An early settler of Pomona Valley, and a pioneer of Kansas before coming to the western country, David W. Curry came of a family with a long and honorable military record, and men of that name have served in every war of our country. Mr. Curry was born in Madison County, Ohio, July 22, 1838, his father, Captain James Addison Curry, served in the war of 1812, and his grandfather, also named James Curry, was a colonel in the Revolutionary War. Raised on the home farm in Jerome Township, Madison County, Ohio, and attending the country schools, young David enlisted in turn for service in his country's behalf. He joined the One Hundred Twenty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and his war record of three years' duration received honorable mention. Part of the time, on account of sickness, he was a member of Company C, Eighth Regiment Veteran Reserve Corps. He had the honor to be one of the guards at the funeral of Abraham Lincoln.
At the close of the war Mr. Curry returned to Ohio, and there on September 18, 1871, married Agnes R. Chapman, a native Ohioan and granddaughter of Abner Chapman, who settled in that state when it was a wilderness and the nearest trading post was seventy miles away, and there were no roads nor vehicles, all supplies being carried on horseback and in saddle bags. Soon after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Curry removed to Great Bend, Barton County, Kans., and pioneered there during the time of the buffalo and Indian in that section; a wild, unsettled country, the young couple established their home there the year after the Santa Fe Railroad came through, and set about carving a habitat for themselves in the wilderness. Mr. Curry took up a government claim of 160 acres and bought another quarter section, broke the raw land and cultivated its acreage until coming to California, in 1888. He helped organize the first public school in their district, and served as township assessor.
After his arrival in this state, he first bought twenty acres of land near Norwalk, Los Angeles County, and ran a dairy and chicken ranch. In 1902, he came to Pomona and bought a home on East Holt Avenue, and also invested in an orange grove; the later years of his life he lived retired, and his death occurred October 9, 1914. He was a member of Dan Bidwell Post, G.A.R. of Norwalk, and highly esteemed in the Pomona Valley for his fine traits of character and public spirit.
Five children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Curry, all born in Kansas; Gwin, one of the successful orange growers of Southern California; Daisy, Mrs. L.S. Kittridge of Seattle; Mrs. Abbie Ryan-Jones of Pomona; Mrs. Ethel Bidwell of Sacramento; and Phoebe May, a graduate of Pomona College and now a teacher in the public schools at Richmond, Cal. Mrs. Curry has six grandchildren to brighten her life.
History of Pomona Valley, California, with Biographical Sketches
of The Leading Men and Women of the Valley Who Have Been
Identified With Its Growth and Development from the Early Days
to the Present
Published in Los Angeles, Cal., by the Historic Record Company
1920
Transcribed by Linda Jackson 9/30/08, Pages 471-472
Los Angeles County Biographies ~ Archive Biography Index ~ Archive Index
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