GEORGE E COON MYERS 1862-1898

The handsome George E “Coon” Myers was born 1862 in Iowa. He was the youngest son of George and Sarah and carries the same name as his father, George.  The first official document we find about him on is the 1880 census in Pohocco, Saunders, Nebraska.  At 18, he works on the farm with his parents and his brother, Charles.  Charles soon gets married on December 24, 1880 in the same county.

George marries Dora Belle Garrean on December 4, 1888 in Cass County, Nebraska at the age of 26.  They have the following children:

• Roy Lee Myers, born 16 July 1884
• Charles Oliver Myers, born 27 Jan 1888 in McPaul, Iowa
• George Israel Myers, born 6 March 1889 in McPaul, Iowa
• Sarah Mae Myers, born 10 October 1892 in Dayton, Washington
• Edith Ethel Myers, born 13 May 1893 in Dayton, Washington
• Gertrude Lily Myers, born 13 March 1895 in Dayton, Washington
• Ray Myers, born 13 April 1896 in Dayton, Washington
• Bert Orval Myers, born 1 May 1897 in Dayton, Washington

The great thing about knowing where each child was born is that it narrows down when the family moved from Iowa to Washington.  This family lived in McPaul, Iowa where my great great grandmother, Estella, was born and at the time of her mother’s death.  So that tells me that they lived in Iowa and Idaho at the same time.  Roy and Estella were cousins close in age.

I have very few stories or documents on this man.  He had children who lived full lives and I am very interested in hearing stories about the lives they led.  The one story that has been passed on is from Edith’s grandson.  He shared this with me:

“George Coon  died on July 8, 1898 at the age of 36. No one knew for a long time when he died, so when I notified the Grangeville Library about seeing if they could find this death date in a newspaper. They found it and sent me a short obituary. Then my grandfather remembered a story he had heard as a small boy about George. It seems that George worked for a freight company and on that fateful day of July 8, 1898, he was carrying freight in a wagon to Grangeville. He stopped a couple of minutes, got off the wagon, something spooked the horses and they rolled the wagon over him, killing him instantly. The kids went from several aunts and uncles until they finally got old enough to get on their own. My great grandmother (Edith Ethel Myers), George's daughter married at an incredibly young age of 13, mainly because no one in the family was able to take care of her, so she got married.”

Here is a family photo of Dora Belle and her children later in life.  I don’t have much background on when or where these photos were taken but I am just really happy to have them to look at! 

Dora Belle Garrean Myers Reynolds, the mother of these lovely children is seated second to left on the bottom row.