah Court b Texas
1846 John Cunniff to marry
1847 Mary b LA
1850 Thomas b LA
1852 Ellen b TX
1853 Joseph b TX
1856 Clara b TX
1856 Adella b
1857 Eliz Cunniff b
1858 Lydia Cunniff b
1860 11 Jul 1860 census Nancy is wife
assuming she is 2nd wife and newly wed.
Nancy is 30
1861 Sarah Jane b 2 Apr (nine months
from when census taken!)
1864 Nancy E. (namesake for Nancy)
1868 Edna born
1870 census Nancy & John
1880 Ellen, married, and Liz, 19, found in Galveston
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1880usfedcen&indiv=try&h=6814283
1885 Ida b
1894 about - John Cunniff said wife died
Ida abt 9 yrs old, her grandmother.
1904 John Cunniff applies for pension
Eliz Cunniff d 1936 Ida, now 51, informant naming Lucy Courts as Elizabeth's mother.
After rereading thru my notes on Thomas, and though I still think there was a Lucy Courts and she was in our Courts family somehow, I am backing off on her being Thomas' 2nd child unless she died before Apr 1856 and that's not likely esp considering Elizabeth's birth in Mar 1857. On 18 Apr 1856 James sold his 1/7 share of land - and 7 kids are accounted for. Also, Thomas was in Texas as early as 1829. Per Mr. Block's research, he was in Sabine Pass in 1832, coming from Lavaca Bay area, despite the marker.
Also, he was "listed in the Book 1830 Citizens of Texas" by Gifford White. Thomas was 162nd applicant for a land grand from Steven Ftin in 1829, granted in 1838 in Jefferson Co (1 league 4,428.4 acres plus 177.1 acres). "1840 Citizens of Texas Land Grants Vol 3". Obviously I didn't do all this research myself. It's a collection of several Courts researchers who shared it with me several years ago.
So, there's just not enough information to solve this. It will have to wait till we meet them in the "great beyond" and ask!!
Still, as far as the bloodline of those kids and the existence of Lucy Courts, whoever she was, I've methodically laid it out for you to see that you just don't have the bucketload of documentation you think you have. The two census records only have his wife named as Nancy, born in 1830 in Louisiana. No last name. That's it. No middle initial, nothing else, just Nancy.
There was no marriage record with the mother's name. I was mistaken, the parents were not named.
Bordeman is the only one that gave Nancy's name to be Osborn. Nowhere else!! That's the only mention of Osborn out of all the kids we've found d.c.s for. Clara died in 1916 with pneumonia and he died days after -- hell, he was probably dying then! Besides John said his wife died "20 years" ago from 1904 - so about 1880 - that's 36 years.
So, she called herself Nancy in the census and he is the only one besides Ida, who at least made an effort. Just because Ida called her "Lucy" means nothing. Names were not so affixed then. Of course it has to be considered, but it's not conclusive in itself.
Death certs of kids:
1 Mary - cert not found
2 Thomas cert not found (same name as Thomas)
married Stockholm, sister married Will, a Courts married a Will
3 Ellen mother unknown. born in Ireland (informant blank) (same name as Thomas' mother)
4 Joseph - mother blank, (Thomas and Joseph lived by the Johnsons (grandmother's family, and other Courts and related families)
informant: Mrs. H.C. Calloway Silsbee (related? hosp empl?)
5 Adella cert not found
6 Clara - mother Nancy Osborn, (informant, her husband Bordeman ) Bordemans connected to Courts family
7 Lizzie - mother Lucy Courts (informant Ida)
8 Lydia - certificate not found married Frugia
Pierre Frugia and Thomas Court witnessed documents for each other, Frugias married into some common families
9 Sarah - mother not known
informant husb Frugia
10 Nancy - death cert not found
married two Block men - Blocks also in the family cliques
11 Edna - mother: no record (Geneve Culp - prob grandchild, though father was Joe born in Toronto
Buried:
Lot 118 Section A Magnolia Cemetery Owner P. E. "Frigee" (Frugia) Date 3/22/1894 Price $10.00
Mrs. N. Antoinette "Nettie" (Frugia) Leonard 12/3/1921
Robert J. Norton 3/20/1918 (son of Alice Leonard listed "Linard" & J. J. Norton)
Lillian Edan Frugia 7/2/1926
Infant of L. "Frigee" 5/19/1927
Johnie N or T "Fregia" 7/27/1928
John Cunniff No Date
Pearl Frugia 8/6/1893
Pierre Frugia Jr. (step mother is Lydia Cunniff)
m Julia Court (Elias Madison & Sally Gibson)
-Nettie Frugia (sister to Pierre Jr.)
-Robert Norton infant -gson to Nettie
-Lillian Edan Frugia (relation unk. This Lillian is NOT the Lillian Frugia who married Tom Frugia (son of Zeb & Sarah Cuniff.)
-Infant of L. "Frigee" d 5/19/1927
twin, L. Frigee s/o Lyman Frugia,
g/s of Pierre Frugia & Lydia Cunniff
gg/s of John Cunniff
(Lydia had twin siblings)
-Johnie N or T. Fregia (infant) s/o Lyman;
g/s of Lydia Cunniff;
gg/s of John Cunniff
-John Cunniff (d 1907)
-Pearl Frugia 1893
d/o Pierre Frugia & Lydia Cunniff
g/d of John Cunniff
John married Nancy Osborn about 1846 in Louisiana. Nancy was born in 1830 in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana; died on 8 Dec 1871 in Sabine Pass, Jefferson Co, Texas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1878 - Aft 1920 (43 years)