More about Malcom

Received this email from a distant cousin about Malcom McCurry, the first of our clan to come to North America.  I have asked Dan for clarification on several points since I can't find any information online from the Chester and Morristown, NJ historical websites but while I wait to hear I thought I should post his information here.  Malcom is turning out to be a really interesting guy!

As always, you can email me at mccurrymail@gmail.com.

Hello cousin.

just saw your good work on old Malcom.. Having been to Islay several times, to Chester/Morristown NJ several times(seeing the Inn Malcom helped to build, the graves of Rachel, Benjamin, etc) looked at t he NJ records on Malcolm and crawled all over the old Malcom site(re plat maps)  with his surveyors signature on several documents  and the strong log cabin which bears his initials there on Jacks Creek,

let me just quickly set a record straight... as possible.

Chester and Morristown historical societies have significant records on Malcom and in their own early histories.  His Drake  Inn stands st ill in Chester  as does, I hope, son Benjamin's house there in Chester. 

Daughter jane came to WNC with her husband Nathanial Horton(also from Chester) who became the first legislator in the NC Assembly from that area.  As a regional quartermaster for the Continental Army Malcolm  was caught double dealing with the British/American forces ( see NJ records) and had  to flee that country leaving all of his property to wife Rachel and son Benjamin and settled on Jacks Creek. He then wandered across the border for a SC wife Sally Lynn and brought her back. 

Jane and Nathanial's homestead in on the high ridge  at the western gate of Burnsville  over the main road from Asheville to Burnsville. That property is now the site of the county's largest African American cemetery which started as the slave cemetery for the Hortons.  This is presently the Holcombe Family's home property. As Sally Lynn came into town to live with her daughter Jane after Malcoms death, it is almost certain that Sally was buried within the "Horton Family cemetery" which is now under the Holcomb house.  Malcom's burial site is possibly at his original Jacks Creek site... but also possibly his body was carried into town for burial in the Horton family site above.These Horton and McCurry DAR tombstones are just "placemarkers" with absolutely no record that the "first Malcom" or "Nathaiel Horton"(Academy Hill Cem) are buried where their tombstones  have been placed. 

Visits to any of the above sites is a grand experience. I'm now working on a musical extension to the recent "Hamilton"  Broadway hit.... but about the meetings of Malcom with Alexander Hamilton in both Morristown and Chester. Because the likliest sites for these meetings still stand in Morristown and Chester and in their historic condition, this will be fun. 

dan mccurry

Mac and Imy's Grave

My brother recently took a good photograph of my parents' grave.  I thought you'd like to see it since it not only has their birth and death dates, but it lists my father's military service in the US Navy, First Marine Amphibious Corps, Company B,  in WWII.  They are buried in the Wells Spring Cemetery outside of LaFollette, Tennessee.

Malcolm McCurry (or McCourry) Gravestone and More UPDATED

My dad always thought our branch of the McCurry family was descended from Malcolm McCurry's first family in New Jersey.  Scroll down a bit on this nice North Carolina genealogy site to read a good article about Malcolm.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ncyancey/revolutionarywarfamilies.htm

Yancey County is northeast of Asheville, NC.   Burnsville is the main town in the county.  Jacks Creek where his land is located is north of Burnsville, perhaps 8-10 miles away but a 15 minute drive due to all the mountains in the way.

I found a bit more information about the local New Jersey militia he was co-quartermaster for in the Revolutionary War here.  Apparently he (Malhoun McCurry?) was part of the Western Battalion.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~njmorris/munsellhistory/h-chpt05.htm

You may be interested in Sally McCurry's article about Malcolm.
http://obcgs.com/mccury.htm

UPDATE:  Apparently Malcolm was born in 1742 and died in 1829.
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=WebSearch-4118&h=3341456&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=7486

UPDATE #2:  Here is a bit about his parents--Scott McQuahrie and wife, Malcom's two wives and children.
http://www.geni.com/people/Malcom-McCurry/6000000003581146301

Another picture of his tombstone.  I don't know who is posing around the grave.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=MCCO&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=29&GScntry=4&GSsr=2921&GRid=55524320&

Here is a bit about his second wife, Sally Lynn, who was born in 1776.  It is not known when she died.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=MCCO&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=29&GScntry=4&GSsr=2921&GRid=55524320&

Here is information about two of their children, James Lynn McCourry, Sr.  and...
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=106014964

Harriet Harrison McCourry Tucker.  As is typical of our family, James Lynn McCourry named his first child after his father (Malcolm McCourry born 1820-?).  The name repeats used to drive my dad nuts as he researched his family.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=53901728

Frank McCurry and World War II

Frank During WW2

These photographs were scanned by my brother Mark from family photographs our father Hyluard had.  My brother wrote about these three images, "3 Military pictures of Frank McCurry, on back one says "where is the fire?", also says "PVT McCurry"..Private McCurry. Mom says he was in Army in Europe during WWII."

[My husband says the big gun in the photos is a 30 (or perhaps 50) millimeter water cooled machine gun, an anti tank weapon. It is a single shot fired recoil-less rifle.  He says it looks like Frank is standing on a big piece of concrete with a large piece of iron added on top.

He also says it looks like he is carrying a Thompson machine gun which was fairly rare until late in the war and usually officers carried those.  My husband says this might have been taken in boot camp using display weapons.  By 1943 you didn't see the water cooled machine guns any more as they were not reliable, they overheated quickly and you couldn't run a lot of ammo through them.  They were replaced by belt fed machine guns.]

I only saw Frank once in Michigan that I remember.  He and my father Hyluard looked enough alike at that point to be twins, right down to the same coloring (olive skin and black hair and brown eyes) and pattern baldness.  Dad told me once that Frank was never the same after World War II.  It looks to me as if these notes in Dad's distinctive handwriting were taken from Frank's letters home while he was abroad. I suspect he planned to use them to trace Frank's military service but as far as I know he never did so.  I found the notes in the big chest I inherited when my mother moved into an assisted living apartment  in the spring of 2011.  The chest my dad always said belonged to his family and there are many McCurry artifacts in it.

The notes read:
**********************
S/N 34022678
FRANK EUGINE McCURRY
April 10, 1941 Frank wrote that he was in the Army at Fort Oglethorpe (Troop F Cavalry)
Nov 4, 1941 Still at Fort Oglethorpe, was leaving for N.C. for [no place]

[Pearl Harbor is Dec. 7, 1941, so Frank joined before the U.S. entered the war.]

Feb. 11, 1942 - Fort Oglethorpe, home last week
Feb. 19, 1942 - Camp Blanding, Fla. Left F. Oglethorpe, Monday arrive here Wed. - (Pvt Troop F, 6th Cavalry)
June 1942 - on leave. Visited McVeigh, Ky
June 29, 42 - Parade 4th July - Orlando, Fla.
July 21, 42 - Dilworth, N.C. - on training exercise
Aug. 11, 42 - still in N.C., near Charlotte
Aug. 21, 42 - Back at Camp Blanding, Fla
Sept - now a Clp [corporal?] - Troop G, 6th Calv
Oct 14, 42 - Had been to Detroit while on furlough
Nov. 5, 42 - Moved to Ft. Jackson, S.C. near Columbia, S.C.
Dec. 17, 42 - Frank wrote that he would be leaving S.C. soon
Jan 4, 43 - Still in S.C.
Mar. 23, 43 - Still in S.C.
April  26, 43 - On Move   Murfreesboro, Tenn
Nov 29, 43 - some place in northern Ireland
Jan 25 1944 - still in northern Ireland, still haven't heard from Hyluard
March 12, 1944 - still in N. Ireland
May 29, 1944, Stationed in England - all ok
June 9, 1944, Had moved, but could not say where.

[D-Day was June 6, 1944.]

July 20, 1944, Hoped to be home by Xmas

[If he was with 4th Armored Division which is mentioned later (6th Cavalry was reorganized into Patton's Third Army as the 6th Armored Infantry and was part of the First Armored, 15th Corps), he was on Utah Beach, or right off Utah Beach where they relieved the 82nd Airborne, according to my husband. (Did you see Saving Private Ryan at the movies? The 82nd Airborne was scattered everywhere, that is why they had to hunt and hunt to find Private Ryan.)  Then he was with the light tanks most of the rest of the way. They fought a lot of elite German Panzer armored forces in the hedgerows with the 82nd Airforne, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge and relieved the 101st Armored Division in Bastogne.  For more information see the links.  The Presidential Unit Citation was given to his 6th Cavalry unit.  This is a very big deal as awards go.  Not many Presidential Unit Citations are given.  The latest I know of is my husband's MACVSOG unit.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Armored_Division_(United_States)

http://6thcavalry.tripod.com/6thcav/id1.html

http://www.6thcav.net/history.htm

Aug. 22, 1944, Wrote that he had been in France for a long time.  Had just returned from the Front.  Was in a rest camp.
Oct 9, 1944 - Bad weather, had a cold for some time, but O.K.
March 23, 1945 - location was cut out of letter, was in rest camp, asked that the folks visit a friend (Arlean Cook) who was about 10 yard from him when he got hurt.
April 7, 1945 - Had been moving fast.  War should be over soon.
April 26, 1945 - Think war will be over soon.  O.K.
With the 4th Armored Div. inclosed a letter by James Cannon in ref to Lt. Col. Harold Cohen.
Aug 28, 1945 Was in Berlin, waiting to be sent home, has 95 points, and should be home in Sept. or October.

[Another oddity as this was probably Russian-held territory.  He may have been in the area, but not Berlin proper.  The Americans stopped about 100 miles from Berlin and let Russia take the city.]

Was mailing Luda and Margie a German parachute.  Should be home last month, but order were changed.
*********************

The original photos are in my brother Mark's possession but he digitized these for me.  If you would like copies of the above photos, please email me at mccurrymail@gmail.com.  I am happy to share. Information in brackets is from my husband.

Bottom line:  Frank's unit was in very important battles in WW2 and received one of the most prestigious military awards given.

signed, Jane McCurry Wood

Frank E. McCurry (son of Daniel Boone McCurry)

Daniel Boone and Lelia McCurry and Family

With Danny McCurry asking about his grandfather Frank's high school football days on our Facebook page, I thought I would post the information my father Hyluard had on Frank, who was his brother.  First of all, above is a photograph of Daniel Boone McCurry and his family.  The information on the back reads "Boone & Lelia, Luda (tallest girl), Jasper (tall boy), Rhoda (small girl), Hyluard (small boy between parents),and Frank (baby).....Geneva not born yet. The photograph is undated but since Hyluard was born in 1910, this was taken a few years after that.  Let's say circa 1912.

Dad also had this photo of Frank Eugine McCurry as a young man. It is also undated and has no information on the back side.  Apparently Frank was quite a football player in high school.  His knickname was Bulldog McCurry.  Here's a bit about his play at Jellico (TN) High School, seventh paragraph from the bottom.
http://www.jellico.com/mayor/030123.html

I have three photos of Frank taken during World War II but I am going to post those separately.  The final photo of Frank I have is this one with his sister my Aunt Luda and his mother, my grandmother Leila Thursa Bowman McCurry.  It is undated but I would guess dates from the 1940s judging from the clothing.  Can anyone identify the location or date?

I know Frank had several boys--Bobby, Leon, Tracy and Jerry--but I don't have his or their birth and death dates, whom he married and when, or any complete list of Frank's grandchildren although I know Danny is Bobby's son and that Danny has a daughter of his own named Rileigh.  Feel free to add any information you have to the Comments under this article and to send me photos to add to this article.  My email address is mccurrymail@gmail.com.  If you want digital copies of any of these photos (my brother Mark has the originals and digitized them for me), please just email me and I'll gladly share.  Thanks!

signed, Jane McCurry Wood

Hyluard's Photo Album

These photographs were scanned by my brother Mark for me from photos Dad saved as important.  The caption numbers (which you will see if you put your cursor on the middle of a photo) refer to a typed list describing the photos.  I think my father created the typed list, but I am not sure.  I'll post that below the photo album so you can look up information on various photos.  As I have time, I'll rework the photos to make them as legible as possible and add others I find in an article that puts them in context.  Right now all are .gifs.  If you want a digital copy of any of these, please email me at mccurrymail@gmail.com and I'll forward one to you.  If you need a format other than gifs (such as tifs, jpgs, etc.) please let me know when you request the photo.

https://picasaweb.google.com/102117864343802967606/SlideAlbumHHMcCurry#slideshow/5709412743552930658

Listing of scanned  pictures

1. ajm & mmam Andrew Jackson McCurry & his wife Mary Margaret Adams McCurry

2. big dbleluda Boone & Lelia McCurry & Luda, picture made in 1901

3. dble & 3 kids left to right, Geneva (died of cancer, buried in Fla), Daniel Boone, Lelia (Dutch),Blanch (died of cancer,buried in Ohio), Frank (buried in Trenton, Mich)…taken Lafollette 1931

4.dble & 5 kids   Daniel Boone, Thursa Lelia, Luda Moneyhun (tallest girl), Jasper McCurry (tallest boy),Rhoda McCurry Marcum (small girl), Hyluard H (small boy between parents), Frank (baby).Geneva Mitchell not bornyet

5. dbm & his mom Boone McCurry and his mother Mary Margaret McCurry (made at her 

house in Jellico)

6. dbm & le older Daniel Boone and wife (Dutch) Thursie Lelia Bowman McCurry

7.grandma&pa Bowman tin type of Grandma & grandpa Bowman, David Franklin Bowan, 

lawyer?, McCurry kin whose kids now run Bowman's Jewelry store

8.hh & blanch Hyluard & Blanch, picture made in 1931, Blanch getting over fever,

hair had came out and is growing back in.

9. hh very young Hyluard, picture taken at old McCurry's farm, Speedwell,TN in Claborne County

10. hh with bike Hyluard at Fonda,KY…mom has reprint of this without the border, story is when this bike was new Mac kept getting up from bed to go check on it & finally his mom said just bring it in from porch into bedroom so all could get sleep. They lived in a place near Pat Deleon's current home is, in a place called Mingo Valley. Another story on this bike is that Mac had a bad wreck on it, got hit by a car, after getting hit driver yelled "watch out", Mac yells back "why are you coming back again?", he got scar on back from the wreck.

11. hh young Hyluard McCurry wearing hat

12. loda savage Loda Savage, picture say "How das this suit you" on back. Must be a cousin, Grandma's sister married a Savage.

13. small dbleluda small original version of #2, hand written "Mr DB McCurry Mrs TL 

McCurry" on back and then "and Luda" written in later by Mac, mailed to Mac by Luda.

14. letter Imojean typed version of a  letter of William Bowman to wife Susan Bowman 3/16/1863 while POW in Civil war, died soon after writing this letter…mom's notes on her handwritten version says " He was sent to Richmond VA and was very ill, & this Dr. ? took him to his home & he passed away soon after he wrote this letter, in 1863." Mom says jewelry store Bowman's have the original of this with more details. 

15. tin type print ajm mmm original print from tin type, Andrew Jackson McCurry & 

Mary Margaret Adams McCurry

16.  tin type young dbm tin type of  young Daniel Boone McCurry

17.  tin typeyoung ajm mmm tin type of  AJ & MMAdams McCurry, same as #16

18.  wlm mcc & fmly William McCurry & family, Boone McCurry's oldest brother

19.  luda landonadams Luda M Moneyhun, at Landon Adams grave in Va, who is brother of 

grandmother McCurry.  Edna McConnell knew about Landon who had kin going back to Pres. John Q. Adams. Dated Nov. 1968.

20.  susan crutchfield wlm bowman  grave marker of Susan Crutchfield wife of William McClain &

William Bowman died 1969. McClain are kin to Childress & Bowman are kin to McCurry's.  Dated Oct. 1964.

21. vance elliott Vance Elliott grave, cousin of Mac's grandmother McCurry, Marty &                      Mark at stone - dated Feb. 1968

22. 3  of Frank McC 3 Military pictures of Frank McCurry,on back one says "where is the    

fire?", also says "PVT McCurry"..Private McCurry. Mom says he was in Army in Europe during WWII.

23. grandma McCurry bro&sis grandma McCurry center standing, brothers & sisters, Susie Ellison on            back row right side (she had twins which now owns the Ellison Cleaning Supply in LaF), Howard Bowman, seated 2^ndon left, Ellie?, 

Sadie front left side, Jim Hawk Bowman seated 2^nd from the right, and Ella Bowman Whitehead on back row 1^st from left (lived in Lenoir City)..2 of these girls married guys with same last name. See #39.

24.  Stallard cemetery 10/8/67, Stallard Cemetery in Va., Geo Adams, 1^st wife, 2 girls & oldest son were buried in the front section of this cemetery. Imojean 

pictured with unknown man.

25. Mac young May 1945, Hyluard McCurry

26. Charley McCurry back of picture said "Charley McCurry, This is where the AJ McCurry

and Mary Mar"…ends like that. Picture taken around Jonesboro, Va at old McCurry house, mom has 2 doorknobs and wooden shingles from this house in her basement now. See #37.

27. hh luda bullards jane Alford Bullard, Hyluard, Alf mother or wife,Luda Moneyhun, Jane

McCurry in back. Bullards are not kin but close friends. Speedwell, Tn. Dated Oct. 1964

28.frank luda lelia Frank McCurry, Luda Moneyhun, Lelia (Dutch) McCurry at Lelia's house East Main Street in Jellico.

29. young Frank young Frank McCurry

30.aj McCurry stone Andrew Jackson McCurry's grave stone, Blue Spring Hollow, near

Speedwell, Tn..through Flat Hollow near Wells Springs, AJM & wife buried there, ask Ruth Carroll Bailey for exact locations.  See #31

31.mm McCurry stone Mary Margaret Adams McCurry grave stone, wife of AJ McCurry

born Sept 10, 1851 died May 28, 1932 at noon (letter from Blanch about this) She & AJM were married 6/11/1866.  See #30.

32.emanuel mccurry wife & luda Emanuel McCurry and wife in center, Luda McCurry Moneyhum 

on left. A cousin somehow, maybe son of William McCurry, taken near Dungannon, Va.

33.hh & cousin Ada H Ross Hyluard McCurry and cousin Ada Harber Ross, 1946, lives near cementery, dad really liked her, cousin on Bowman side.

34. Va McCurry home McCurry's home in VA, looking toward Stickley Store, near Stickleyville (not far from Gate City Va)

35.  mac & car Hyluard McCurry beside car, date on back 1946. This car was a Dodge bought after his wedding at Brown's in LaF….all others bought at Terry's in Rogersville. (Ford Deluxe Super Coupe was before marriage) Mac bought a car while working at Fontana (before this one in picture) and traded it in on this one…dealers story was some soldier boy had it in storage the entire war.... Mom's brother's picked at Mac over this.

36. blanch funeral Hyluard's mother and all brothers & sisters. Picture taken when Blanch

was buried. Washington Court House, Ohio.  Luda, Jasper, Rhoda

Margaret (Margie) Hyluard, Frank, Geneva.

37. Va mccurry home chimney McCurry old home in Lee County Va, near Jonesboro, Va (2 pictures) See # 26, taken at same place/time.  Dated Oct. 1964?

38. luda Luda McCurry Moneyhum, drug store Pikeville, KY

39. david f bowman David Franklin Family, think he was a lawyer & his wife had died , on front right Sadie Turner, Howard back row on far right (has a daughter in Alcoa area now),2^nd from right back row Lelia Bowman McCurry, back row left Susan (Susie) Ellison, front row left Ella Bowman Whited, James Hawkins (Hawk) Bowman back row 3^rd from right, he was jewler in Lafallotte, think 1 girl named Ella (Lumpkins family). See #23 also.

submitted by Jane McCurry Wood

Hyluard "H" McCurry's Family Tree

My father, Hyluard "H" (Mac) McCurry loved researching his family history.  This three page document, dated 1989, summarizes what Daddy knew and suspected about our family at that date.  The handwritten notes were corrections and additional information added by my mother, Imojean Childress McCurry Morris.  Clicking on the small photos should open much larger ones for you to read.

Page One

Page One

Page Two

I remember my dad telling me about his Great Uncle Lewis who Dad said was a very short man, and must have been quite tough to be sheriff for so long.  I remember that Dad said he died at a great age when he fell out of a cherry tree but my brother Mark remembers it as being a chestnut tree.  That is what is recorded here.

Page Three

If you have trouble reading any section, please leave a Comment here and I'll transcribe that section from the jpeg my brother Mark sent me.

Jane McCurry Wood