Grace Curns

Grace Curns, 1877-1894
Beloved by All
 
Buried in Porter Cemetery, east half of Block 18

(Generic image created using Bing AI)

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Grace was born in 1877 in Winfield, Cowley County, Kansas. She was the second child of John Wesley Curns and his wife, Frances Virginia Hulse. In 1880, John Wesley was a real estate agent.
 
Grace’s older brother, John Frank, had been born in 1871, and a younger brother, Edison Speed Curns, was born in 1879. Edison died at the age of seven and was buried in Winfield, Kansas. 
 
The Curns family moved to Phoenix sometime between 1887 and April 1893. Though newcomers, they evidently moved in the best circles and were considered relatively cultured. The Curnses were members of the Presbyterian Church whose pastor, Rev. Preston McKinney, they had previously known in Kansas. 
 
As a member of the Phoenix High School class of 1895, Grace belonged to the Ionian Literary Society and Philomathean (musical) Society. Both societies often performed at community events. In August 1894, she joined several others in a trip to the Mogollons to escape the summer heat.
 
Grace fell ill early in November and died on November 21, 1894, of cerebritis or a swelling of the brain resulting in severe headaches and seizures. It is often found in persons with lupus, although it may also have been caused by a bacterial infection. 
 
Her obituary describes her as a dutiful daughter, kind sister, affectionate friend and a young lady of high intellect and industry. Schoolmates draped her desk in black and covered it with flowers. At the Presbyterian church, a thirty-six string harp with one broken string symbolized the loss of a favorite Sunday School student. Rev. Preston McKinney conducted the funeral service, after which the remains were borne to Porter Cemetery. Grace’s coffin was deposited upon a carpet of flowers that lined the grave in the east half of Block 18.
 
A few years after Grace’s death, Mr. and Mrs. Curns moved to Willow Creek in Yavapai County. The federal census of 1900 records Mr. Curns as a farmer. Grace’s surviving brother was a bookkeeper.
 
© 2022 by Donna L. Carr. Last revised 23 December 2022.

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