Notes:
In "L.D. Miles" Carol Cramer writes: He [Joseph, Jr.] studied to be a lawyer and after starting practice it is said that he put up bail for one of his clients. Because the client disappeared, Joseph and Susan lost their farm. They moved into Shelby where they ran Curran's Tavern, an inn. After 1850 they moved to Chicago in a covered wagon. It is reported in the Arter/Arthur Genealogy that Susan died March 19th, 1862 in Escanaba, MI but there seems to be no record of them having been there or of her death. They were not recorded in the 1860 Fereral Census of Delta Co. Michigan. The railroad went through Escanaba in 1862 and Joseph may have been working on the railroad as there were many transient laborers at that time.
In a later update, Carol reported the following: I have not, as yet [1998], found any court record of a client who skipped bail resulting in the loss of Joseph and Susan Curran's farm. I did find many instances of Joseph being in court, either suing or being sued, all for payment of debts and usually Joseph lost. He was in court three times on a Saturday, losing two of the three. The one that he won did not begin to cover the two that he lost! The court ordered the sale of his house to cover debts. He was indicted on Nov. 25, 1846 for keeping a tavern without a license and was fined $25 plus costs.
Carol found him recorded in the 1850 census of Sharon twsp, Richland Co., Ohio but was unable to find him in the 1860 census, nor was she able to find him listed as a head of household in the censuses of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin or Michigan. She concluded that he must have been living with some other head of household at that time who did not report him. In the 1870 Census of Allegan County, Michigan Carol found him again with his second wife, Elizabeth, and an Ellen Drake also in the household. Since the 1860 census of Wayland Village, Michigan did record an Elizabeth Drake with three daughters, one of them being Ellen, it is possible, Carol suggests, that it was this same Elizabeth he was living with at that time but that he was unrecorded as such.
I noted a genealogy submitted to RootsWeb (internet) which records Joseph as dying in Bradley, Michigan. It also refers to him as a Civil War veteran. This might explain why he could not be found in the 1860 census; he was off to war. Although, Carol Cramer tells us that she was unable to find any official record showing that Joseph Curran, Jr. was in the Civil War.
I received the following by e-mail from Shirley (Burke) Avera, 3rd great grandchild of Joseph Curran Sr.: Wesley Poe Curran did, indeed, have 16 children (14 lived). Wesley and Elizabeth Trewin Curran did move to S. Haven with 3 or 4 children where he and his wife died and are buried. In her grandmother's [Nellie (Valentine) Curran] memoir Shirley finds that Joseph and Susan moved to Chicago by covered wagon. She also finds that one of their sons, Allen, remained in Ohio, joined the civil war and died in Ohio in a Soldier's home. She did not find mention of any family for him. Her grandmother also provided Dick Arter with the information on this family line which is in "The Arters of Fountain Valley" book.
In another, much later, e-mail, Shirley reports finding Joseph, Jr. in the 1870 census living with his son Wesley Poe Sr. If correct, this establishes that Joseph, Jr. died after that date. This conflicts with the research of Carol Cramer, given above, who found Joseph Jr. in the 1870 census but living in Allegan County, Michigan.
Notes:
Susan's age at the time of the 1850 Sharon Twsp census was recorded as 37, thus giving 1813 as the year of her birth. Carol Cramer gives 20 May 1809 as the date of Susan's birth which seems more reasonable in terms of the time lapsed between her younger sister, Mary, and her older brother, George. [Besides, census data is frequently wrong on the ages of people, particularly women.]
Notes:
George was a laborer and never married.
Notes:
Shirley (Burke) Avera sent for and received the pension records for Allen and reports the following:
Allen was a blacksmith, a civil war soldier, and he died without issue in the home of an unrelated woman in Pratt, Kansas [family lore incorrectly has it that he died in an Old Soldiers Home in Ohio]. According to his civil war pension records he was living in Allegan, MI in 1880 with his wife named Julia but at the time of his death there was no wife. Shirley speculates that Julia's maiden name might have been Richman and, if true, they were married on July 4, 1854 in Cuyoga County, Ohio. Living next door to them in the household of Adam Schuler was his father, Joseph Curran, Sr. Joseph's name was mispelled in the record as "Currqn". Shirley also mentioned that she found a record mistakenly documenting that Allen was put into the stockade after he had already been honorably discharged.
Notes:
The 1851 Census of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk Parish of St. Nicholas lists:
"Benjamin King, head of family, male age 48, occupation, miller, born Homersfield, Suffolk. Elizabeth, wife, age 40, born Earsham, Norfolk. Edward Norfor [?], son, age 8, born Reedham, Norfolk and Caroline, age 5, born Porlingland".
The 1861 Cencus of Gorleston, Suffolk lists:
"Benjamin King, Head of Household, age 55, a miller, born Homersfield; his wife Elizabeth, age 47, born Earsham; his daughter Caroline, age 12, a scholar, born Poringland.
The death certificate for Benjamin states that he died in Gorleston, Suffolk, age 62, a journeyman miller, of paralysis. Florence B. (Miles) Gallup is reported by Carol Cramer as having had a picture of St. Andrew's Church, Gorleston that had been her grandmother's (Caroline King Curran). The picture shows a tombstone in the foreground with the inscription "King". There is no such stone left in the churchyard [a prize name to be stolen for a yard decoration]. The Clerk of St. Andrew's writes that Benjamin King was buried there 1 Oct 1863. He died Sept 1863 so his age computes to 66 years at death.
Notes:
According to Ted Cole, the son of Kate Marilla Mitchel (niece of L.D. Miles), so far as he knows his Cole family line has no connection with the Elizabeth Cole line.
Notes:
Martha is listed as a sister in the pension records of Edward. Nothing more is known of her and C. Cramer suggests that this may because she died young, possibly the twin of Maxmillion.
Notes:
In "L.D. Miles" Carol Cramer writes: He [Joseph, Jr.] studied to be a lawyer and after starting practice it is said that he put up bail for one of his clients. Because the client disappeared, Joseph and Susan lost their farm. They moved into Shelby where they ran Curran's Tavern, an inn. After 1850 they moved to Chicago in a covered wagon. It is reported in the Arter/Arthur Genealogy that Susan died March 19th, 1862 in Escanaba, MI but there seems to be no record of them having been there or of her death. They were not recorded in the 1860 Fereral Census of Delta Co. Michigan. The railroad went through Escanaba in 1862 and Joseph may have been working on the railroad as there were many transient laborers at that time.
In a later update, Carol reported the following: I have not, as yet [1998], found any court record of a client who skipped bail resulting in the loss of Joseph and Susan Curran's farm. I did find many instances of Joseph being in court, either suing or being sued, all for payment of debts and usually Joseph lost. He was in court three times on a Saturday, losing two of the three. The one that he won did not begin to cover the two that he lost! The court ordered the sale of his house to cover debts. He was indicted on Nov. 25, 1846 for keeping a tavern without a license and was fined $25 plus costs.
Carol found him recorded in the 1850 census of Sharon twsp, Richland Co., Ohio but was unable to find him in the 1860 census, nor was she able to find him listed as a head of household in the censuses of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin or Michigan. She concluded that he must have been living with some other head of household at that time who did not report him. In the 1870 Census of Allegan County, Michigan Carol found him again with his second wife, Elizabeth, and an Ellen Drake also in the household. Since the 1860 census of Wayland Village, Michigan did record an Elizabeth Drake with three daughters, one of them being Ellen, it is possible, Carol suggests, that it was this same Elizabeth he was living with at that time but that he was unrecorded as such.
I noted a genealogy submitted to RootsWeb (internet) which records Joseph as dying in Bradley, Michigan. It also refers to him as a Civil War veteran. This might explain why he could not be found in the 1860 census; he was off to war. Although, Carol Cramer tells us that she was unable to find any official record showing that Joseph Curran, Jr. was in the Civil War.
I received the following by e-mail from Shirley (Burke) Avera, 3rd great grandchild of Joseph Curran Sr.: Wesley Poe Curran did, indeed, have 16 children (14 lived). Wesley and Elizabeth Trewin Curran did move to S. Haven with 3 or 4 children where he and his wife died and are buried. In her grandmother's [Nellie (Valentine) Curran] memoir Shirley finds that Joseph and Susan moved to Chicago by covered wagon. She also finds that one of their sons, Allen, remained in Ohio, joined the civil war and died in Ohio in a Soldier's home. She did not find mention of any family for him. Her grandmother also provided Dick Arter with the information on this family line which is in "The Arters of Fountain Valley" book.
In another, much later, e-mail, Shirley reports finding Joseph, Jr. in the 1870 census living with his son Wesley Poe Sr. If correct, this establishes that Joseph, Jr. died after that date. This conflicts with the research of Carol Cramer, given above, who found Joseph Jr. in the 1870 census but living in Allegan County, Michigan.
Notes:
The following article regarding Joseph Curran, Sr. was found by C. Cramer in a publication named "History of Richland, OH": ''Two of Jackson township's (Richland Co.,) earliest settlers, Uriah Matson and Joseph Curran, assisted in cutting the first road in the township from Mansfield to McCluer's mill site, and entered their land in the township as early as 1814-1815, though they did not return for permanent settlement until 1816. In the spring of that year Mathew and Joseph Curran came and erected a cabin upon Mathew's land, the southwest quarter of Sec. 36. Joseph Curran had entered the southeast quarter of the same section and soon after erected the second cabin. It is related that settlers came from several miles south to help erect this cabin for Mathew Curran and family, among the number being Mr. Calvin Clark, yet living and a resident of the township. The time and circumstances are vividly impressed upon Mr. Clark's mind from the fact that an accident happened at the raising. The Curran family had encamped near where they intended erecting the cabin, and were cooking dinner for the workmen, by the side of a large log, in the open air. One of Mr. Curran's children, a little boy, attempted to walk this log, in sport, and, making a misstep, fell into a large kettle of boiling coffee, scalding him to such an extent that he died the following day. This was the first death of a white person in the township.
"It is a mooted question as whether the Currans were the first actual settlers, as some of those who settled in the northern part of the township came about the same time. It has been stated that the Currans came in 1815. If this be true, they were, probably, the first settlers; but the weight of evidence seems to bring them here in the spring of 1816, at which time their cabin was erected."
"The first school in the township was taught by John C. Gilkison, on the southeast quarter of Section 1. His pupils were, Joseph Curren, Elizabeth Curren," etc.
Carol Cramer writes: "We now know that Joseph, Jr. had either a sister or cousin named Elizabeth, and a brother or cousin named Samuel. I have not found anything in Kentucky on Joseph, Sr. and I have not found who his wife was." She provides the following additional information in a later update of her book:
1807 - In Scioto Co. OH he attended a sale of the estate of James Gilkison and wife Elizabeth Currens.
1818 & 1819 - He and Uriah Matson cleared underbrush for a road being built from Mansfield to Shelby.
1818 - They sold grain and obtained supplies in Portland, now Huron; salt was $12 a barrel, tea $3 per lb., coffee 50 cents per lb., pork $1.50 per lb. and turpentine $12 per gallon.
1820 - Sharon twsp., Richland Co. U.S. Census lists Joseph Curran: 1 male age 10-15, 1 M 26-45, 3 F 16-20, 1 F 26-40.
1824 - Joseph was a witness to his brother Alexander's will, died 11 Sept. 1823, probated 17 Jun 1824, Richland Co., OH.
1821 & 1825 - He was on the Richland Co., tax lists.
1825 - He voted in a township election.
1830 - On U.S. Census, Richland Co., OH
Curran, Joseph pg 065 Richland County, Sharon twp.
Joseph, Jr. pg 063 Richland County, Sharon twp.
Sam'l pg 067 Richland County, Sharon twp.
1850 - U.S. Census, Shelby town, page 697, #133 shows that Joseph was apparently in the household of Elizabeth Jones, his daughter.
I received the following by e-mail from Shirley (Burke) Avera, 3rd great grandchild of Joseph Curran Sr. (quote) What I do recall Granny [Nellie Maud Curran] saying about her grandfather Curran is that he was a Protestant Orangeman from Ireland. There was a lot of animosity in her about the Catholics and I guess when my Mom ran away and married my Catholic dad she was fit to be tied. Maybe it was not her grandfather who came directly from Ireland but perhaps an ancestor. There was a Curran who tended George Washington's horses--sure wish I could connect him to our family.
This is a quote from [Nellie Maud Curran's] book.: "I remember the stories my father told me about great-grandfather's farm, where my father was born and reared. He said that it was a large farm with a
river running through the center of it and when great-grandfather [probably George Arter, not John Curran] divided it into shares for his children, he allowed a portion of the river to water each heir's livestock. Most of their families' food was raised on this farm and great-grandfather [again, probably George Arter] had three hundred hives of bees at one time. Whatever money he was able to save, though it was only twenty-five cents at a time, he put aside in a tin box and in time was able to pay for his large farm. Each of the daughters was taught to spin and weave, and grandmother Curran used to make her boys' "linsey-woolsey" wampuses [jackets], which were made of wool and linen." (unquote)An e-mail correspondant identified only as "Maureen" sent me the following extract:FINBERRY. Genealogy of the Coffinberry family. Descendants of George Lewis Coffinberry, 1760-1851, & His Wife Elizabeth (Little) Coffinberry, with related families Coffenberry, Gilkison, Keasy, Platt, comp. by B. B. Scott. 64 p. 1927.
James Gilkison the father of James M. Gilkison had four half-brothers and two sisters. Their names were Joseph, Mathew, Alick and Stephen Curren; the two sisters were Aunt Sallie Coffinberry and Mrs. Bradshaw. His wife's name was Jennie Williams. Jennie Williams Gilkison had a sister who has a daughter by the name of Mrs. Cazzard, also a daughter by the name of Mrs. Blue. Mrs. Cazzard had a daughter by the name of Mrs. Prowty of Columbus. Ohio, and a son named Johnnie Cazzard. A mention is made of Joseph and Mathew Curren in the Township of Springfield in Graham's History of Richland County. Page 420: "In the spring of 1816 Mathew and Joseph Curren came and erected a cabin upon Mathew's land. (The Currens came 1815.) This is said to have been the first cabin in the township of Springfield. Shortly after the Currens erected another cabin. They had encamped where they intended erecting the cabin and were cooking dinner by a large log out in the open air for workmen who were to erect the cabin. One of Curren's children, a little boy, attempted to walk across the log in sport, made a miss step and fell into a large kettle of boiling coffee, scalding him to such an extent that he died the first death of a white person in the Township of Springfield." A. A. Graham says the Currens were Irish. Joseph Curren's children: Joseph, Miller, Mrs. Jones of Shelby, Ohio; Mrs. Burgoin. formerly of Plymouth, Ohio. There was another daughter. but do not know her name.
This suggests to me that the mother of James Gilkison Sr. might have been the mother of our Joseph Curran, Sr. by her first husband.
Shirley (Burke) Avera reported to me that she found Joseph Curran, Sr. in the 1880 census living in Allegan, MI, in the household of Adam Schuler. Joseph's name was typographically mispelled as "Currqn". Putting this together with his land record of 1814-1815 (see above) a birth year for Joseph, Sr. of around 1790 is not unreasonable; he would have been about 24 years old when his land was recorded and about 90 years old in the 1880 census.
Notes:
Michael married Catherine Dill or Dillin (feminine form of Dill) of Frederick, MD and they moved to Westminster area. They had ten sons and two daughters. Their tombstones are still standing and are inscribed in German. They are ornate and each states that they were married 44 years and give the information that he was born 22 Dec 1732, died 28 May, 1808 and Catherine was born 1737 and died 30 May 1805. They are buried in the Kreider Cemetery, Westminster, MD, which was a favorite locale for Edgar Allen Poe.
The earliest land purchase for Michael is 1765. A house at 1241 Old Taneytown Pike, Westminster, MD is said to have been built by Michael. Experts of old houses place it's origin as around 1780. He was a large land holder and at the time of his death various parcels of land were valued at $16,036.
While the eight children of Michael which are given herein as listed in his will, he is known to have had a child named Daniel and three others. Apparently they must have preceded Michael, Jr. in death.
Oerther to Arter, how come? -- According to the forward in the Arter/Arthur Family of Fountain Valley written by Dr. P. D. Skaar, (Director of Genetics Institute, Montana St. University) the theory from all the clues collected on the Oerthers is as follows, in part:
"The Oerthers were originally Swiss Moravians who migrated to Alsace-Lorraine, probably after the Thirty Years' War. (Several Protestant families were driven out of the town of Arth in 1655). But the chronic warfare that raged across Alsace-Lorraine and the German states on the other side of the Rhine was to make life almost intolerable for people living in these areas. A flood of immigration to Pennsylvania began about 1709 and continued for many decades. Wilhelm Oerther or his father moved from Alsace-Lorraine to Britain, where the family lived for some years. In 1751 Wilhelm Oerther and family immigrated to Pennsylvania; his son Michael was 18. Possibly Wilhelm's wife was named Maria Barbara. Since Pennsylvania was heavily settled by this time, Wilhelm moved to the new lands of western Maryland (Frederick was not laid out until 1745). Here, he was a member of the Moravian Church until persuaded by "Count" Rudolph to join the Lutheran Church. His son Michael married Catherine Dill or Dillin or Dillen (Dillin is the feminine form of Dill, and there were many Dills in early Frederick) and moved to the Westminster area. Although the preceding is all theory, it may be useful to later students of Oerther origins."
"If Oerther was the original spelling of the name, how did all of the descendent Arters and Arthurs come to spell it so differently? It makes sense that Arter and Arthur represent different compromises made to accommodate a difficult foreign name to the English tongue. The first problem is with the first vowel. "Oe" is the same as the umlauted "0" in German. It is pronounced by shaping the mouth for an "0" and then trying to pronounce an "E". There is no similar sound in English; perhaps the closest approximation is "er" as in "herd". It is no surprise that Michael's surname was entered on records as starting with every vowel except "I". "A" was the favorite and apparently it stuck. The second problem is with the middle consonant "th". Both 46 th"and "t" sound like "t" in German, and neither is as different from "d" as in English. It is no surprise that Michael's name was usually entered in records with a "t" rather than with a "th". The Arters apparently compromised by accepting the phonetic spelling of this middle part of the name. The Arthurs apparently compromised by abandoning the original pronunciation. The Arthurs seem to have passed through an "Arther" stage (though still used by some in PA), and then to have compromised once more on the final vowel to accommodate English speaking people to the more familiar name."
Notes:
Carol Cramer writes: "Wilhelm and Maria are in the list of communicants for 21 May 1775 at St. Benjamin's Lutheran Church in [?]. St. Benjamin's was also regularly attended by Wilhelm's son Michael. From this it is supposed that Maria was the wife of Wilhelm."
There is great uncertainty over the European origins of the Oerther/Arter family in America. The assignment of Wilhelm as their progenitor comes after a great deal of research by members of the Arter family who have been building and maintaining a genealogy for many years. Their work has turned up little more than circumstantial evidence upon which to make an educated guess, however, and they would be the first to agree on that assessment.
Notes:
George Oerther married a Susannah (-?-) and they had eight children: William, Solomon, Frances William, Anne, Mollie, Sofia, Susannah and Mary Theresa.
Notes:
John married a Susan (-?-) and they had five children: Hiram, Joshiah, Celesta, Sara, Miranda.
Notes:
Henry married a Magdalena (-?-) and they had five children: John, Joel, George, Elizabeth and Catherine. His will was probated 12 Sep 1807.
Notes:
Frank was a police officer in Omaha, Nebraska , a big man, who had his home across the river in Council Bluffs; this from Ted Cole Jr, a grandson. Ted also provided Frank's middle name and noted that Frank's widowed mother lived in Omaha.