Hello! I want to welcome everyone to a new venture for me and the Countess/Countiss family. The purpose of this newsletter is to inform other branches of family news....past and present... so that means, those little tidbits about your family...births, engagements, marriages, deaths, accomplishments, etc. are needed. The Newsletter will be published on a quarterly basis. The publication will based on research material that I have and your submissions. The first two issues will be complimentary. I will be sending issues to libraries in the areas that COUNTESS/COUNTISS families have lived or currently living. Suggestions, with addresses, are needed.
I would like to give a little background on myself. I started my family research during Christmas of 1989 when my grandmother was visiting. We started talking about her family and she had told me that she never knew her mother. We deducted that her mother died approximately 6 months after she was born and she was from a "West Virginia Co." This information is what me started on my interesting journey into the wonderful world of Genealogy.
As it turns out, my Great-grandmother Ida COUNTISS was born circa 1898 to James W. and Susannah Caroline (nee Huff) COUNTISS. Her family lived on Black Creek in Wise County, Virginia until approximately 1906. Her family then moved to Northeastern Oklahoma. My Great-Grandmother married in 1920 in Sallisaw, Oklahoma to Albert Watie. Her sister Martha Jane Countiss married circa 1910 to John D. Nabors. They lived in Sallisaw for all of their lives. Two other sister's also resided in Oklahoma, one in Bartlesville and one in Locust Grove.
Best Regards! Michelle
Questions, suggestions, and subscription requests may be mailed to Countiss Connections, PO Box 63, Fords, NJ 08863.
Information Wanted!
Updates for Mary B.G. Countess' book "They Passed This Way" are being collected.
Are there family stories out there? Please send them in for future issues. Any information on your family is appreciated.
Note to Researchers: Free Queries are accepted and will be published as space allows.
The following are excerpts from "A Brief History of the Countess Family as it Relates to the Descendants of Ezra Lee Jackson Countess (1846-1927)" by Larry Hicks. My thanks to Dollie Countiss for providing me with a copy and especially to Larry for a well written story.
"Today I am going to share with you some of this information and encourage you to help me put together the needed data to make our family history more up-to-date and complete.
I have some good news and bad news.
The good news is that a book about the Countess family in America has been written. It traces the family back over 300 years in this country. The bad news is that the book is now out of print and hard to find. The book is entitled "They Passed This Way" by Jac E. Countess (Mary B.G. Countess) of Huntsville, Alabama.
Our book, "They Passed This Way", is concerned with James Countiss who died in Queen Anne's County, Maryland in 1732, and his descendants. We venture to say that as many as ninety percent of those who bear the surname, COUNTESS or COUNTISS, in the U.S. are descended from this one man."
Miscellaneous Marriage Records:
ARKANSAS
Independence County
22 March 1822
Sarah A. COUNTES - Giden Tucker
Phillips County
22 May 1889
Eveline COUNTIS - Henry Franklin
MICHIGAN
Bay County
24 December 1868
Hattie COUNTESS - Charles Ard Millard
Genesee County
4 July 1858
Sarah COUNTISS - Isiah Windoon
St. Clair County
28 December 1863
Elizabeth COUNTES - William Ricard/Ricor
TENNESSEE
Hamilton County
22 February 1866 - Vol 5 Pg 136
Frank COUNTESS - Nina Curtis
10 August 1880 - Vol 3½ Pg 17
Frank COUNTESS - Josie Manning
22 July 1885
Ollie COUNTIS - Jacob Roose
Guardian Bonds from Washington County, Virginia
Abstracted by Gerald H. Clark
Published by the Historical Society of Washington County, Virginia
Series II, No. 21
May 1984
June 19, 1821 - William COUNTESS named guardian of Ezra COUNTESS, orphan of Peter G. COUNTESS. Bond: $200. Sureties: Abraham Nordyke and Henry Countess.
The Countess/Countiss Connection Queries:
Edna COUNTISS married in 1916 in Bartlesville, OK to Fred BROOKS. Emma COUNTISS married a Mr. GOFFARD and lived near or in Tulsa, OK Need information on descendants. Contact: Michelle Tucker, PO Box 63, Fords, NJ 08863.
We've come to the end and hope that this Newsletter will be beneficial and informative to those who receive it. Remember, submissions are needed.