We did already ask at the Warsaw parish by mail - told no Courtney records there. I am thinking of the possibility one of the priests who rode around the area when churches were sparse, may have put sacramental records elsewhere than in the vicinity. Such a variety of possibilities - Chicago diocese? Rock Island? I think one of the priests in the area was Dominican. Maybe someone with some familiarity with 1850s and 1860s Catholic records will have an idea.

Your info on Michael Courtney all true - that was my great grandpa. He was just a little boy when his parents died and was adopted by the Webers (thankfully because at first, no one wanted him because he was "too small to work." The other older children basically went as house or farm workers to others not adopted. Michael was very interested in his family history and tried while still alive writing to Nauvoo to ask if anyone could tell him of his family.

Are you one of those Webers?

We were told at one time there was a photo of Ella Courtney (sister of Michael) with Anna Weber. Never have seen this picture - would like to. We do have one that someone very kindly took, of the orphans all together, before they went their separate ways. Do not have a photo of John Courtney or Ellen O'Hea Courtney. Have the family bible, in which John Courtney recorded when his wife died that she was born Lislevane parish, Cork.