Facts Obtained From Civil War National Archive Files For Thomas Curry And Thomas Carville As Well As Considerable Supplementary Investigations

(John McCarty’s Military File Was Also Reviewed)

THOMAS CURRY (aka O'Curry)

1835-1864

Thomas Curry was born in County Cavan, Ireland, in 1835.  His sister, Ann, became a resident of New York in 1850, emigrating in that year, probably with Thomas and their mother.

Thomas’s mother, Ann Curry, was born in Ireland in 1800 according to the U. S. Census of 1860, which shows her age as 60 at that time.

Her maiden name is not known. There is no record of Thomas’s father who probably died in Ireland. The potato famine decimated Ireland from 1845-55 reducing the population from nine million to five million.

The date of Ann Curry’s birth--1800--is the earliest known date for the Curry family.

At 21 Thomas married Ellen Reilly, 22, (born in Ireland), on March 14, 1856, at the Church of the Assumption in Brooklyn. James Gorman and Ann Curry Garville were witnesses.

A child, Patrick, was born on June 2, 1856 and baptized on June 4, 1856 at the Church of the Assumption.

Ann Curry, the sister of Thomas Curry, was married to Thomas Garville, who was killed in the battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864. He was in the same Company and regiment as Thomas Curry. Ann became Ann Higgins when she remarried after Garville’s death.

Ellen Reilly Curry died in either 1856 or 1857.

Thomas Curry’s second marriage was to Mary Daly on the 23^rd of August 1857. The marriage was witnessed by John Toner and Ann Curry Garville. It is not known at what church the marriage took place. Mary was 22, the same age as Thomas. She was born in Ireland.

Thomas and Mary’s child, Charles Curry, was born on November 29, 1859, and baptized on December 3, 1859 at St. Paul’s Church, 117^th St. and 4^th Ave (now Lexington Avenue), Manhattan, N.Y. by Reverend George Brophy. The child was baptized Charles Henry Curry.

Thomas Curry was naturalized a citizen of the United States on November 19, 1860, at the Superior Court of New York in Manhattan.

His sponsor was John Toner, who is mentioned, many times in the family history. John Toner was best man for Thomas Curry at his marriage to Marv Daly. John Toner also presented an affidavit on the death of Thomas’s sister, Ann, and attended Ann’s funeral.

The U. S. Census of 1860 shows Thomas living on 110^th Street (between 1^st and 2^nd Avenues) in Manhattan. It lists his occupation as a gasfitter.  In the home at that time (July 26, 1860) was Thomas; his wife, Mary, 25; his mother, Ann, 60; Patrick 4; and Charles 8 months.

Thomas’s occupation probably was the reason he was involved in an accident, which caused his skin to darken. His grandson, Thomas C. Curry, said he was nicknamed “Black Tom” because he was in an explosion, which affected the color of his skin.

Thomas Curry enlisted in the Army on August 28, 1863 as a private. Thomas Garville, Ann’s husband, also enlisted the following February. Both were mustered into Company D of the 83^rd New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Company D was lead by Captain Grimes.

Mary Daly Curry died of dysentery on November 3, 1863. The death certificate was signed by Thomas Fitzgerald, M.D. This was less than two months after Thomas enlisted.

At this point Ann Curry Garville took over the responsibility of raising the two children, Patrick and Charles. She raised Charles from the age of 4 until her death in 1874 as Ann Higgins, at which time Charles was two months short of 15).

Thomas Curry was wounded at the 2^nd Battle of the Wilderness on May 6, 1864 and was taken prisoner by the enemy. This is the same day that Thomas Garville was killed. The records show Thomas Curry died at the Confederate Andersonville Prison Camp in Georgia on December 20, 1864.

General Sherman’s forces captured Atlanta in November 1864. The prisoners at Andersonville, Ga. were then moved by the Confederates to other locations in the South. Andersonville is about 100 miles southwest of Atlanta. Many prisoners were freed during Sherman’s march to Savannah and through the Carolinas. Thomas Curry may have died at a prison location other than Andersonville if his date of death, December 20, 1864 is correct.)

Andersonville was reopened by the Confederates temporarily after Sherman’s Army pushed North to meet Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Va. therefore it is still possible that Thomas Curry did die at Andersonville.

According to a the affidavit by John McCarty, a member of Company D and a friend of both T. Curry and T. Garville, he saw Thomas Curry wounded and taken off by the enemy. He added that only three of Company D were fit to report for duty after the battle. Records show that the Union Army lost 20,000 men in the battle of the Wilderness. About five thousand of this total were taken prisoner according to HARPER’S PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR.

John McCarty enlisted on the same day, February 15, 1864, as Thomas Garville, and both managed to get themselves assigned to the same Regiment and Company as Thomas Curry, who had enlisted the previous August. McCarty was 34 years old when he volunteered, born in Ireland, had blue eyes and a fair complexion and was five feet eight Inches In height. He was wounded a month after the battle of the Wilderness and spent three months in hospitals in Annapolis and Baltimore before being discharged.

After the death of her-husband and brother, Ann Garville obtained legal guardianship of Patrick and Charles on July 13, 1865. In 1866 she married Andrew Higgins. Her home was at 110^th and 4^th Avenue, Manhattan, N.Y. where Charles was living at the time of her death in 1874.

Ann applied for a War Pension for the two orphans in her charge on August 28, 1865. She was granted $8 a month for Patrick and $2 per month for Charles until the children reached the age of 16. Due to U.S. Governmental procrastination the pension was not approved until July 19, 1874, just two months before her death. Ann also received a pension for her husband, Thomas Garville, and their daughter, Teresa.

The death certificate for Ann Higgins from the Health Department of the City of New York, Office No. 301 Mott Street, shows the date of death as September 19, 1874. Her age was listed as 45 years, which would put her year of birth in Co. Cavan, Ireland as 1829. However, upon applying for pensions in 1865, Ann gave her age as 32. This would make her 42 at her death and that put the year of her birth at 1833. She had been a resident of New York for 24 years.  The certificate showed that both her father and mother were born in Ireland. Place of death was her residence at 110^th St. and 4^th Avenue, Harlem, N.Y. She died of “Remittent Fever”.  Place of burial was Flatbush Cemetery.

At the time of Ann Higgins death, Charles was in her care but Patrick had apparently left the home. Patrick would be 18 at this time while Charles would still be under the elusive war pension at 14.

Ann Gerrity, 46, a friend, looked after Charles at the 110^th St. address as evidenced by her affidavit for the Pension Office dated September 23, 1874. Ann Gerrity stated that she was present at the time of Ann Higgins’ death, attended the funeral services at the house, and witnessed burial on the 21^st of September 1874 at Flatbush Cemetery.

In addition to Charles, Ann Curry left a daughter by Thomas Garville, Teresa, age 15, as well as two children by Andrew Higgins. A stepdaughter, Sarah Garville, who was 17 at this time, was also a member of the household.  No mention is made of the whereabouts of Sarah or the Andrews children in either this file or the Thomas Garville file.

John Toner, 35, of 19 Tallman Street, Brooklyn, also presented an affidavit to the Pension Office on September 23, 1874.  He confirmed what Ann Gerrity had said. He was at the funeral and burial and had known Ann Higgins for many years.  As noted above he was a witness for Thomas Curry and Mary Daly at their marriage in 1857.

 Less than six years later, on June 13, 1880, Charles Curry married Henrietta Cox in New York City. Charles and Henrietta lived with her father, Andrew Cox, for several years at 22 Desbrosses Street during which Josephine and Mary were born. In 1882, after the birth of Mary, the couple resided at 97 Christopher Street. Charles was listed in the Manhattan Directory as a can maker at this time.    The Cox and Curry families moved to New Brunswick, N.J in 1884. Andrew Cox appears in the New Brunswick Directory until 1887 when he moved to Plainfield, N.J. where he died in 1900. He is buried in Elmwood Cemetery, New Brunswick.

St. Paul’s Church is still an active parish at the same location today. It was built in 1806 and its address is 113 E. 117^th Street near Lexington Ave. The Church of the Assumption is still active at 64 Middagh Street, Brooklyn.

Thomas J. Curry

May 21, 1990

(Revised November 21, 1991) 

REPEATED REQUESTS TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES IN WASHINGTON FOR INFORMATION ON A UNION SOLDIER FROM NEW YORK CITY NAMED THOMAS CURRY WITH TWO SONS, THOMAS AND CHARLES, BROUGHT ME INCORRECT FILES. NONE OF THE FILES I RECEIVED SHOWED TWO SONS.

FINALLY, I WROTE A LETTER OF COMPLAINT TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES TRUST FUND BOARD IN ATLANTA ON MARCH 22, 1990. I WAS INFORMED THAT A COMPLETE SEARCH OF RECORDS OF NEW YORK SOLDIERS SHOWED ONLY ONE TH0MAS CURRY WITH TWO SONS. THE SONS WERE NAMED PATRICK AND CHARLES. (NOT THOMAS AND CHARLES). I SENT FOR THIS FILE AND FOUND ALL INFORMATION TALLIED.

May 1990--JIM CURRY obtained Charles’ death certificate from Trenton, N. J. and it shows his birthday as November 28, 1859, which checked with this file. Charles used Joseph as his middle name in New Brunswick; no further record is shown where he used his baptismal name, Henry.

July 1990--RAY CURRY obtained Thomas Curry’s Military Record from the National Archives. The file shows that he appeared on the monthly Company Muster Rolls of the 83^rd Regiment, New York Infantry, from September 1863 through April 1864. The record indicates that he enlisted on August 28, 1863 in Brooklyn for a period of three years.

The November/December 1863 Muster states that he is entitled to a $25 advance on his Bounty. There is a Prisoner of War Record included which shows he was admitted to the hospital at Andersonville on October 11, 1864. The medical record shows the reason for admittance as “Scorbutus” (Scurvy).

November 29, 1990 --- I telephoned a Mark Bollinger at the Andersonville National Historic Site, Andersonville, Ga. He checked their records of the known dead (some 13,000 whose names were compiled surreptitiously by a prisoner of Andersonville) and Thomas Curry was not among them. There were many more unregistered dead. I sent Bollinger a copy of a Memorandum showing the admittance of Thomas Curry to the Andersonville prison hospital on October 11, 1864 as well as a Pension Document that shows the date of his death at Andersonville on December 20, 1864.

DECEMBER 1990--SEAN CURRY and RAY CURRY found Charles’ Marriage Certificate at the Bureau of Vital Statistics in downtown Manhattan. IT CONFIRMED THAT CHARLES’S MOTHER WAS MARY DALY, THEREBY PROVIDING THE FINAL CONFIRMATION THAT CHARLES WAS THE SON OF THE THOMAS CURRY WHO IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS FILE. The records show that Charles was married to Henrietta Cox on June 13, 1880. He was 20 and she was 17 and both resided in New York City at 22 Debrossy Street (near Delancey Street). Henrietta’s mother was Elizabeth McCromley. Andrew Cox was married on October 2, 1859 at the M. E. Church in Norfolk Street (near Delancey) in lower downtown New York City.

DECEMBER 27, 1990--l phoned Andersonville and a park ranger, Amanda Rhodes, checked their records and confirmed that Thomas Curry is now listed as a prisoner at Andersonville.  His company and regiment are listed as well as the names of his two children, Patrick and Charles Henry. The record shows he was admitted to the prison hospital on October 11, 1864. His death date is also included as December 20, 1864.

JUNE 1991--SEAN CURRY located the Naturalization papers of Thomas Curry in the Archives in Bayonne, New Jersey.

JUNE 1991--SEAN CURRY discovered that Thomas Curry’s mother, Ann, lived with him at 110^th St. between 1^st and 2^nd Avenue.  The information source--1860 Census—showed that his mother was 60 years old (born in 1800). The other residents of the home were Mary, age 25, Patrick, age 4, and Charles age 8 months. This brought the earliest recorded date for the Curry family to 1800.

JUNE 1991--SEAN CURRY checking the 1910 Census found that Theodore Cox, brother of Andrew, a widower of 58, was living with the Charles Curry family in New Brunswick. There was also a 16-year old boy named Andrew Cook, listed as a cousin.