Tombstone Tuesday -- Daniel K. Coor

     I don't know much about Daniel K. Coor, and only just learned about him this week.  It all started with a probate record for his father, James Madison Coor[i] [1833-1890] (James M. Coor is the great-grandfather of Mam-ma, my grandmother).  In the probate were guardianship records for "Doll" Coor and "D.K." Coor.  I knew from my grandmother that Martha J. Coor [1873-1942] was called "Doll".  She would have been 17 years old at the time of her father's death and would need guardianship.  However, I didn't know who this "D.K." Coor was.  His age was stated as 15.  The 1880 census showed a younger sister, named Anna, born 1875.[ii] 
      So I transcribed the entire Probate and Guardianship and learned that the estate listed the following as:

“persons entitled to receive said Estate as follows to wit:  D.P. Coor, Sallie G. Sones, Anna B. Durham, J.E. Coor, May Carr, J.R. Coor, Dollie Lancaster, and D.K. Coor.  That all of said persons are adults except D.K. Coor who is a minor and that S.O. Durham is the guardian of said minor.”[iii]  

I still did not learn the meaning of D.K., or who he was, except he seemed to be a child of J.M. Coor.  In 1895, the 1/8th undivided share to the land was sold to D.P. Coor for $325.00.  This became the end of S.O. Durham’s responsibility for the estate & guardianship.[iv]  Doll had already married William Carl “Carry” Lancaster.
      Now I needed to find this D.K. Coor after 1893.  I searched Ancestry.com for census records.  It was difficult when you do not know what D.K. stands for.  So instead I searched for any Coor who was born around 1875.  Bingo!  I found Dan K. Coor in the 1910 Concho Co, Texas census with brother, James R. Coor[v] and Dan K. Coor with wife, Ida, in the 1930 Concho Co, Texas census.[vi]  Now that I had his full name, I also found him in the World War I Draft Index, living in Capitan, Lincoln Co, New Mexico.[vii]
Woodbine Cemetery, Artesia, New Mexico,
submitted to Find-a-Grave by Delma Ingram
      The final pieces of the puzzle I have found so far are the death and burial information.  Daniel died 5 July 1943 in Artesia, Eddy County, New Mexico[viii] and is buried in the Woodbine Cemetery in Artesia.[ix]  The death index listed his parents as James M. Coor and Malissa Welch.
            So who was that Ann Coor in the 1880 census?  My thought is the census taker misheard "Ann" for "Dan" when he recorded the child born in 1875.  I have not found any other record for this Ann.  She was not included in the probate, she was the same age as Dan, and their names rhyme, so it could be easily misinterpreted.


[i] Probate of James M. Coor, S.O. Durham, Administrator.  Erath Co, Texas Probate Records, spanning Bks G, H, & J, microfilm, Family History Library, film 1428413 & 1428414.
[ii] 1880 U.S. census, Copiah, Mississippi, population schedule, Browns Store, ED 27, p. 281d (stamped), family 164, James M. Coor; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Feb 2011); citing NARA microfilm T9, roll 646. 
[iii] Probate of James M. Coor, Annual Account, Erath County, Texas Probate Records, Bk H, p 553-56, Probate 241, microfilm, Family History Library, film 1428414.
[iv] Guardianship of Doll Coor & D.K. Coor minor, Annual Account, Erath County, Texas Probate Records, Bk J, p. 146-47, Probate 242, microfilm, Family History Library, film 1428413 & 1428414. 
[v] 1910 U.S. census, Concho, Texas, population schedule, Prec. 2, ED 27, sheet 6a, p. 23 (stamped), dwelling 87, family 87, James R. Coor; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Mar 2011); citing NARA microfilm T624.
[vi] 1930 U.S. census, Concho, Texas, population schedule, Eden Village, ED 48-3, sheet 10a, p. 244 (stamped), dwelling 231, family 236, Dan K. Coor; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Mar 2011); citing NARA microfilm T626.
[vii] "WW I Draft Registration," database and images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 Mar 2011), Daniel Coor.
[viii]  "New Mexico Deaths 1889-1945," database, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org: accessed 27 Mar 2011); Daniel K. Coor.
[ix]  database, Findagrave (http://www.findagrave.com : accessed 27 Mar 2011), Daniel K. Coor.

Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

Comments

  1. that's really cool Lisa.
    Sandi

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, this article is pleasant, my younger sister is analyzing
    such things, therefore I am going to inform her.

    ReplyDelete

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