Amanda (Kelley) Curry (1835 - 1910)

Born 1 Jun 1835 in WV

Ancestors

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Biography

Occupation: Potter and farmer Robert fought in the Civil War with Company C, 33rd Iowa Infantry Regiment

Robert was born in Virginia and Amanda was born in West Virginia, but it is not clear where they were married. It is known that they were in Iowa before 1853 as their first child, Adaline Curry, was born in Mahuska County, Iowa. Mahuska County is located around Oskaloosa, Iowa, about 50 miles southeast of Des Moines, Iowa. They may have come to this area of Iowa due to relatives being in the area. According to the history of Mahaska County, there was a Robert Curry and a Robert Curry, Jr. already living there who were listed as being the first settlers in the county. They may have been relatives of our Curry's.

The 1860 census for the area listed a Joseph Curry living with them. Joseph was Robert's brother. At the time Joseph was about 18 years old, around 10 years younger than Robert. They were living in Richland Township of Mahaska County at the time. Joseph was listed as being a potter with assets of $250. The census listed their first four children as being born in Iowa but their fifth child, one-year-old James, was listed as being born in Missouri. According to Mrs. Leta (Curry) Taylor (their granddaughter), who supplied most of this information, James was born in Iowa. Robert had enlisted in the Union Army in Mahaska County, Iowa, on September 4, 1862. He was mustered out of service on July 20, 1865, at Davenport, Iowa, after being both wounded and captured during the war. For more information about his service during the war, go to: MORLAN FAMILY IN MAJOR WARS The family remained in Iowa until 1866. Times were hard after the war. While in the service he had noticed the soil around Barton County, Missouri, to be good potter's clay. They decided to move to that area. In that way they could fall back on being a potter again if farming was not good. They located south of Lamar, Missouri, and northeast of Boston, Missouri. The 1870 census for Missouri listed Robert as being a farmer in the North Fork Township of Barton County. The census indicated they had seven children with the first six born in Iowa. Their seventh child, Johnson, died before the census and their eighth child, Robert, was born in Missouri. Amanda was about 18 years old when her first child was born and 35 years old when she became a grandmother with the birth of Cora (Morlan) Waller. Robert Curry died April 15, 1879, in Barton County, Missouri, from wounds suffered in the Civil War. He was 45 years old. Their youngest child at the time was Maude Curry, about two years old. Per the 1900 census, Amanda was living with her son, Joseph and family, in Richland Township of Barton County, Missouri. About 1908 the Curry clan started the movement to Montana to homestead, although Dora (Curry) Carr and her family moved to south Dakota before 1900. For more information, see: MONTANA HOMESTEAD Amanda (Kelly) Curry died March 25, 1910, at the age of 74. Both John and Amanda (Kelley) Curry are buried in the Forrest Grove Cemetery -- an old, deteriorated cemetery south of Lamar, Missouri.

Sources

• www.genyourway.com/ke-hist.html