Jessie May Courtney

Brief Life History of Jessie May

When Jessie May Courtney was born on 14 July 1878, in Polk, Nebraska, United States, her father, Owen Lee Courtney, was 22 and her mother, Elestine Dowers, was 15. She married Argolia Marion Cowger on 29 March 1895, in Fairfield, Jefferson, Iowa, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 2 daughters. She lived in Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, United States in 1930 and Los Angeles Judicial Township, Los Angeles, California, United States in 1940. She died on 20 July 1960, in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, at the age of 82, and was buried in Fairhaven Memorial Park, Santa Ana, Orange, California, United States.

Photos and Memories (1)

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Family Time Line

Argolia Marion Cowger
1875–1938
Jessie May Courtney
1878–1960
Marriage: 29 March 1895
Mabel Fern Cowger
1897–1970
Floyd Everett Cowger
1899–1969
Angie Leona Cowger
1909–1978

Sources (28)

  • Jessie Courtney in household of Owens Courtney, "Nebraska State Census, 1885"
  • Jessie May Cowger, "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994"
  • Jessie M. Courtney, "Iowa Marriages, 1809-1992"

World Events (8)

1881 · The Assassination of James Garfield

Garfield was shot twice by Charles J. Guitea at Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881. After eleven weeks of intensive and other care Garfield died in Elberon, New Jersey, the second of four presidents to be assassinated, following Abraham Lincoln.

1884 · There is now a Capital Building

The capitol building in Des Moines originally had a budget of $1,500,000 but complications arose because of the need of a redesign. The building was dedicated on January 17, 1884, but it wasn’t completed until 1886. On January 4, 1904, a fire started and swept through the areas that housed the Supreme Court and Iowa House of Representatives. A major restoration was performed and documented, with the addition of electrical lighting, elevators, and a telephone system. By the early 1980s, the sandstone exterior of the Capitol had started deteriorating and prompted the installation of canopies to protect pedestrians from falling rubble. The entire reconstruction process took around 18 years to complete.

1900 · Gold for Cash!

This Act set a price at which gold could be traded for paper money.

Name Meaning

English and Irish (of Norman origin): habitational name from Courtenay near Sens in northern France, or some other place similarly named, from the name of a Gallo-Roman landlord, Curtenus (a derivative of Latin curtus ‘short’) + the locative suffix -acum.

Irish: English surname adopted for Ó Curnáin ‘descendant of Curnán’, an Old Irish personal name based on a diminutive of corn ‘horn’.

History: A family of this name (see 1 above) can be traced back to Athon de Courtenay, who lived in Courtenay in Loiret in the early 11th century. Renaud de Courtenay held land in Devon in the 12th century, and the family later held the title of Earls of Devon following the marriage of Hugh de Courtenay to Margaret de Bohun, granddaughter of King Edward I, in 1325.

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

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