• Death Notices Read:
ìon Sat Night last, Mr James McCurdy of Cumberlandî^2, [Republican Compiler published Wednesdays]
"Saturday last, James M'Curdy, Cumberland twp. " [Centinel]³
• The Estate File at Adams County Historical Society shows #1075, James, 1822, Cumberland Township.

• The youngest son mentioned in his father's will, and a minor at the time it was written, he inherited from his father 1/3 of the family farm (the older boys each got a little more land, more for each older child, and this came to him according to his fatherís will when he came of age). The McCurdy farm is out Route 15 (Emmitsburg Road-Cumberland Twp, Adams County) about 4 miles from Gettysburg and before reaching Marsh Creek. The old school house on the right there is the ìMcCurdy Schoolhouseî and the site of this schoolhouse pertains to James' portion of his father's estate. His father's farm of 300 + acres extended to the east of the  Emmitsburg Road.

• Birth: ca 1786/7, Maryland According To 1850 Census and her death notice which informed she was 67.
• Death: 30 Sep 1854, Gettysburg, Adams Co., Penna [In 1850 census she was living with her daughter Nancy and Nancy's husband John SWOPE]
• Father: Unknown. See notes on  Joseph MOOR(E) currently under research as perhaps her relation.

Children of James McCURDY married Martha MOORE:

• Margaret (1810-1854) [her home was surronded  by Confederate Sharpshooters during the war. See account in her link]
• John [possible son under research] (1810-1893)
• Ann or Ami [very difficult to read first name] (1815->1850)
• Nancy Moore(<1820-1904)
• James [possible son under research]

Census Entries

The 1810 census for Cumberland tsp does not , inexplicably, yield any McCurdys. is the source Incomplete? (Ancestry.com subscription). Robert, his father died in this year, and by will gave his sons each 1/3 of the estate. SOME McCurdy should be evident.

The 1820 Census for Adams Co., Penna, Cumberland twp., shows a Martha MíCurday, in details of household,  numbers shown 3-1-1 (columns 7, 8, and 10...that is column 7 reads 3, column 8 reads 1 and column 10 reads 1)  corresponding according to  Ancestryís extraction data  to Number of Free White Females  under 10, (3) Number of Free White Females 11-16 (1) and Free White Females 26-45 including Heads of Family (1) .
This then would correspond to Martha (the one woman 36-45), three girls under 10 (Margaret, Ani [name extracted from 1850 census and hard to read there] and Nancy.  It also provides one female 11-16 who is not yet identified. It neglects HOH James and the two sons. No other details on the family are provided
Martha is not, in contrast to other women known as widows, named as such.
 
 
 
 
 

Birth: 1810, Adams County, Penna-Probably At Her Fatherís Cabin On The McCurdy Farm⁹
Death: 30 Sep 1854, Adams County, Penna⁹
Burial: Evergreen Cemetery, Gettysburg, Adams County,  PA
Resided : SW corner of S baltimore and Breckridge Street; The original bldg is at 301-303 Baltimore, image of same below.

Historical Context and Getysburg Battle Factoid : Two sons served for the north in the war.  Their home was surronded by confederate sharpshooters during the battle. This family  sent their dtr Tillie to the relative safety of the Weikert Farm, which was south of town and behind Little RoundTop. It soon became a field hospital . Her full acount  is viewable on line. There are in addition  Annotated Accounts which give more data on Tillie the girl, and her family.  Tillie,   a 15 year old school girl at the time, provides an insightful acount of the battle first hand  She wrote  as provided in another source in part how " The alarm that ìthe Rebels are Coming!î caused a mass exodus from Gettysburg by free, African-American citizens (8% of the population) who feared capture and enforced slavery. Tillie described their passing by her house: ìI can see them yet; men and women with bundles...children also...The greatest consternation was depiceted on all their countenances as they hurrided along;...towards the woods on Culpís Hillî. On the morning of July 2ndConfederate Sharpshooters established their headqquarters along he Breckenridge Street side of the Pierce house. For 2 days Confederates sheltered themselves outside the building while inside the Pierceís successfully hid and sustained five wounded Union soldiers. Following the batlle the Pierce family took in and nursed the severely wounded Colonel William Colvill, 1st Minnestoa Infantry, to a successful  recovery. '  Spouse: James PIERCE9 Birth: 18069 Death: 18969 Occupation: Butcher. His Store was on the SW corner of S baltimore and Breckridge Street; The original bldg is at 301-303 Baltimore Street. The family lived above the store. Burial: Evergreen Cemetery,Gettysburg, Adams Co., Penna Marr: 11 Aug 183510

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a     Painting of Confederate Sharpshooters who  built a barricade across Baltimore St.  at Breckinridge St,  firing toward Cemetery Hill. Painting by Don Troia. Image from Gettysburg Photo Album The Borough: Civilian Experience in Town Page8. Below is a photo from same page.  Photo by Don Worth, UCLA.

Newspaper entry (the Compiler) states: "James Pierce married Margaret McCurdy, daughter of James and Martha Moore McCurdy, Married on 11 Aug 1835". Daughter Margaretís marriage with parents listed from Republican Compiler, newspaper of era and so secure. Besides this, her father lies buried with her on her married family plot in Evergreen.

Children:

• Matilda ìTillieî (1848-1914) She is the writer of the first hand account of a young girl's experience of the Battle of Gettysburg mentioned above. She married Horace Alleman, an attorney, and resided with her husband in Selinsgrove, PA²²
• James (->1865) [with Co K 1st PA reserves in Civil War.;  he survived the war]
• William (->1865) [Co E 15th PA Cavalry in Civil War;  he survived the war]
• Margaret A.

• In 1888 Charles McCurdy of Gettysburg wrote that James was one of three sons of his grandfather James McCurdy, and of the three ìThe latter had three sons, via: William (4) - my grandfather (who was elected over Thaddens Stevens to the legislature . . . . ) Robert (4) and James (4). Robert went to Ohio, and I know nothing of his descendants. James died, leaving one son who settled in New Albany, Indiana, and William remained in possession of his father's farm in this, Adams County.î¹²  {Please note that James had more progeny than here given, but this again substantiates a family story that the McCurdyís of Indiana descend from Adams County McCurdys}
• Both John and his brother James  are found  in the Historical Geneology of the McCurdy Family, a compendium written 1917 and nearing contemporaneous for these entries, based, apparantly, on word from descendants encompassed in the text, and the work of the Compiler (D. E. McCurdy) ⁴ This source does not provide hard geneological data, but is within living memory of the correspondants to compiler and can be considered possible but not proven. Birth date for John in source corresponds to birthdate for Margaret, but Margaretís birthdate is based on DAR records and so can not be considered absolute.
1. From Hist Geneology, a compendium from 1917 and written very close to demise of children here listed for John: ìJames McCurdy, the youngest son of Robert's, married and had two sons: John; James. Both of them went to New Albany, Indiana and located but later James removed to Brazil, Indiana. John was born in 1810 and died in 1893. He married Elizabeth Ross of whom eleven children were born, as follows:
1. John P. McCurdy died in 1904. He married Margaret Updegraph and had eight children: Orris died in infancy; Orville died in childhood; Uri B. married Ethel Woodward but has no children; Annie V. married Edward Clark and has three children: Ruth born 1904; Glenelle born 1906; Georgia born 1908. They live in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. Mary C. married Dr. J. A. Stewart had has two children: Margaret born 1897; John born 1899. Hartley U., unmarried, lives in Hutchinson, Kansas. Arletta married Alta M. Poe and has one child, Grace Odessa. George born 1882, died 1897.
2. Clark McCurdy died in 1883. He married Lovah Kutze and had two children.
3. Winfield S. McCurdy died in 1887. He married Leah M. Potette and had three children who live in Ossawatomie, Kansas.
4. William McCurdy died in 1880. His only child, Mary, married ---- Jackson and has two sons: Francis; Arthur.
5. Robert McCurdy died in 1894. He married Katherine Bacon and had two daughters: Margaret; Elizabeth.
6. James M. McCurdy was born in 1846 and died in 1907. He married Ada Emery and had three children: Francis born 1872 is unmarried and lives in New Albany, Indiana. Emery J. born 1874 is unmarried and is president of the McCurdy Manufacturing Company in Louisville, Kentucky. Carter S. born in 1874 and died in 1875.
7. Francis M. McCurdy was born in 1850 and died in 1906. He married Mary E. Miller, the daughter of Jacob E. and Lucy (Stines) Miller and the granddaughter of Abraham and America Stines. They had four children: Wyrtie, unmarried and lives in New Albany, Indiana; Hene married W. L. Glasscock and lives in San Rafael, California; Erwin and Uri B. both unmarried and live in Bloomington, Indiana.
8. John McCurdy - his only living son, David Austin married Florence Furgeson and has two sons: Clinton; Ralph. All live in Redford, Indiana.
9. Laura McCurdy died in 1883. She married Newton Williams and has three children: Charles; Francis; Maud.
10. Susan McCurdy died in 1880. She married Thomas Andrew and had a daughter, Grace.
11. Mary McCurdy married Hugh McCreery and has six children: Margaret; Curtis; Eva; James; William; Annie.î¹³
• It appears he was in Westmoreland before going to Indiana IF he belongs as son to this father at all: Notes for JOHN MCCURDY:
• 1850 PA Census: Westmoreland Co. Fairfield Twp. p. 142 family 446:
• John McCURDY, 41, Farmer, 3000
• Elizabeth, 33
• Robert, 15; John, 13; Mary, 11; Winfield, 8; James, 5; William, 3; Francis, 1¹⁴

Children:

• Robert (1835-1894)
• John P (ca1836-1904)
• Winfield S (1837-1887)
• Mary (1838->1917)
• James M (1846-1907)
• William (1846-1880)
• Francis M (1850-1906)
• Susan (1851-1880)
• Clark (1856-1883)
• Austin (1853-)
• Laura (-1893)
• John

\

*Daughter Ami is a presumed daughter found as an unmarried adult female in census of 1850 living with John Adam Swopeís family along with James McCURDY's widow Martha [Moore] McCURDY,  and Martha and Jamesí other daughter Nancy (married John Adam Swope) . Therein this Ann or Ami  is identified as 34, female, born Penna.  Her first    name is very  hard to read, but she is clearly entered a McCurdy born in Penna. She could, perhaps, be a wife to a McCurdy male,  perhaps one of  James and Marthaís sons, but the two known sons, James and John (whose wife is known leaving only James as a possibility, and that remote) , both removed to Indiana and this possiblity seems remote but worthy of comment. Her name is hard to make out, looks to be Ami-34, shows clearly she was born Penna. The only evidence of this Ann or Ami is in the census of 1850 when she is living with Nancy McCURDY, her presumed sister, and her presumed sister's husband John Adam SWOPE. Present as well, as stated just previous, is Martha McCURDY, Nancy [nee McCURDY] Swope's mother.

ìMíCurdy, Nancy of Gettysburg married Swope, John on 27 feb 1845î¹⁸
ìOn Thursday last by the Rev Professor Baugher Mr. John A Swope to Miss Nancy McCurdy, all of Gettysburg.î¹⁹

Daughter Nancy Moore McCurdyís marriage was announced in Republican Compiler, with parents mentioned. She is also present in all family notes, and in family pictures with other family members.
She was probably born in the cabin her father built out the Emmitsburg Road and in Cumberland Township, and which, according to historians at the Adams County Historical Society, still exists, and is now an antique shop, although I could not find it. This is supposed to be before Marsh Creek.  The lands of her father were parcelled out in three bundles to his sons, and James, the youngest, inherited the farm lands west of old Route 15. There is a schoolhouse called the McCurdy Schoolhouse out the emmitsburg Road which is a now an abode. This was on the familyís farmlands and likewise is on the west side of Old 15. I couldnít find the antique shop, and will need to drive the stretch again to locate it. Nancy Moore McCURDY is assuredly Secure and Direct.

Spouse: John Adam ìJohnî SWOPE^20,21

• Birth: 2 Oct 1815, Gettysburg, Penna
• Death: 25 Oct 1880, Gettysburg, Penna
• Father: Adam SWOPE (1778-1855)
• Mother: Lydia SPANGLER (1785-1841)

Children [detail on each children available by general Children  link] :

• Lydia Jane (1845-)
• James Adam ìJamesî (1848-)
• Samuel McCurdy (1850-1931)
• John Franklin (1855-1895)

1.5 James [possible son under research] McCURDY¹¹

Both James  and his purported brother  John are from Historical Geneology of the McCurdy Family, a compendium written 1917 and nearing contemporaneous for these entries, based, apparantly, on word from descendants encompassed in the text, and the work of the Compiler (D. E. McCurdy) ⁴
This source does not provide hard geneological data, but is within living memory of the correspondants to compiler and can be considered possible but not proven. Birth date for John in source corresponds to birthdate for Margaret, but Margaretís birthdate is based on DAR records and so can not be considered absolute.

From Hist Geneology, a compendium from 1917: ìJames McCurdy, the youngest son of Robert's, married and had two sons: John; James. Both of them went to New Albany, Indiana and located there but later James removed to Brazil, Indiana. î¹³

Sources for James McCURDY married Martha MOORE

1. Will Abstract Robert McCurdy
"Abstracts of Adams County, Pennsylvania Wills (1800-1826)" Kevin L Greenholt. Family Line Publications. 1988
Robert McCURDY, Cumberland Twp, sick, Children: William, Robert, Nancy PAXTON, James, Margaret w/o George SHEKELY, Martha w/o Samuel TAGGART, Mary w/o Robert THOMPSON, grandson: Robert McCurdy PAXTON. Exec: Sons William, Robert. WItnesses: Robert HAYES, David HORNER, Robert MAJOR. Written: 5 Aug 1805 probate 25 May 1810. Son.
2. ìAdams County Sentinel (Centinel) -Spelling varies at Historical Society-mostly Sentinel,î Adams County Newspaper published Gettysburg, Sited by the Adams county historical society in mcCurdy file, 11/27/1822 newspaper stating ìDied Sat Am last Saturday last, James M'Curdy, Cumberland twp.î no further info.
3. Adams County Newspaper ìThe Republican Compiler,î 27 Nov 1822 edition. , transcribed Online,  but this entry may also mean viewed ADAMS Co Historical Society by this writer in theirr Microfilm library. Online transcription available at [http://www.rootsweb.com/~paadams/nxpdeath.htm, ]
4. HISTORICAL GENEALOGY OF THE McCURDY FAMILY, compiled prior to 1917 and published by the author., Work is Compiled letters unverified by hard data, Written and compiled by D. E. McCurdy Copied by Patricia (McCurdy) Townsend, Lubec, Maine 1994, http://members.tripod.com/~quoddybelle/HisGenMcCurdy.html.
5. Family Notes from D M Swope-research and interviews. 1789 by family records, it appears by Obit and census she was born 1787 or 1788.
6. Frederick County Backgrounds-Marriage Records of United Churches of Tomís Creek and Piney Creek Presbyterian Churches, marriages by Rev Davidson, B F M   McPherson under pseudonym of Samuel Carrick, her Ancestor, Articles published in the Chronicle Newspaper, Emmitsburg Md, in the 1930s and 1940s, Caveat Emptor proviso in relation to the family history quality of the data by source transcriber Steve Gilland, Accesable via GenForum Library  In larger file called Family History: Colonial Families of Maryland, 1600s-1900s, Page 27-Marriage Records of the Rev Davidson, ìNov 24 1808. James McCurdy to Martha MOOREî.
7. Historical Sketch of the Presbyterian Churches of Emmitsburg and Piney Creek, William Simonton, Paster, The Congregation; Printer J. E. Wible, Corner Wash/ North Streets Gettysburg 1876, Delivered to the Piney Creek Church July 27 1876, Cited at Adams County Historical Society in McCurdy and allied lines, with publication present in ACHS library.
8. ìLetters in the McCurdy File from fellow researchers,î Adams County Historical Society, Gettysburg, Penna. McCurdy file.
9. ìDAR Lineage Books Volume 90,î DAR ID Number 89340, Accessible via DAR  Lineage Books Search on line (www.Ancestry.com), Mrs Matilda Pierce (Wife of Horace Alleman), page 111.
10. ìThe Republican Compiler,î Adams County Newspaper, On line, but this entry may also mean viewed ADAMS Co Historical Society by this writer in thier Microfilm library,. Online transcription available at  http://www.rootsweb.com/~paadams/nxpdeath.htm.
11. HISTORICAL GENEALOGY OF THE McCURDY FAMILY, compiled prior to 1917 and published by the author., Work is Compiled letters unverified by hard data, Written and compiled by D. E. McCurdy Copied by Patricia (McCurdy) Townsend, Lubec, Maine 1994, http://members.tripod.com/~quoddybelle/HisGenMcCurdy.html, DESCENDANTS OF JAMES MC CURDY.
12. This is a collection of family letters pertaining to their geneology, many dated from close of 19th Century, Compiled and Written by Edward Elbridge Salisbury and Evelyn McCurdy Salisbury New Haven, ConnecticutÝ, Copyrighted and Privately Printed in 1892, Edited and Updated regularly by Patti Anne McCurdy, Ottawa, Ontario, 1998, http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~pattianne/history/.
13. HISTORICAL GENEALOGY OF THE McCURDY FAMILY, compiled prior to 1917 and published by the author., Work is Compiled letters unverified by hard data, Written and compiled by D. E. McCurdy Copied by Patricia (McCurdy) Townsend, Lubec, Maine 1994, http://members.tripod.com/~quoddybelle/HisGenMcCurdy.html, DESCENDANTS OF JAMES MC CURDY .
14. Link to source on web http://www.michaelscottcaldwell.com/genealogy/mccurdy/robert.html.
15. Gilbert Ernest Swope, The Swope Family 1676-1896, T.B. & H.B Cochran, Publishers, 1898. page 89.
16. Family Notes from D M  Swope-research and interviews. Notes give dates of 1818-appears disputed by census in which she would have been born 1820/21. DM was intimate with Nancy's son Sam.
17. ìCensus listing.î 1850 Gettysburg, Adams Co, Penna shows she is 29, 1870 census she is 49.
18. ìAdams County Sentinel (Centinel) -Spelling varies at Historical Society-mostly Sentinel,î Adams County Newspaper published Gettysburg, Sited by the Adams county historical society in mcCurdy file, 3 march 1845 edition.
19. ìThe Republican Compiler,î Adams County Newspaper, 3 march 1845 edition. On line, but this entry may also mean viewed ADAMS Co Historical Society by this writer in thier Microfilm library. Online transcription available at  http://www.rootsweb.com/~paadams/nxpdeath.htm
20. Gilbert Ernest Swope, The Swope Family 1676-1896, T.B. & H.B Cochran, Publishers, 1898. pages 75 & 89.
21. ìCensus listing.î Gettysburg Borough, Adams Co, Penna Enumerated Aug 23.

22. Scholarly eval of Tillie Pierce, who wrote a young girlís account of the battle of Gettysburg: http://www.gdg.org/tallman.html

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