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Name | Mary Ellen Courts | |
Birth | 8 Sep 1852 | Sabine Pass, Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
Gender | Female | |
Census | 12 Jul 1860 | Sabine Pass (Precinct 5), Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
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1860 Texas, Jefferson County, Sabine Pass census James and Julia Sparks Court family; John and Melinda Jones Sparks family; and Samuel and Eliza Sparks Lee. |
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Census | 23 Jun 1870 | Sparks and River Settlement, Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
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1870, Texas, Jefferson County, Sparks Settlement census |
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Census | 30 Jun 1900 | Beaumont (District 4), Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
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1900 - Texas, Jefferson County, Beaumont, Precinct 1 census Thomas and Mary E Courts Smith and children, Will, Brewer, and Walles families, and Emmett Court and Lavina Keith. |
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Census | 23 May 1910 | Beaumont (Precinct 6), Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
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1910 - Texas, Jefferson County, Beaumont, Precinct 6 census Julia Sparks Courts, living with daughter Mary E and husband Thomas Smith, also Matt Courts and family next door. Residence "near McFaddin" |
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Residence | Between 1924 and 1936 | 828 Harriot, Beaumont, Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
D.C. | ||
Death | 19 Dec 1935 | Beaumont, Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
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Court, Mary Ellen Brewer Smith death certificate |
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Burial | 20 Dec 1935 | McFaddin, TF Smith Homestead, Forest Lawn Cem, Beaumont, Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
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McFaddin Cemetery - TF Smith Homestead McFaddin Cemetery was located on property south of Beaumont, in Port Neches, Central Gardens at a location within the grounds of where DuPont is now. The cemetery was discovered in the Fifties, and due to the impending construction of the plant. (See attached newspaper coverage). There were about 30 people buried there whose remains were subsequently placed in four separate concrete boxes and relocated to Forest Lawn Cemetery where they were laid once again to rest in the Garden of Peace section. The headstones for the four graves are all identical, reading simply "TF Smith Homstead Tract Cemetery." The detailed list of occupants only exist on an index card in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park records (see copy attached). All of these people were either residents or descendants of the Sparks Settlement, also called Aurora, (what later became Port Arthur. The families were predominantly the Sparks, Courts and Gentz families and other family names who married into these families. Sparks Settlement was abandoned in late 1800s due to storms and disease; even the houses were moved. Most of them started another community in the Port Neches, Central Gardens area where they started a new cemetery - i.e. what was called the McFaddin Cemetery. Sparks Cemetery was also abandoned. The occupants of that cemetery, those who died while the community was active, were never moved; only recognized by a historical marker placed in a boulevard on DeQueen at Lakeshore (see photo). There is some false information on the Internet that the remains in Sparks Cemetery were removed to Forest Lawn. But what I have been able to discover is that is not the case. It is the later cemetery, McFaddin Cemetery, that was removed. There is also some belief that the cemetery was used even into the 1920s for burial needs; but that also seems to be mistaken information. The were fine and strong and brave pioneers who I am so proud to call my ancestors. They helped build our community here, and somehow, I hope to bring to mind the signifcance of those four plain little headstones marked simply "TF Smith Homestead Tract Cemetery." |
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McFaddin Cemetery - TF Smith Homestead |
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McFaddin, TF Smith Homestead, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Garden of Peace Section |
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McFaddin, TF Smith Homestead, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Garden of Peace Section |
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Other-Begin | 30 Sep 1952 | Beaumont, Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
court case: Smith graves | ||
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McFaddin Cemetery - TF Smith Homestead
1952 Article Beaumont Enterprise; "Early Burials Found on Neches"; "One of Area Private Cemeteries Uncovered on DuPont Tract" |
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Court Cause No. 16187: "W.P.H. McFaddin, Jr., et al, vs. Unknown Heirs of Caroline Sparks, et al" 30 Sep 1952 named deceased persons to-wit: Caroline Sparks, Edward Sparks, John L. Sparks, William Sparks, Joseph Sparks, Susan Sparks Crawford, Phillip Crawford, James C. Sparks, Lura Sparks Spriggs, James M. Court, Julia A. Court, James F. Court, Lillian Court Smith, Irvin Smith, Francis Court Sparks, Viola Court Sparks, Madison Court, Sarah A. Court, Edna Court, Beulah Court, a Mrs. E. Bordeman and child... 45.7 acres on T.F. Smith homestead tract; included in league bought by J.S. Johnson in 1924, who later conveyed the property to E.I. DuPont in 1952, at which time private cemetery was discovered. Court proceedings to have the remains relocated. The following family members not named in the suit but were included in cemetery records: in Grave 1 were: Tilda Courts, Homer Courts, Caudine (Claudie) Courts, Estie baby Courts, Carmel Courts, (unknown), Buff Courts, (unknown), James C Sparks Sr, Fred Frugia (unknown), Genevia Frugia), Florence Frugia (unknown), Brad Courts Sr. |
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Other-Begin | 10 Aug 1961 | Beaumont, Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
court case: Smith graves | ||
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McFaddin Cemetery - TF Smith Homestead Forest Lawn Index Card on occupants of graves. |
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Notes |
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Person ID | I511 | Roots |
Last Modified | 5 Apr 2011 |
Father | James* Madison Court, b. 1829, Louisiana ![]() ![]() | |
Mother | Julia* Ann Sparks, b. 13 Oct 1836, Franklin Co, Tennessee ![]() ![]() | |
Marriage | 15 Oct 1850 | Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
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James Madison Court and Julia Sparks Marriage Certificate 15 Oct 1850 Beaumont, Texas |
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Documents | ![]() | Courts, James and Julia Ann Sparks Marriage certificate license 12 Dec 1850 recorded by I.K. Robertson, county clerk of Jefferson County, Texas marriage performed by Wm Chisholm, Justice of the Peace, Jefferson Co, Texas Precinct 5 provided to me by Jaye Hendon on 10/13/2015 |
Family ID | F203 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
Family 1 | Elisha O. Brewer, b. 02 Feb 1852, Port Neches, Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() ![]() | |||||||||
Marriage | 2 Aug 1871 | Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
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Children |
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Family ID | F242 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||||||
Last Modified | 22 Apr 2011 |
Family 2 | Thomas F Smith, b. 11 Apr 1859, Texas ![]() ![]() | |||||
Marriage | 14 Dec 1886 | Beaumont, Jefferson Co, Texas ![]() |
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Children |
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Family ID | F243 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||
Last Modified | 10 Feb 2011 |
Event Map |
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Documents | ![]() | Brewer, Elisha - Lone Grave There's a story on lone grave near Texas 347 By W.T. Block First published in Beaumont Enterprise on Saturday November 13, 1999. (d) |
![]() | Sparks and Aurora Originally published in about 1940, and published on the Internet by "Old and Sold, Turn-of-the-Century wisdom for today." Tells of life among the Sparks and families who lived in the Sparks Settlement in the mid to late 1800s. (d) http://www.oldandsold.com/articles11/port-arthur-4.shtml |
Sources |
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