Kites Tor woman mining noneer
l 7^6
Funeral services were to be held
today for a keen old lady who pioneered in three mining towns and
lived through the lusty history of
the West and who, 30 years ago,
settled in Oakland to enjoy the
sons, grandchildren and greatgrandchildren marking hex span of
life.
In latter years, Mrs. Annie Gribr
ble Courtright, 86, has lived "quietly
at "3o2 49th* Street, tending a small
garden, and busy with "fancy
work."
As the daughter of a Welsh miner,
she was one of the first children in
Virginia City, Nev. As a young girl
she lived in Somersville, now a
Contra Costa County ghost town.
She eloped from there with a handsome miner when she was 18 and
with him lived in Modesto and
Helena, Mont, when they were little
more than names on a map.
Born ih Cornwall, Eng., Mrs.
Courtright was 4 when her family
arrived in Johnstown, Pa., just before the flood. WOrd of the silver
strike took her parents to Nevada
when she was 8 or 9 and under her
young eyes, Virginia City became a
rich, booming, wild community.
When she was 12 or 13, her father
went to work in the coal mines of
Somersville, in the hot, dry hills
belUTWn1 ""Clayton and Pittsburg,
Calif. Mrs. Courtright left there
with her miner, was married in
Clayton and with him, drove over
the old "Snake Road" into Oakland
for a honeymoon.
Modesto was a small town of several hundred population when she
lived there and Helena was a stage
coach stop in Montana. She made
the trip to the "stop" that became
the capital of Montaaa by stage
coach with two small children.
Mrs. Courtright, who died Monday after a sudden illness, had lived
in Oakland the past 36 years. Her
husband died in 1923.
Survivors include four sor
Charles M., Thomas D., L. Cly<
and Ngrfflan^ p - n grandchildri
and. 23 great-grandchildren. ~v- -
Services, under direction of t!
Truman Company, were schedui
for 10:30 ajn. at the Chapel of t
Chimes. - ,s
