Gila Valley History by Edres Barney

The Labbeus Thaddeus Coons Jr. family. Pictured are, back from left, Labbeus Ezra, Francis Ami, Mary Melvina, Adeline Susan and Patience Alvira; center, Labbeus Thaddeus Coons Jr., Delia Elizabeth Curtis Coons and Clarinda Othelia; bottom, Bertha Septema and Masilva May. - Contributed Photo/Eastern Arizona Museum

Labbeus Thaddeus Coons Jr., Delia Elizabeth Curtis Coons — Early pioneers

Labbeus Thaddeus Coons Jr. was born March 13, 1850, at Keg Creek, Iowa. He was the son of Labbeus Thaddeus Coons Sr. and Mary Ann Williamson. His father was a doctor, and the founder and first bishop of Glenwood, Iowa, having joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints soon after its formation.

At a young age, LT moved with his family to Utah, settling in Payson, where he attended the local school during the winter term. While living there, he met and later married Delia Elizabeth Curtis, daughter of Moses and Aurelia Jackman Curtis on July 5, 1870. Delia had been born Oct. 30, 1852, in Provo, Utah; the family later relocating to Salem, Utah. After a few years of helping build up the Salem area, LT and Delia were called to settle on the Little Colorado in Arizona.

They arrived at Brigham City, Ariz., in December 1877, and helped build up that new community with living the United Order and farming the land. When the order was disbanded three years later, the family moved to Savoia, N.M., where LT worked at splitting rails for the railroad. IN October 1882, the family relocated to Curtis, where they joined Delia’s parents.

The Curtis Sotckade was home for a short time before moving about two miles northwest of the present community of Eden, homesteading 160 acres. The community was called Coonsville after the family. The Coons family was joined by other families and, by 1898, the following families were listed as living in the boundary of Coonsville near them: William Ballard, Joseph Ballard, Ezra Coons, Francis Coons, William F. Butler, William Wesley Colvin, Joseph S. Fockrell, Thomas R. Hamblin, Alva S. Poster, Charles Smithson, James Webb, Felix McEuen, Lorenzo Thatcher and a Mr. Winsor.

The people in Coonsville were members of the Curtis Ward and attended school at Curtis (now Eden), first in the old log church, and later in the adobe building. In the fall of 1897, Graham County established the Coonsville School District No. 28, also known as the Coons School District.

The living room of the Coons home was the setting of the first school class of 1897, with Alva S. Porter as teacher. In 1898, Miss Frankie Middleton was the teacher in the same location. In 1899, the school was moved to a small one-room lumber building near the Coons’ home. A wood-burning heater sit in the center of the room in a sand box. Rows of crude wooden seats with small tables were on each side of the room. About 1900, a new school was built north of the Coons’ home. It was made of 1x12s, with a batting ceiling covered with factory material. This was also known as a “rag ceiling.”

After the Gila River floods washed away much of their small farm, Labbeus and Delia relocated to Curtis Flats, near St. David, where their sons’ families were living. After Delia’s passing in November 1907, LT made his home with family members in Pomerene for the next 28 years, leaving this life in October 1935. They both rest in the St. David Cemetery.

This hardy couple became the parents of 11 children, with eight living to maturity:

● Delia Medora, b. Salem April 11, 1872, d. July 5, 1877

● Aurelia Ann, b. Salem Nov. 27, 1873, d. June 5, 1878

● Lebbeus Ezra, b. Salem 1875, married Ellen Plumb

● Francis Ammi, b. Brigham City 1878, married Mary Ann Huff

● Mary Melvina, b. Brigham City 1880, married George Albert Tyler, Thomas Hamblin

● Adeline Susan, b. Savoia 1892, married Chester Rhan Jennings

● Patience Alvira, b. Eden 1884, married William A. Sherman

● Clarinda Othelia, b. Eden 1886, married Edgar Ebenezer Ferrin, Parley L. Lunt

● Bertha Septema, b. Eden 1889, married Walter B. Sherman

● Elsie Ardena, b. Eden Jan. 27, 1891, d. Sept. 9, 1892

● Masilva May, b. Eden 1893, married Louis A. Scott

The posterity of this early family is numerous and many still reside in the Gila Valley, as well as the Pomerene-St. David area.

This and other family histories may be found at the Eastern Arizona Museum in Pima, open Thursdays through Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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