MARION COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES
"O"
ORMES, Mary Elizabeth (Bettie)
Bettie Ormes family left Alabama in 1854 on a wagon train. She was
the oldest child, and only daughter. Her dad, Jeremiah Brisco ORME didn't live to complete
the journey west. Widow Naoma ORMES and her children spent a couple of years in
Mississippi, before continuing on to Texas c.1856. They settled in Marion
county at first. Tragedy struck again, and Bettie's step-father died. The family was
probably still in mouring when Eli McCoy, a young man from Virginia, arrived in Texas.
Noama and the children were in Harrison County by the time Eli and Mary
Elizabeth (Bettie) married. Eli had a homestead, was a skilled blacksmith and
horsetrainer, and was marrying the lady he loved. In normal times, they could have looked
forward to seasons together planting and harvesting, and raising children.But 1862 was not
normal times. Men were already marching off to war when they married. They had three short
months together before he enlisted in the Confederate Army. She was pregnant
with Eli Jr. when he left. It is doubtful that Eli ever saw the baby. He died in the
Confederate Hospital in Little Rock a few days after their first anniversary.
(Taken from Texas Legacy, courtesy of Jimmie F Chatham).
This page is a part of the Marion County, TXGenWeb project and all of the information here is FREE for you to use:
The Marion County, TXGenWeb site
http://www.txgenweb4.org/txmarion/