Zany Downey

To understand Zany Corbitt was, we must study her death, and the 7th census of the United States, recorded Nov. 28th, 1850, in Shelby County, Tennessee. The county was booming with plantations and industry, although Memphis, home to over 600,000 people in 2022, had a mere 8,000. Zany and her husband John G Downey farmed a modest patch of land, along with their six children and John’s unmarried sister, Mary. Within five years, the tranquility would be destroyed.

The bitter end of John and Zany Downey

The probate paperwork from the death of Zany's husband, John G Downey, includes a plea from Zany to the court: Don't appoint my brother to administer my husband's estate. "The said Daniel Corbitt, my brother, has never counciled with me and I have good reasons to believe that it is not for my good or the good of the little estate but for his own benefit," Zany wrote.

A Daniel Corbitt lived in Shelby County and was in and out of court handling a half dozen cases at the time -- he is the man Zany referred to, due both to proximity and his familiarity with court proceedings. Another note in the estate paperwork, also signed by Zany, mentions a lawsuit pending against the estate of Ruthy Corbitt, which determines whether a deed to 40 acres of land and a negro girl are part of the estate. Ruthy must have been their sibling; her estate is among those Daniel administers, and the paperwork in that case also describes the land and enslaved girl.

Despite the abundance of Corbitts in Shelby -- all the progeny of Edward Corbitt, who passed away in 1844 -- not a single one steps up following the death of Zany Corbitt. Instead, someone named AH Montgomery is appointed guardian of her five orphaned children: Elizabeth Ann (1838), Louisa "Eliza" (1840), Maranda C (1842), Lewis J (1844), and Mariam "Mary" A S Downey (1847). Her two eldest daughters -- Amanda (1834) and Rebecca (1838) -- likely married in Shelby between 1850 and 1854.

The Downey children ... and the other Corbitts

Shortly after Zany's death, Elizabeth Ann is married to William Sowell (in 1854 at age 15, per the 1900 Census). They can be found soon in Lonoke, Arkansas. Lewis and Mariam, the youngest children, were sent to Lonoke as well, to live with Isaiah Y. Corbitt -- their nephew. Mariam was clothed, schooled, and married to Henderson Sowell as soon as she turns 18. Lewis likely fought and died in the Civil War.

Meanwhile, Louisa and Maranda were sent to Henderson County to live with Isaiah's father, Rev. William K Corbitt -- Zany's brother. The children both married in 1858; Maranda died in 1864, while Louisa lived in Henderson until her death in 1877.

NOTES

https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-40001-450184100/zany-dow...

• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Aug 23 2023, 22:00:09 UTC