Family:William Curry and Sarah Young (1)

Watchers
Facts and Events
Marriage? Bef 1717 Prob. Londonderry, Ulster County, Ireland
Children
BirthDeath
1.
2.
Bef 28 Mar 1808 Augusta County, Virginia
3.
Bet 1806 and 1807 Augusta County, Virginia
4.
Est 1726
 
5.
6.
Abt 1730 Ireland
7.
Abt 1732
 
8.
Abt 1734
 
9.
Abt 1736
 
10.
Abt 1740
 
11.
Abt 1748
 

William Curry and his family were Early Settlers of Augusta County, Virginia [[1]]


Genealogy Report for William Curry and Sarah Young:


Descendants of William Curry


Generation No. 1

1. WILLIAM1 CURRY was born 1690 in County Antrim, Ireland, and died Aft. 1748. He married SARAH YOUNG Bef. 1717 in prob. Londonderry, Ulster County, Ireland, daughter of JOHN YOUNG and ANNIE HOUSTON. She was born 1695 in County Antrim, Ireland.

Notes for SARAH YOUNG: http://ancestrees.com/pedigree/3076.htm

Sarah YOUNG 1 2 3 Born: 1695, , co. Antrim, IRE Marriage: William CURRY Bef 1717 Died: After 1748

Spouses/Children: William CURRY


Dr. Robert A. CURRY+ William CURRY+ James CURRY Sr.+ John CURRY Nathan CURRY Reverend David CURRY Isaiah CURRY Sarah CURRY Jane (Jenny) CURRY Joseph CURRY


Children of WILLIAM CURRY and SARAH YOUNG are: i. ROBERT2 CURRY, SR., DR., b. 10 Nov 1717, Londonderry, Ulster County, Ireland; d. 05 Jun 1804, Augusta County, Virginia; m. (1) ELIZABETH MCCOMB, Abt. 1737; b. Abt. 1720; d. Bef. 1745; m. (2) ANN CURRY, Abt. 1745, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; b. 25 Sep 1727, Londonderry, Ulster County, Ireland; d. 15 May 1819, Augusta County, Virginia.

Notes for ROBERT CURRY, SR., DR.: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/IRISH-NICHOLL/2001-06/0992432310

29 Dec 1803 - Augusta Co. Court Will Book, Vol. VIII, pg. 417: "In the name of God amen I Robert Curry of the State of Virginia and County of Agusta being of advanced years but of perfect mind and memory Thanks to God for it and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die and after death the judgment I do hereby make this my last Will and testiment in names and form following and first I recommend my Soul to go to Who gave it and my body to the earth from where it was taken to be buried in a Cristian and decent like maner at the discresion of my Executors here named and as for what worldly goods it hath pleased God to bestow on me in this life it is my will and desire they be disposed of as followeth and first I leave and bequeath unto my beloved wife Ann my dwelling house with all the furniture belonging to it and likewise my Negro wench China to be for her own use during her natural life and to be disposed of her at her decease as she sees proper her and her issue together with two cows & two sheep all to disposed of by her as she sees proper at her decease and as for my real Estate to with my lands I alow my son Samuel the benefit of my lands during my wife Ann life time and at her decease I alow him to keep the land or sell it at the rate of eight dollars an acre if sold to be divided as follows to wit 35 to be divided among them my Daughter Margaret Nickel 5A and my Daughter Mary Erwin 25A and my Daughter Ann Glen the sum of 5A to be taken out of the whole price of the the land I alow my son Samuel to Keep if he sees proper providing he pay to his five brothers William Curry James Curry Robert Curry Alexander and Isah at the rate of eight dollars an acre and provided my son Samuel Should see cause to keep the land he is to pay each of the Legatees in Six years after my wifes decease and I do constitute and appoint my two beloved sons Robert & William (crossed out) Samuel Curry Executors of this my last Will and testament and I do hereby revoke and ___ al former Wills either by word or wrighting ratifying this to be my last Will and testament in ___ I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 29th Day of December the year one thousand eitht hundred 3 --




http://www.ancestrees.com/pedigree/1424.htm

Dr. Robert A. CURRY 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Born: 11/10/1717, , Antrim, IRE Marriage (1): Elizabeth McCOMBE after 1737 Marriage (2): Ann CURRIE 1 Died: 1/5/1804, , Augusta, VA at age 86 Buried: Abt 1/8/1804, Ft. Defiance, , VA, USA 9

 General Notes: 

Robert Curry is listed as part of the Civil Service in the Revolutionary War from Augusta Co., Virginia in the DAR PATRIOT INDEX, VOL I., p.170. (CL-171,175) He was a Captain in the Army in the French and Indian Wars, Captain of the Home Guards in the American Revolution and Elder of the Augusta Church. (CL-270)

Birth Order of Robert's children is not in any way in order on my family group sheet. The order has been conjectured as similar to how Robert lists his children in his will. Ann and Samuel's birth dates are the only ones known with some certainty. His will lists them in this order: Samuel, Margaret, Mary, Ann, William, James, Robert, Alexander and Isaiah. I personally suspect that the daughters birth order should be intermixed throughout the order of the sons because of some calculations I did from war records. Sons James and Robert were enlisted with their Father Robert in 1783. That makes their likely birth order before their sister Ann's of 1768, not after. Doris Rawlings received a letter second hand that stated Dr. Robert Curry was from Antrim, Ireland. Dr. Frey, a competent researcher in this family, states that he was born in Londonderry, Ulster Co., Ireland instead. This fits with the fact that he was of Scotch/Irish descent. The Scotch Irish were mostly from Ulster, Northern Ireland, across from Scotland who traveled to America, staying a brief time in Pennsylvania before settling in Augusta Co., Virginia. They were usually Presbyterians. They were participants in many wars of the area, first the French, the Indians, then finally the British. The Indian Wars were from 1753-1764 and the Revolution was from 1775-1781 with peace not formally concluded until 1783. (CL-188)

He immigrated from Londonderry, Ireland to Pennsylvania late in the year of 1736 arriving in the Port of Philadelphia. He traveled with possibly 3 brothers. He and his brother, William purchased 200 acres in Lancaster Co., PA on Jan 16, 1737. Both of them removed to Augusta Co., VA in late 1747 or early 1748 though the Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy by Virkus, c. 1928 stated that he arrived in Augusta Co., VA in 1753. He married first in Pennsylvania and possibly twice from some second hand sources like "My Augusta.". The only wife that has been verified is Ann Currie. He and his wife, Ann, are listed as cousins in a letter from Donna Lewis dated 1993. This is supported by research from Dr. Frey.

Dr. Robert Curry purchased 200 acres on Naked Creek near John Young's and friend, George Glenn's land in Augusta Co., VA on Mar 10, 1748/49. He was the progenitor of the Currys living on Naked Creek. In 1750, Robert and William were joined by their brothers, Nathan, David and Isaiah. (CL-468) Robert Curry farmed his land, but he had also studied medicine and taught fencing for several years. (CL-568)

In 1753, he had 135 of these acres on Naked Creek surveyed by Tomas Lewis. In 1780 he surveyed an adjoining 50 acres also on Naked Creek. His possible father-in-law, Andrew McCombe, seems to have helped him purchase 130 of these acres.

Robert Curry is listed in the military service throughout this extensive amount of time. Robert Curry qualified as Ensign of Militia on Sept. 21 1763, Captain of Militia on August 16, 1774 and Major of Militia by 1776. He was listed as Capt. in the French and Indian Wars and as Capt. of the Home Guard in the Revolutionary War. For his service in the French and Indian Wars, he was granted a tract of land in Highland Co., Ohio named "Crab Bottom". This is possibly the land that later Curry and Glenn descendants moved to. (CL-568) He was appointed road overseer from Skidmore's Camp up the North River to the first main Fork above the Great Lick on Mar. 18, 1783. He is also listed with sons James and Robert in Capt. Given's and Campbell's Companies in 1783. (CL-194b,c) He was living in Greenbrier Co., VA from 1783-1786. That is now in West Virginia, slightly S.E. of Augusta Co., VA. (CL-172)

In record after record for Augusta Co., Virginia he is listed as the "Teste" or Witness for many legal proceedings. In Deed Book 26, pg. 344 he was issued a Patent, 1st Sept., 1780. (The item in patent was not mentioned.) It can easily be suspected that he was a well respected citizen from these court records. (CL-194d).

This Robert Curry has been confused with Robert (b. 1730) who was the son of Robert and Jane Seawright Curry from Pennsylvania. It is said that he married an Ann also (though this simply could be a mix-up with our Dr. Robert who was born in 1717). (CL-305,306, 391)

Proof that our Dr. Robert, father of our Ann Glenn, was born in 1717 first comes from a Vol. I, D.A.R. record. The D.A.R. information is supported in Dr. Robert Curry's Tombstone Inscription taken by an unknown reader from Old Fort Defiance, August Co., VA. On that he was born Nov. 10, 1717 and died Jan. 5, 1800 and was buried with wife Ann Curry of Ulster Co., Ireland. (CL-270) The death date does not match when he wrote his will in 1803. The tombstone was erected by his descendent, Charles Curry around 1898. The unknown reader described it as a large new stone erected by children of Robert Addison and Hanna Anderson Curry. According to researcher, Linda Baker, the person simply transcribed the tombstone incorrectly. It clearly states that he died Jan. 5, 1804. After the Charles who had erected the tombstone, died in 1941, the Curry family home that had been lived in by six generations of Currys was finally sold in 1946.

In the book, "From Corner to Corner with John Curry Sr.," it states, the first Currys in the Shenandoah Valley are reported to have been Dr. Robert Curry and his brothers, Nathaniel, David and Isaiah who reached Augustus Co. in 1747-48. (CL-207). These brothers names fit with the children of William Curry and Sally Young from Antrim, IRE. (CL-275) Following is Robert Curry's Will, transcribed as written 29 Dec 1803 - Augusta Co. Court Will Book, Vol. VIII, pg. 417: "In the name of God amen I Robert Curry of the State of Virginia and County of Agusta being of advanced years but of perfect mind and memory Thanks to God for it and knowing that it is appointed for all men once to die and after death the judgment I do hereby make this my last Will and testiment in names and form following and first I recommend my Soul to go to Who gave it and my body to the earth from where it was taken to be buried in a Cristian and decent like maner at the discresion of my Executors here named and as for what worldly goods it hath pleased God to bestow on me in this life it is my will and desire they be disposed of as followeth and first I leave and bequeath unto my beloved wife Ann my dwelling house with all the furniture belonging to it and likewise my Negro wench China to be for her own use during her natural life and to be disposed of her at her decease as she sees proper her and her issue together with two cows & two sheep all to disposed of by her as she sees proper at her decease and as for my real Estate to with my lands I alow my son Samuel the benefit of my lands during my wife Ann life time and at her decease I alow him to keep the land or sell it at the rate of eight dollars an acre if sold to be divided as follows to wit 35 to be divided among them my Daughter Margaret Nickel 5A and my Daughter Mary Erwin 25A and my Daughter Ann Glen the sum of 5A to be taken out of the whole price of the the land I alow my son Samuel to Keep if he sees proper providing he pay to his five brothers William Curry James Curry Robert Curry Alexander and Isah at the rate of eight dollars an acre and provided my son Samuel Should see cause to keep the land he is to pay each of the Legatees in Six years after my wifes decease and I do constitute and appoint my two beloved sons Robert & William (crossed out) Samuel Curry Executors of this my last Will and testament and I do hereby revoke and ___ al former Wills either by word or wrighting ratifying this to be my last Will and testament in ___ I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 29th Day of December the year one thousand eight hundred 3 -- Witnesses present James Young Sen. (his Uncle???) Hugh Brown - Andrew Young. Proved 24th December, 1804. Samuel qualifies." (CL-185, 468) He died near Staunton in Augusta Co., VA after this writing in 1804. The family home that his son Samuel was bequeathed is located "six miles norhtwest of Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church and five miles west of Mt. Sidney in the "hills of Judea" on the waters of Naked Creek." (CL-391d)

As for his sons, there are two Samuel Curry's living in Augusta Co, Virginia from at least 1800-1811 who married at similar times. Samuel Curry is listed as marrying Mary Glenn, d. of George Glenn, on Mar. 25 1800. (This disagrees with info. on Mary Glenn Curry's tombstone that says she was the daughter of James Glenn). There is also a Samuel Curry listed with wife Polly in the 1811 settlement of the Seawright estate who lived outside Augusta Co., VA. It does mention three Curry's in this will. Robert Curry and Jane (possible son of Dr. Robert, William or John Curry Sr.), Samuel Curry and Polly (possible son of Dr. Robert Curry) and Nicolas Curry and Sarah, (possible son of John Curry, Sr.) and Samuel Curry and Polly. It does state that all of the listed Curry's no longer live in Virginia (CL-194c)

The 1810 Federal Census Records for Augusta Co., VA list the following Curry's as living in Augusta Co., VA. Five of these are possible sons of Robert Curry. There is also a Benjamin Curry, probably the son of William who was a likely cousin of our Dr. Robert Curry in the same area. (I deduce that William and Robert were cousins instead of brothers because of a possible marriage between their children: Elizabeth Curry and Alexander Curry on Oct. 6, 1795. Elizabeth was of age, the d. of William Curry. I presume that Alexander Curry, son of Robert was the spouse, as he is the right age and the only other known Alexander Curry in Augusta County besides Elizabeth's brother also named Alexander.)

These are the only Curry's listed as living in Augusta Co., VA in 1810 and they all live in close proximity. The categories are: Males, age 0-10, 10-16, 16-26, 26-45, 45 & up. Females, ages 0-10, 10-16, 16-26, 26-45, 45 & up. (CL-181) Alexander, pg 325; 20001-10010-00 Benjamin, pg.325; 00010-00011-00 Isaiah, pg 325; 20010-20010-00 * James, pg 325; 40201-22010-00 * Robert, Curry: pg. 326: 00001-42201-00 * Samuel, pg 325; 20110-30010-00 * Samuel, pg 325; 21010-20011-10 William, pg 325; 12301-00001-00 * Of these: Isaiah, James, Robert, Samuel and William are possibly Dr. Robert Curry's sons or even grandsons. 8 10 11





http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/WVMONROE/2001-06/0992352748

2. ROBERT A.3 CURRY, SR. (WILLIAM2, UNKNOWN1) was born November 10, 1717 in Londonderry, Ulster County, Ireland, and died June 05, 1804 in Augusta County, Virginia. He married (1) ELIZABETH MCCOMB Abt. 1737, daughter of ANDREW MCCOMB and JANE RAEBURN

(NOTE: Since Andrew McComb and Jane Raeburn were not married until 1737, it is highly doubtful that this Elizabeth McComb could have been a daughter of Andrew and Jane (Raeburn) McComb. More research is necessary.

She was born Abt. 1720, and died Bef. March 15, 1788. He married (2) ANN CURRY Abt. 1745 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, daughter of JAMES CURRY. She was born September 25, 1727 in Londonderry, Ulster County, Ireland, and died May 15, 1819 in Augusta County, Virginia.

Children of ROBERT CURRY and ELIZABETH MCCOMB are:

   i.  MARY "POLLY"4 CURRY, m. SAMUEL ERWIN.
   ii. WILLIAM CURRY.
   iii.    ROBERT CURRY, JR., b. Abt. 1760, Augusta County, Virginia; d. 

Abt. 1820; m. SARAH JANE "SCOTTIE" YOUNG, April 22, 1791, Augusta County, Virginia; b. Abt. 1765, Augusta County, Virginia; d. Abt. 1820, Mt. Solon, Virginai.

   iv. ANDREW CURRY.
   v.  AGNES CURRY.
   vi. JEAN CURRY.
   vii.    ELIZABETH CURRY.
   viii.   MARGARET CURRY, b. 1751, Augusta County, Virginia; d. Abt. 1825, 

Monroe County, Virginia; m. ISAAC NICKELL, 1775, Augusta County, Virginia; b. March 31, 1752, Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia; d. October 02, 1839, Monroe County, Virginia.


Children of ROBERT CURRY and ANN CURRY are:

   ix. ALEXANDER4 CURRY, b. Bef. 1765.
   x.  JAMES CURRY, b. Abt. 1765; d. Aft. 1804; m. JANE ERWIN, February 05, 

1801, Augusta County, Virginia.

   xi. ISAIAH CURRY, b. Aft. 1765; d. Aft. December 29, 1803; m. CATHERINE 

TRUMP, January 24, 1803, Augusta County, Virginia.

   xii.    ANN CURRY, b. 1768, Augusta County, Virginia; d. May 13, 1850, 

Gallia County, Ohio; m. WILLIAM GLENN, June 15, 1791, Augusta County, Virginia; b. June 22, 1767, Augusta County, Virginia; d. May 31, 1832, Gallia County, Ohio.

   xiii.   SAMUEL CURRY, b. April 17, 1770, Augusta County, Virginia; d. 

April 15, 1845, Augusta County, Virginia; m. MARY GLENN, April 03, 1800, Augusta County, Virginia; b. June 09, 1778, Augusta County, Virginia; d. April 23, 1863, Augusta County, Virginia.


Notes for ELIZABETH MCCOMB: Elizabeth McComb is said to have been a daughter of Andrew McComb and Jane Raeburn, but since Andrew and Jane were not married until 1737, and this Elizabeth McComb was born about 1720, this researcher does not see this as a possibility. More research is necessary to determine who the parents of this Elizabeth McComb really is.

ii. WILLIAM CURRY, b. 1719, prob. Londonderry, Ulster County, Ireland. iii. JANE "JENNIE" CURRY, b. Abt. 1724, prob. Londonderry, Ulster County, Ireland; d. Bet. 1806 - 1807, Augusta County, Virginia; m. FRANCIS ERWIN; b. Abt. 1729, Ulster, Ireland; d. Abt. 1791, Augusta County, Virginia.

Notes for JANE "JENNIE" CURRY: http://www.ancestrees.com/pedigree/3085.htm

Jane (Jenny) CURRY 1 2 Born: Abt 1742 Marriage: Francis ERWIN

 General Notes: 

This is conjecture on the part of Judy Moch and myself, that the Jane Curry who married Francis Erwin according to "The History of Rockbridge County", is this Jane Curry, sister to Dr. Robert Curry. We highly suspect this because "The History of Pocahantas, West Virginia" states that Edward Erwin's grandmother was a sister to Dr. Robert Curry. Other sources have stated that the Erwin who married Mary Curry, Dr. Robert Curry's daughter, was the son of Francis Curry. It's enough fingers pointing in the same direction to theorize that this is the Jane Curry and Francis Erwin who married in that region at that time.


Jane married Francis ERWIN.


iv. MARY CURRY, b. WFT Est. 1725-1735; m. EDWARD ERWIN; b. 1728, Augusta County, Virginia; d. 1798, Hawkins County, Tennessee.

Notes for EDWARD ERWIN:


http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaaugust/erwin.htm

“CORRECTING” the family of Edward Erwin, Jr.

- born ca 1728 in Augusta County, VA - died in Hawkins Co, TN ca 1798 -

In 1915 one Margaret Logan Morris published a book entitled “The Irvins, Doaks, Logans and McCampbells of Kentucky & Virginia”. In the almost ninety year since it’s publication that book has been widely borrowed from by countless Erwin researchers, and incorporated into their family histories, often without further research.

Margaret Morris descends from one Samuel Irvin (1769-1837) and Jane/Jennet Brewster (1798-1843), through their son Samuel W. Irvin (1798-1843) and Jane Doak,whose daughter Elizabeth Elinor Irvin (1829-1895) married Robert Reynolds Logan. Margaret was the second child of this marriage, born 21 January 1849.

Margaret was sixty-six years old when the book was published in 1915. It’s a treasure chest of information, which must have taken years to compile. Imagine the countless people she talked with in the process of tracing the family down through many generations. She must have written hundreds of letters, and visited with as many different people.

She begins her narrative by recapping an Erinvines (Erwin-Irvin) lineage that even today cannot be said to be true, or false, and then begins the Augusta County saga with one Edward Erwin and his wife Frances, and their large family, who settled on the “ Long Glade” in the 1740s.

This is confirmed by their presence in VA records as early as 1742, when Andrew, Benjamine, John and Edward Erwin were all members of Captain John Smith’s militia company in the parent county of Orange, from which Augusta County was formed.

Margaret’s book includes land grants to the various Erwin men, father and sons, all of which have been verified, and expanded to the extent that the actual tracts of land have been “placed” along the Long Glade run on today’s map.

Digressing for a moment, on page 16 of her book Logan writes, “I have been unable to learn where Edward Erwin, Jr. died. He undoubtedly owned land on the south side of the Shenandoah in Rockingham County, and possibly died there, where all the Court records were destroyed by fire during the late Civil war. Yet he may have moved to Kentucky, where many of his children located”.

Morris could not have known that Edward and his second wife, Mary Fowler Erwin, removed to Tennessee, along with several other families, as will be shown following.

On 15 Dec 1777 Edward Erwin and his wife Mary sold 135 acres of land, situated on the Mossy Creek, to Henry Miller and Mark Bird, being the same land patented to Edward Erwin, Jr. on 12 May 1770. That land is situated at

the intersections of the Scenic Highway and Mt. Solon Road. Two nearby stone houses may have been built by Edward Erwin, who sold the land to Miller with all “appurtenances”. In 1783 Edward and Mary sold his remaining land, consisting of 206 acres, again to Henry Miller. This land came from of two tracts of land originally granted to Edward Erwin, Sr. 86 acres were from tract of 350 acres, the remaining 110 from a 220 acre tract of land. That second tract of land lies on Fadley Road, about halfway between Centerville and the Scenic Highway.

At this time Edward was about 56 years of age, and was apparently selling his land prior to removing to “the territory south of the Ohio”, now Hawkins Co., TN. Shortly after their arrival Edward and Mary affiliated with the New Providence Presbyterian Church, then located in Carter’s Valley, by virtue of a “letter” from the Mossy Creek Presbyterian Church in Augusta Co. Others from Mossy Creek were Samuel McPheeters and his wife, Margaret Searight and Samuel Curry and his wife Mary Searight, a sister to the wife of McPheeters.

On 24 March 1788 Edward and Mary Erwin wrote a letter from “Holstein River Hawken County” to “cousin” William Fowler, who then resided in either Augusta or Rockingham Co., regarding money owed by Fowler to one Gentry. In that letter Edward asked to be remembered to Captain James McGill.

Under date of 1 Jun 1790 an indenture was made by Thomas Amis to Edward Erwin, setting over a tract of 600 acres of land situated in the county of Hawkins on the north side of the Holston River, for the consideration of three hundred pounds of Virginia currency. This land was granted by the state of North Carolina to one William Colvert on the 23rd day of October 1782.

At least four children, Francis and Benjamin, believed to be of Edward’s first marriage to Mary Curry, and two daughters, Sarah and Margaret born of the second marriage, traveled south with Edward and Mary, and in the 1790’s resided on the above mentioned land, now known as Phipps Bend. One daughter, Sarah, married William Phipps, while Margaret married James Surguine.

In 1791 Edward’s youngest son, Benjamin, filed suit against his father Edward in the Superior Court of Washington Co., TN. This was a dispute over land promised to his deceased older brother Francis. A transcript of that litigation is on file in the Tennessee State Library in Nashville, and was finally culminated in March of 1800, at which time Edward Erwin, Jr. was deceased. Some random “receipts” suggest that Mary Fowler Erwin might have survived her husband, at least for a short time.

Morris was also unaware of the WILL of Edward Erwin, which names his children. While the original document has been “lost to time” a copy exists in Hawkins Co., TN, and is shown following:


Will of Edward Erwin Dated January 6, 1794

In the name of God, Amen,

             I, Edward Erwin, of the County of Hawkins in the Territory South of the River Ohio, being of perfect mind and memory do make, ordain, publish and declare my last will and Testament, in manner and form following; viz;
             I allow my body to be buried in a decent manner also my worldly goods that divine providence has in the life blessed me with I dispose of in the manner following:
             I allow all my just debts to be paid.
             I give and bequeath to my beloved wife after my decease all right and title to the plantation I now live on during her natural life. Also one negro woman named Mariah, one negro boy named Dan, Also all the stock of horses, cows and together with all the implements belonging to the farming business.
             I give and bequeath to my daughter Francis Erwin, one dollar.
             I give and bequeath to my son John Erwin one dollar.
             I give and bequeath to my son William Erwin one dollar.
             I give and bequeath to my son Edward Erwin one dollar.
             I give and bequeath to my son Andrew Erwin one dollar.
             I give and bequeath to my daughter Elizabeth Erwin one dollar.
             I give and bequeath to my son Robert Erwin one dollar. 
             I give and bequeath to my son Samuel Erwin one dollar.
             I give and bequeath to my daughter Mary Erwin one dollar.
             I give and bequeath to my son Benjamin Erwin one dollar.
             I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah Erwin, after the death of myself and my wife, one half of all my moveable estate except such parts as shall hereafter be specified.
             I give, devise and bequeath unto my daughter Margaret my plantation on which I now live, containing two hundred acres or more, to her and her Heirs forever, subject however to the reservation aforesaid in favor of my wife.

Also one negro girl named Sarah and all her issue at my decease. Also one half of my moveable estate at the decease of myself and wife.

             I do hereby constitute and appoint my trusty friends Samuel McPheeters and Joseph McMin Executors of this my last Will and Testament, and I do hereby revoke, make null and void all and every other past Will and Testament heretofore by me made, ordaining, publishing, making and declaring this and no other to be my last will and testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this thirty first day of January A.D. 1794.

s/ Edward Erwin

Signed, Sealed, published, declared and acknowledged by the said Edward Erwin to be his last will and Testament in the presence of us, who were present at the same time.

Joshua Phipps

ArG McCra

Joseph McMin

No probate or other settlement record has been found. Nor can many of the children named in his WILL be “found”. The promised “corrections” to the Logan book begin here. On p. 14 she wrote: The children of Edward and Mary, his wife (she was also unaware that he was twice married, first to Mary Curry and second to Mary Fowler) as far as I have been able to learn, in many ways, were as follows:

1.Edward, b. 1740 and reported to have married a Curry.

This Edward is the oldest son of John and Jean Curry Erwin, who first married Elizabeth Curry in 1762, and in 1809 married Sarah Percy. A daughter of this second marriage married Abraham Hanna. Her children are named on p.15, with a further statement: “Hugh and Henry Francis (Hanna) own and live on the original Edward Erwin place on Mossy Creek, adjacent to the old iron works. The old Hanna place is a mile or so west of the original land of Edward Erwin, Jr., and was never owned by Edward Erwin, Sr., but by Edward, the son of John & Jean Curry Erwin.

Edward and Mary Curry Erwin deeded 200 acres of land to their son Edward, identifying him as “Edward the younger”. The son Edward also had a wife Mary. They lived for a time in Greenbrier County, VA, then in 1790 sold the 200 acres above to Nicholas Mires, and were not found in VA afterwards. There was a younger Edward in Hawkins Co., TN by 1800, also not identified, who could have been the father of James and William Erwin, or possibly an older brother.

2.Benjamin Irvine, born about 1750 to 1755, and married Sarah Brewster July 23, 1780 (See J. W. Wayland’s

      History of Rockingham County, p. 445).

In spite of an extensive search the parents of the Rev. Benjamin Irvine are still unknown, even though he has been identified as a son of Edward & Mary again and again. While Edward had a son Benjamin, already mentioned here, he was some twenty years younger than the Rev. Benjamin. The Rev. Benjamin was prominent in both Augusta and Rockingham Counties as a Presbyterian minister for many years, before removing to Madison County, KY, where in died, circa 1827.

3.James Irvine, with a wife Mary, located in Kentucky. June 15, 1793. James Irvine was deeded by Thomas Wisden and wife Catherine 120 acres of land on the Kentucky River, in Madison County, Kentucky.

Refer to Edward’s Will. Edward did not have a son James. The James mentioned here may be the son of a David Erwin who lived in Madison Co., KY, where the Rev. Benjamin settled, as did Samuel, the ancestor of Margaret Logan Morris. 

4.“John Irvin, son of Edward Erwin, is about to remove to the frontier of N. C., 1788.” Chalkley MSS.

This John has not been identified. There is a mystery Edward Erwin in Augusta Co., who was deceased by 1785, of whom almost nothing is known.

Edward Erwin, Jr. had a son John, believed to be his oldest son. In 1783 Edward and Mary deeded John Erwin 46 acres of land on the east side of Long Glade, being land granted Edward by patent on 12 May 1770. By 1793 this John not only owned that original 46 acres, but then owned a total of 570 acres, that included most of the original land of Edward Erwin, Sr. This John, born circa 1750, died in 1814. The maiden of name of his wife Mary has not been found. She was possibly a Bell, maybe a Harrison or even a Hogshead.

This John, and his wife Mary, had a son Edward, who was twice married, first to Mary Stuart, and then to Mary Bratton. Edward removed to Ohio. A daughter Margaret married Bethel Herring, while another daughter Mary married Francis Bell. Their second son, Thomas, married Sarah Hogsett, and moved to the state of Illinois, the third son John married Ann Crawford. Both John and his wife died when their three sons, John H., George H. and James A. C. were quite young. The last two children of John and Mary were a daughter Jane, and a fourth son, James. Neither married.

If this John is indeed the son of Edward and Mary Curry Erwin he is the only one of their children to be found in Augusta County into the 1800s.

5. William, moved to Orange County, Indiana. He has descendants living in that county yet.

From the Morris file it would appear she simply saw William in a book of VA soldiers, he fit age wise, so she added him. Remember then the resources were primarily published book, family bibles and family legend – no microfilmed records, little if any access to the census records, and probably minimum access to indexes in the court records. A check of that William’s DAR file reveals that he was born at Irvine’s Ferry in Halifax County, VA, then later lived in Fayette Co., KY, on land purchased from the parents of his wife, Mary “Polly” Pigman, and by 1818 had moved to Orange Co., IN, where he died in 1850. He did have a son Jesse, whose daughter Elsa (or Etta) married Frank King. She and her husband were found in the 1880 Census of Orange Co., IN and the ancestry has been confirmed by a descendant, Joe Elliott, who also attested to originally taking information “found in books” as truth!

It could be that Edward and Mary’s son William is identical to the William Erwin, with a wife Mary, who lived in Ohio Co., KY, and who are believed to be the parents of Francis below.

6.Francis located in Kentucky.

Edward and Mary Curry Erwin did have a son Francis, who went with them to TN, and died in Hawkins Co., preceding his father in death. He was the “root” of the extensive litigation mentioned previously. Luckily that entire file was copied by WPA workers during the depression, as the microfilmed original is no longer legible.

Another book may be the source of Margaret’s assumption that Francis went to Kentucky. A Francis Erwin, who lived in Ohio Co., KY has the distinction of being the first white man hanged in that county. This occurred in 1826.

This Francis seems to the son of one William Erwin, who may have married a Mary Rutledge. Please take note of the words “seems to be” and “may have”. This William is found in the Ohio Co., KY tax lists, living on Rough Creek, beginning in 1801, up to his death circa 1828. He had other children; Edward, Mary, John, Jane, Sarah, William, and Elizabeth. Edward died unmarried in Ohio ca 1819/20. The other siblings then removed to Indiana, some to Warrick County, other to Gibson County.

So the “hanged” Francis was not the son of Edward and Mary. His father William could be, but in spite of an extensive search, both in KY and IN, no proof was found.

Ironically, an otherwise unidentified Edward Erwin, b. ca 1785, came to Spencer Co., IN, with a wife Mary “Polly” McNeely, who he married in Logan Co., KY in 1813. This Edward may have had a sister Lucy, and possibly a brother James, based on Spencer County marriage records. All three are total mysteries.

7.David, who went to Sullivan Co., TN

Edward and Mary Curry Erwin did not have a son David. This David is one of the eight children of a William and Jane (perhaps Stephenson) who lived on the Middle River near the Old Stone Meeting House. Other children were John, William, Samuel, Sarah, Mary, Ann, and Margaret. The identification of this family stems from a letter Samuel wrote to his brother David. William Erwin, the father of the children named here, purchased 241 acres of land on Walker’s Run, a branch of Cathey’s River, now Middle River.

William died circa 1758. In 1771 his son Samuel purchased an additional 111 acres of land on the Middle river and two other tracts of land, on the south side of the Middle River of ‘Shanandore”, known as Bald Rock. Samuel’s WILL is found in Chalkley’s (p. 88, d/5 Sept 1811). His widow, Mary removed with their children to Madison Co., Ohio.

The names of the descendants of William and Jane, and also of their son were the same names used by the “Long Glade” Erwin families, insuring complications to even the most serious genealogist!

Finally, in October of 1795 David Erwin and his wife Jean, still residing in Sullivan Co., TN sold the 241 acres of land on the Middle River to Robert Reed.

8.Mary

Edward and Mary Curry Erwin had a daughter Mary. How Morris knew that she left Rockingham, where she was never know to have lived, and removed to Fayette Co., KY has not been determined. This Mary is more likely one of three children born to William and Jean above, and one of the three babies baptized at Tinkling Springs in 1745, 1746 and 1748 ..

9.Margaret, both (meaning Mary above) left Rockingham and settled in Fayette Co., KY

Comment above by Morris! However. this Margaret is probably a daughter of William and Jane, and sister to Mary above.

Edward Erwin, Jr. and his second wife Mary Fowler did have a daughter Margaret, who as mentioned previously, married James Surguine in Hawkins County, TN.

10.Samuel Irvine, b. February 1760, married Jane/Jennet Brewster.

Edward and Mary Curry Erwin had a son Samuel, who if family legend is accurate could well be properly identified, were it not for Margaret Logan Morris’ insistence that her ancestor Samuel, and the Rev. Benjamin Irvine were brothers. Clearly Edward and Mary’s son Benjamin, who married Jane Hagood in TN, was not the Rev. Benjamin. 

An uncle of Morris told stories he heard as a teenager of how his grandfather, Samuel above, spoke of his brothers and sisters and their homes on Mossy Creek, near Miller’s Iron Works. Edward Erwin, Jr. probably first lived on the land he sold to Miller for the “iron works” and his Samuel cannot be positively identified elsewhere.

Another family “tale” recounted by Morris is that her grandfather, Samuel W., the son of Samuel and Jane/Jennet Brewster recalled a visit by an uncle, who was a Presbyterian minister, to the family home in Madison Co., KY, where both Samuel and the Rev. Benjamin then lived. Would not the husband of his mother’s sister be called Uncle? This Samuel’s wife was a sister to Sarah Brewster, the wife of the Rev. Benjamin.

Aside from the “facts” presented here the search continues insofar as what happened to most of the children named in Edward Erwin’s 1896 WILL. By the time of the Will his son Francis was deceased, Benjamin, the youngest son, thought to have been born ca 1770 had married Jane Hagood, and had children, who have not been positively identified. The families of the two younger daughters, Sarah Erwin Phipps and Margaret Erwin Surguine are well documented.

This writer descends from one James Erwin, who was born ca 1793 in TN, and died in 1850 in Perry County, MO. He served in the War of 1812 out of Hawkins Co., TN, along with a brother William Erwin, and one Edward mentioned previously as either an older brother, or possibly his father.

James married Rosannah McKirgan in Hawkins Co., TN in 1818, and removed shortly thereafter to Limestone Co., AL. In 1838/39 he and his family relocated to Perry County, Missouri. Three years after his death his wife secured 160 acres of “bounty land” for the service of her husband in the War of 1812.

The “facts” here represent many hours of research, by the writer and a distant Ervin cousin, Laten Ervin Bechtel, Ph.D, of Staunton, VA, who has diligently searched the Augusta Co., VA courthouse files, again and again.

Lou Hudson Pellican (Ms)

St. Louis, Missouri

January ‘06


From Augusta County records:

    Page 325.--19th September, 1780. Edward Erwin (Irvine) and Mary,

to Benj. Crow. of Rockingham, part of 400 acres patented to Alex. Brownlee, 12th June, 1749. Teste: James Gauy (Guy), Francis Mara, Robert ( ) Gregg.


v. JAMES CURRY, SR., b. 1728, prob. Londonderry, Ulster County, Ireland; d. 1824, Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky; m. REBECCA WARWICK, Abt. 1750, Near Belfast, Ireland; d. Paris, Kentucky.

Notes for JAMES CURRY, SR.: http://www.heritagepursuit.com/Union/Untp4BS.htm

JAMES CURRY.

JAMES CURRY, the subject of this biographic sketch, was born near Belfast, Ireland, January 29, 1752. Be was the first born child of James Curry, a prosperous Irish farmer of County Antrim. His mother's maiden name was Warwick, showing an English origin on both sides of the family. Her relatives were prominent in England, during Cromwell's time, siding with the great commoner, and one of them, a Capt. Warwick, was among the number shot to death after the restoration. Very little is known, however, of the far-off lady, not even her given name. We only know that she was a Warwick; that she was of Protestant stock; that she was married to James Curry, near Belfast, about the year 1750; that before leaving Ireland she bore her husband five children, two sons and three daughters; that after reaching America and settling with her husband in Virginia, she bore him four additional children, three daughters and one son; that at the close of the Revolutionary war, she removed with her husband to the neighborhood of Paris, Ky., and there, some years after, died at the age of ninety-three. The Protestants of the North of Ireland were and are to this day an educated people, cultivated, prosperous, tolerant, and the inference (which is supported-by tradition) is that her family was a superior one. Certainly she inherited from it sterling virtues, and received a liberal education, which were in turn bestowed upon her own children.

Of James Curry, her husband, the father of the subject of this sketch, we know about as little. It has been claimed that his ancestors entered Britain with the Normans, at the time of the conquest, but an excellent authority asserts that the Currys are of pure Celtic stock, and owe their origin solely to the Irish of prehistoric days. The Scotch and Welsh are of the same race, and so were the ancient Britons. Ireland is honeycombed with Currys, and while they are generally of the middle-class, plain, well to-do citizens, there are in the Counties Cavan and Fermanah, castles or their remains which were once the abode of nobles of the name, Lords Belmone and Lowry Curry, and Lord Clon Curry. Many towns bear the name, such as Tubercurry, Rathcurry, etc. From time immemorial almost, these families have had large landed possessions in the counties named, and in fact all over Ireland the name, either spelled whit a u, or an o, is as plentiful as Smith in this country.

The immediate family of this James Curry, were Irish Presbyterians, thrifty, doubtless, and intelligent, for they had so educated their son that he, in turn, had before quitting Ireland began to prepare his son (the subject of this sketch) for the ministry. It is well known, indeed, that Col. James Curry had been in early childhood marked for the holy calling, had begun his studies to that end, and had, according to a custom of that place and day, his hair cropped and his head adorned with a wig, in token of the life he had been ordained to lead. But a far different career was in store for the young novitiate. When but ten years of age, his father's thoughts were turned to the New World, then as now the Land of Promise for struggling Irishmen. The family accordingly embarked at Belfast for America, on board the ship - Good Return," some time in 1762. A large colony accompanied, including several brothers with their families and other relatives. The ship was a stanch and fast sailer, which had once made the voyage in five weeks' time, but this trip she had been overloaded, so that what with head winds and counter-currents, her passage across the Atlantic was prolonged to fifteen weeks. Disease, starvation and death meanwhile made sad havoc among the passengers and crew. The greater part died and were buried at sea, among them the four youngest children of James Curry. The ship finally made Philadelphia, and the James Curry family stepped ashore with but three, where seven should have been in number. The family seems then to have at once started with other relatives for Virginia; one of the brothers went, however, to Pennsylvania, and one, from which the famous Methodist divine, Rev. Dr. Curry, is descended, settled in New York. But it is only with James Curry's family that this sketch is concerned. Going to the neighborhood of Staunton, in Augusta, County, Va., the emigrant, James Curry, with his Warwick wife and one Bon, James, then ten years of age, settled down to a planter's life. This removal to Augusta. County is supposed to have been made very soon after landing at Philadelphia. It may have been later, however, and if so, where the family lived meanwhile is unknown. The land records at Richmond, Va , contain the name of James Curry as a patentee for a large body of land " on both sides of the North River of Shenandoah," dated April 6, 1769. If this patent was issued to James Curry, the emigrant, its date may fix the time of his settlement in Virginia, though of course he could have lived there for several years prior thereto. And then, again, it may have issued to his son, James Curry (of whom we write), who was at the time seventeen years of age.

Of James Curry, Sr., we only know further, that, after settling in Virginia, there were born to him four children-Susan, Rebecca, Polly and John. That after the close of the Revolutionary war, he removed to the neighborhood of Paris, Ky., where, at an advanced age, he died and was buried.

Some of his children, certainly John, accompanied him into Kentucky, others among them. James, the subject of this sketch remained in Virginia. Of the sisters and the brother of Col. Curry, it may be briefly stated that Susan married Rev. William Erwin, and removed to what is now the State of Indiana, where her descendants now live; and Rebecca married John Erwin, whose descendants now reside in the southern part of Union County; Polly, married Wallace Harmonson, whose descendants live in Iowa and Texas ; John, married Ann McConnell, and both he and his wife lived and died in Kentucky.

Some time after, a daughter, who had married a Mr. Thornton, becoming widowed, removed to Hanover, Ind., having in charge a much younger sister, Anna R. (whom she had indeed missed), together with several children of her own. These children, girls, were married, one to a Rev. Mr. Rice, one to a Mr. James Gardner, one to a Mr. Andrews, and Anna R., to a Rev. Mr. Mille., They all, except Anna R. and her husband, now live in California.

(Note: several paragraphs ommitted)

Col. Curry remained with the army in the field until the winter following, when he was detailed for the recruiting service, and stationed at Staunton. In the spring he returned to the army and was on active staff duty, following the fortunes of the army of Washington throughout the year. The winter of 1779 found him again at Staunton as a recruiting officer. Again in the spring of 1780 we find him in the field, and as active operations were this year transferred to the Carolinas, his experiences were uneventful. The following winter he was again at Staunton, recruiting men, but he seems to have returned early to the army, for he was one of the 700 veteran Virginians detached and ordered to the relief of Gen. Lincoln, who was defending Charleston, S. C. Col. Curry's story of the march to the succor of that beleaguered city is remembered as of thrilling interest. The column started from Philadelphia in February 1781. The snow was the deepest that had ever been known, and was badly drifted. It was crusted over, however, as to uphold horses and wagons, and was so deep that artillery even could be hauled over the tops of the fences. But in low places and along the streams wagons and artillery were constantly breaking through, entailing the hardest work to get them again onto solid snow. Reaching the neighborhood of Charleston. They were taken into small boats in an endeavor to enter the city by water at night; they had a sorry time, however, drifting about in the harbor, frequently losing sight of the city's lights, and were finally compelled to board a French vessel, and remain till morning. Col. Curry was never weary telling of that night's adventures in Charleston Harbor. Among other things, he used to repeat the good French Captain's words of encouragement, "The English can no possible take Charleston." But they did take it, nevertheless; the next morning, April 7, 1781, they rowed into the city, entering it just two days before the British blockading squadron closed the harbor. Two days more and they would have been spared the consequences of Gen. Lincoln's surrender, for they could not have passed the cordon of British troops which forbade a land approach. For more than a month the beleaguered Americans defended themselves, with heroic fortitude, soldiers and citizens combated every British approach, but were finally on the 12th of May compelled to succumb. The capitulation put the American troops on parole as prisoners of war, and for some months Col. Curry was compelled to a life of inactivity. During the siege, the Colonel was severely wounded in the hand by the bursting of a shell. After the surrender, the American officers were treated with much distinction by their British captors. An incident, often related by Col. Curry, exhibits the wonderful agility of the man at this time, and the dexterity to which he had arrived in the use of the sword.

Out walking one day in the environs of the city, accompanied by a party of British officers, a rabbit was espied. Drawing his sword he made a plunge, and spitting the unfortunate animal, turned, and with a polite bow, extended it to the principal officer of the party.

While lying at Charlestown, he figured, too, in an affair of honor, no less than a duel, between his chief, Gen. Nathaniel Gist (for whom he was a second), and Gen. Wade Hampton, ancestor of the celebrated South Carolinian, now bearing that name. But one shot was fired and the matter was settled without bloodshed.

His account of the duel, as well as of another in which he was one time during the war a second, is well remembered. In the other affair, he supported a Capt. Kirkpatrick, a fiery Irish officer, who engaged a Capt. McCook.

In this encounter Capt. McCook was severely wounded, and so hot was the contest that a tragedy was barely avoided. Duels in those days were, however, of frequent occurrence amongst officers, and Col. Curry seemed never to attach much importance to the part he had played in the two referred to.

From the surrender of Charleston, even the principal points in the military career of Col. Curry are involved in doubt. The length of time he was on parole as a prisoner of war is uncertain, but it is a family tradition that it was for fourteen months, during which time he "was not to cross tiny river, bay, or arm of the sea, nor to go farther than five miles into the country." On the other hand, it is claimed that the young officer wait early exchanged and was in the fall following at the siege of Yorktown, October 19, 1781. Certainly Gen. Lincoln was there, as was most of the army which had been humiliated the May before in South Carolina. But whether at Yorktown or not, he was in the service until the close of the war, and is thought to have been with Washington when the great leader made his triumphant entry into New York City, November 25, 1783. The term of Col. Curry's service is furthermore fixed beyond dispute by the wording of an old land patent, dated March 16, 1816, and signed by James Madison, President.

This patent recites that " in consideration of military service performed by James Carry, a captain (sic) for six months more than six years, to the United States in the Virginia line, on Continental establishment * * * * there is granted by the United States unto the said James Curry, etc."

The fall and winter of 1783 wound up the war of the Revolution, the British evacuating New York and quitting the country the day of Washington's entry. The 4th of December following, the commander-in-chief took farewell of his officers and went to Annapolis, where Congress was in session, where December 23, he resigned his commission.

About this time, Col. Curry's commission must have expired, or he had been mustered out of the service, as it is known that he was in Staunton a good part of the winter of 1783-84. Ile had served his country valiantly and well through the long and bloody struggle for independence, and at the close we find him returned to the avocations of peace, among the foremost of his countrymen shaping and administering the laws of the newly unfranchised country.

Concluding our necessarily imperfect and meager history of Col. Curry's military career, we are happily able to present a fee simile of a statement of his account with the United States during a portion of his service. It is on a great sheet of old-time paper, yellow with age (it must have been written in 1782), and strikingly exhibits in its careful ruling, its regular columns, and beautifully shaped characters, the methodic habits of the man, and the expertness with which he could, when required, handle the pen. It will be noticed that his calculations were in pounds, shillings and pence, and as indication of the worthless condition to which the currency of the colonies was then reduced, it should be observed that his second column of figures on each page is a showing of the true values of the moneys handled, being but two per cent of the whole. Unlike most accounting officers these times, it will be noticed, too, that Col. Curry was a creditor of the Government he had been serving, having a balance in his favor of some hundreds of pounds.

At Staunton, he filled several important civil offices, amongst others, Clerk of the Court of Augusta County. He was then thirty-one years of age, in the prime of intellectual and physics vigor, and, having rendered conspicuous military services, was entitled to and received the unbounded confidence of the people of that county.

The 20th day of November 1784, he was married near Staunton to the daughter of a Capt. Robert Burns (then deceased), who had been ail honored officer in the Pennsylvania line throughout the war. His home had been at Charlottesville, N. C., where this daughter was born 10th October, 1768. She was a beautiful young girl when married to Col. Curry, scarcely more than half her husband's age, but well educated and of unusual strength of character; and she was simple Mary Burns when married, but the name did not please her husband and it was agreed that it should be changed to Maria. But this did not fully satisfy the ardent man, and his young wife was finally persuaded to answer to the name of Maria Magdalene by which she was ever after known. The child had been, during the war, a great deal with her father, who, it seems, was all officer of one of the departments of supplies, stationed at many different points. She had thus, though but a mere child, been an eye witness of many of the stirring scenes of the Revolution, and, in after years, recounted with an unfailing memory the numerous thrilling incidents of her army experience. She was a great reader, especially of poetry, and, among all her favorites in the latter years of her life, none stood so high as Robert Burns, with whose family her own was understood to be connected. She was tall of person, and finely formed, her heir luxuriant and dark brown, and her eyes a beautiful blue. She had a tuneful voice of winning sweetness, and must have been withal a charming, handsome woman indeed. She had, too, an extraordinary memory, and could repeat, as she often did to her Children, her favorite poets by the hour. Then she was ever telling her children old stories and fairy tales, and the venerable Mrs. Martha, Boal Taylor, of Columbus, who lived in her childhood on an adjoining farm, remembers that it was her supreme delight to get an evening at Mrs. Curry's fireside and listen to her wonderful accounts of the land of elfs. The late Otway Curry was never weary talking of this mother of his, whose poetic heart had instilled into his own such a love of the beautiful and true. She it was who first turned his eyes to the glory of the starry heavens, and taught him the names of the constellations, and she it was who guided his early lisping tongue to put sweet thoughts and beautiful words into rhythm and rhyme.

Her transition from the life of ease and comfort to which she had been accustomed in Virginia to the wilderness of Ohio must have been a sad trial, but it is in evidence that she accepted her lot, and shared with her husband and children the discomforts of a pioneer cabin cour- ageously and uncomplainingly. She died January 10, 1826, on the farm in Jerome Township which her husband had settled in 1811.

But to resume in connected form a narrative of the life of Col. Curry. We find that after marriage he lived for a year in Staunton, and here the first child of the happy couple was born, a boy, whom they named Robert Burns, in honor of the young mother's dead father. This child was born November 2, 1785, dying when grown to manhood, December 7, 1805, at his father's home, in the new State of Ohio. The year 1785 Col. Curry moved to Rockingham C. H., afterward called Harrisonburg, county seat of the newly made county of Rockingham. He engaged in merchandising in this new home, and held the while several offices of trust, both civil and military. He was, amongst other things, Brigade Inspector of the Seventh Brigade, a salaried position of much importance. It was his duty to attend each place of muster, and "superintend the exercise" of the troops. In this connection, a very interesting paper, in the hands of W. L. Curry, signed by Brig. Gen. Isaac Zane, exists, directing "Major" James Curry to attend for the purpose of " superintending the exercises" of the regiments, the several mustering places named, Woodstock, Cunningham's Mill, Harrisonburg and Staunton. It is dated September 26, 1794.

Here a half-sister of his wife, a daughter of her father's second marriage, Peggy, was married about the year 1798, to one Jewitt Gamble, to whom numerous children were born - children whose descendants are today scattered all through the South. This Jewett Gamble was a brother of Robert Gamble, one of Staunton's leading merchants of that day, a man who afterward removed to Richmond, and became one of the heaviest business men of that city and immensely wealthy. He married Letitia, a daughter of Gen. James Breckenridge, and left two sons, one of whom became Governor of Florida and the other of Missouri. One of his daughters married William Wirt, one Chancellor Harper, of South Carolina, slid one W. H. Cabill, Governor of Virginia.

In Harrisonburg, Col. Curry greatly prospered, and here his second child, James A., was born, March 30, 1787, who, coming with his parents into Union County, lived to a ripe old age and died March 1. 1874. And here was born a son, Otway, March 30, 1789, who died when but three years old. Here, too, was born Harriet, their first girl child, who died an infant, in her second year. Here, too, wag born Harriet Smith, April 3, 1793, who came with her parents to Ohio, was married to James Buck, and died in Union County August 10, 1845.

In the fall of 1797, Col. Carry determined to remove to the territory of Ohio, in which the State of Virginia had reserved an immense tract of land for the use of her soldiers in the war of the Revolution. It was the soldier's ultima thule, and glowing accounts of its vast reaches of forest and alluvial bottom lands having reached Virginia, thither flocked the men of war, with their families and friends, in rapidly increasing numbers. Selling his property, Col. Curry with his little family safely sheltered in a great wagon drawn by five horses, started October 5, 1797. for his long journey over the mountains of Virginia. Reaching Morganstown on the Monongahela River, he embarked on a flat-boat and made the remainder of the journey down that stream and the Ohio, and to the confines of the territory of his destination by water.

This voyage was very tedious, some six months; having been consumed in making it, and very hazardous. The winter of 1797-98 was a hard one, the rivers full of ice and floating trees, so that very often the devoted family thought themselves doomed to destruction. However, the mouth of the Scioto River was finally entered, and after weeks of contest against its angry current, the wanderers at length reached what was afterward known as High Bank Prairie, Ross County, landing April 1, 1798. Here Col. Curry erected his first house, a cabin without door, floor, or window, in which he lived for two years. He then removed to the present site of Greenfield, Highland County, where, for eleven years, he lived and Cultivated the land. Here three children were born-Stephenson. December 3, 1801, who died in Union County, April 2, 1861; 0tway, March 26, 1804, who died in Marysville February 15, 1855; and Louisa, July 21, 1807, who came with her parents to Union County, where she married Nelson Cone and still lives. The settlement at Greenfield was a prosperous and healthy one, numbering some 200 souls and during the whole of Col. Curry's residence there, not a physician lived in the place. The nearest doctor was at Chillicothe, twenty miles away, and when sickness did occur, Col. Curry was always called upon for prescriptions. He was a surgeon, too, for broken limbs and fractured bones, but it is not recorded that he ever undertook to amputate an offending member.

Col. Curry held but one office, we believe, while living in Highland County, that of Brigade Inspector. His service as an officer in the Revolutionary army was, of course, well known, and he had been often urged to take a part in military matters, but had steadily refuted. Duncan McArthur had been for a long time the Inspector, but had, for some reason, become unpopular, when, one general muster (1806 probably), it was decided to oust him. An officer named Christian Platter said, "Let's elect a man who has some sense," whereupon the voters, with one single exception, cast their ballots for Col. Curry (McArthur getting just one vote), who had, at once, though protesting and unwilling, to take the office. McArthur, who had before this been a frequent visitor and an industrious reader of the Colonel's ample library of books, never again entered Col. Curry's door. At the next election, Col. Curry peremptorily refused, and Gen. McArthur was again given the place. In this connection an amusing story is told.

The year 1811, Col. Curry removed himself and family to the Jerome Township land. His son, James A., had, in company with a man by the name of Joseph Bell, gone up the winter be. fore and made a clearing on the place now owned by W. W. Curry, and a man named Call had cleared a portion of the present farm of John Nonemaker, and erected a cabin. In the Call cabin Col. Curry began life in a wilderness for the third time. The country was practically unsettled, only a few houses being scattered along the Darby, and Indians were everywhere. The savages were far from being peaceably disposed, and as the war with England of 1812 was impending. The most serious consequences to the family of Col. Curry were feared, as the result of his rash removal to the wilds of Madison County. Illustrative of the dangers then supposed to attend such a residence, an old letter addressed "Col. James Curry, Madison County, Ohio, to the care of Mr. Cadwallader Wallace, Chillicothey," is a point. This letter, postmarked Harrisonburg, Va., February 16, 1818, bears the following request: "Mr. Wallace will oblige Alex Herring (the writer), by forwarding this to Col. Curry, as it is probable he has moved from his residence in Madison County, for fear of the Indians." The Colonel, nevertheless, had not removed from his newly made home, where the letter finally reached him. But the family had many frights, and not a few thrilling adventures. An experience of unusual interest is narrated elsewhere, when the brave mother, arming her two children, Stephenson and Otway, made ready to defend her little home against savage assault. In this home and on this farm, now owned, as stated, by John Nonemaker, Col. James Curry lived the remainder of his days. The territory was then Madison County, and the Colonel was no sooner well located than his fellow citizens returned him to the Legislature of the State, representing the district composed of Delaware and Madison Counties.

June 3, 1811, Col. Curry was made the happy father of another son, his last child, and the only one ever born in Madison County. To this son the name of Robert Burns was given, a very appropriate reproduction of that borne by his first-born child. This son, now an old man - with whitened hair, but when last in Ohio as light of heart and as playful as when thirty years younger, yet lives, having years ago removed to the State of Kansas.

Full of honors, and enjoying to the utmost the confidence and esteem of the people of the county he had been instrumental in organizing, he at a ripe old age retired to his farm, to spend peacefully, what few days might yet remain for him. Though old in years, he was still strong and vigorous, it is remembered, in body slid mind. He succumbed, however, to an attack of apoplexy, dying July 5, 1834, at 10 o'clock A. M. Two days after, his body was laid to rest by that of his beloved wife, who had preceded him some eight years, and the two yet lay side by side in a quiet corner of the old farm, which in 1807 he had covered with Survey 1440. So ceased the life of Col. James Curry.



http://www.ancestrees.com/pedigree/3077.htm

James CURRY Sr. 1 2 Born: 1728, , Antrim, IRE Marriage: Rebecca WARWICK after 1736 Died: 1824, Paris, Bourbon, KY, USA at age 96

 General Notes: 

James, Sr. came from Warwick, Ireland in 1761 on the "Good Return" with 7 children. Four of them died at sea. After they settled in Virginia they had one more son and three daughters. (CL-300) Their children are thought to be James, Susanna, Rebecca, Polly, John, Samuel (b. 1748?) and Robert.


James married Rebecca WARWICK after 1736.



vi. JOHN CURRY, b. Abt. 1730, Ireland; d. 1820, Wolf Creek Mountain, Monroe County, Virginia; m. (1) ANN ???, Abt. 1748; m. (2) MARY "POLLY" JOHNSON, 13 Oct 1785, Greenbrier County, Virginia; b. Bet. 1755 - 1760.

Notes for JOHN CURRY: http://images.trafficmp.com/tmpad/content/netflix/0604_m_2004727125744.htm

48. John Curry, born 1728-1736 in Ireland; died 1820 in Wolf Creek Mtn., Monroe Co., VA. He was the son of 96. William Curry and 97. Sarah Young. He married 49. Mary "Polly" Johnson 13 October 1785 in Greenbrier Co., VA.

49. Mary "Polly" Johnson, born 1755-1760. She was the daughter of 98. Mister Johnson.

Children of John Curry and Ann Unknown are:

i. Joseph Curry, born 1748 in Ireland.

ii. Mary Curry, born Abt. 1750 in Ireland; died in Virginia; married Sam Erwin 25 July 1770.

iii. William Curry, born Abt. 1752 in Ireland.

iv. Nicholas Curry, born Abt. 1754 in Ireland; died in Virginia; married Sarah Seawright.

v. James Curry, born Abt. 1756 in Ireland; died 1832 in Monroe Co., VA; married Margaret Francis 28 October 1788 in Augusta Co., VA.

vi. Robert Curry, born Abt. 1759 in Ireland; died in Virginia; married Phoebe Sample 26 November 1787.

vii. John Curry, born Abt. 1761 in Ireland; died in Virginia; married Isabelle Ellison 26 November 1782 in Greenbrier Co., VA.

viii. Sarah Curry, born Abt. 1764 in Augusta Co., VA; married Jesse Harrison.

Children of John Curry and Mary Johnson are:

24 i. Barnabus Curry, born 1789 in Wolf Creek, Monroe Co., VA; died 1869 in Barnabus, Logan Co., WV; married (1) Sarah Taylor 06 February 1810 in Virginia; married (2) Elizabeth Browning 28 February 1831 in Pike, KY; married (3) Susan Elliot Presley Aft. 1868 in Logan Co., VA.

ii. Robert Curry, born 1790 in Greenbrier Co., VA; married Catherine Chambers 31 January 1815 in Monroe Co., VA.