It’s just a guess based on location and age bracket tallies in Census listings that Arthur was the son of John.

These paint a very interesting story that supports the theory that when Arthur and Sarah had their first child, a son, they named him to honor her father: Patrick Cain.

1800. John Curry and Patrick Kane are neighbors in Harford County. Both are 45+ and both have a number of children living with them -- in John's case a son who is the right age to be Arthur and in Patrick's case a daughter of the right age to be Sarah.

1810. Arthur Curry lives in Harford County. He is age 16-25, as is his wife and among his 3 children is a son under 10 who is the right age to be Kean. A neighbor is Patrick Cain, possibly Sarah’s brother, too young to be her father.

1820. Arthur Curry lives in Harford County. He is now age 26-45, as is his wife and among his 7 children is a son age 10-15 who is the right age to be Kean.

1830. Arthur Curry lives in Harford County. He is age 30-40, as is his wife. No son is present of the right age to be Kean.

1840. Arthur lives in Harford Co. He is age 40-50, his wife 30-40.

1850. Arthur Curry, age 60, lives in District 1 Harford Co in the household of Joseph Hanway, no other Curry's are present. This may or may not be him. I searched Ancestry World Trees for Joseph Hanway and found a man of that name, son of Thomas Hanway and Sarah Keen -- but he was the wrong age for this Joseph. Still it is a very interesting coincidence.

There is a bit of a problem as to Arthur’s birth year as inferred from Census versus the fact of his 1805 marriage. From the 1810 through 1860 Census, his age was given as 16-25 (1785-1794), 26-45 (1775-1794), 30-40 (1790-1800), 40-50 (1790-1800), 60 (1790) and 75 (1860) -- respectively. Since his 1805 marriage would imply a birth year at least a few years earlier than 1790, I prefer to believe the Census listings that suggest 1785 or so as his birth year and not so much the other listings.

A related discrepancy is that in 1850, Arthur was not living with his second wife nor any other family, though they were back together in 1860. I am not certain I have found his second wife Elizabeth and their sons in 1850, though if I have then Arthur may have had several daughters by his second wife too.

It is not proven but the few facts I have are all consistent with the theory that Arthur Curry was the father of our known ancestor Kean Curry.

It is a fact that Arthur Curry married Sarah Cain 26 Mar 1805 in Harford County, MD.

We know Kean’s birth date. It was 16 Dec 1806, based on his exact age and date of death as given on his tombstone. The dates dovetail quite nicely.

We believe that Kean Curry’s full name was Patrick Kean Curry.

Arthur appears as head of household in Census first in 1810 and he had a son age 0-9 (possibly Kean). In 1820, sure enough he had a son 10-15. In 1830, no son was present -- but that is consistent with the belief that, by 1830, Kean had married Eliza. (I have been unable to find Kean and Eliza in 1830, but I think they were living with Adam Hendrix, her grandfather.)

I do not know who Arthur's father was, but there was a John Curry listed in Harford County in the 1800 Census with a son of the right age to be Arthur.

And perhaps most compelling, I have studied the Harford County Census listings for 1800 looking for a household that might include Sarah Cain and I found, in the household of Patrick Cain, a daughter of the right age to be Sarah. Patrick was a neighbor of John Curry.

So, the evidence is totally circumstantial, but I believe that Sarah Cain married Arthur Curry in 1805 and named her first son Patrick Cain Curry, after her father. I wish there was proof.

It’s just a guess based on location and age difference in Census listings that Sarah was the daughter of Patrick.

Saying Patrick and Sarah Cain are my ancestors is pretty speculative. I'm not even sure Patrick was the father of Sarah, let alone that Sarah was the mother of Kean Curry. The idea that Patrick was Sarah's father comes simply from the fact that Patrick was present in Harford County, MD in the 1800 Census with a daughter of about the right age to be the Sarah Cain who married Arthur Curry in 1805. Moreover, Patrick was a neighbor of John Curry who had a son of the right age to be Arthur.

The idea that Sarah was Kean Curry's mother comes from the tremendous coincidence of her father's name -- Patrick Cain -- and her son's name -- Patrick Kean (Cain?) Curry. And, there is nothing in early Census records that would appear to contradict this theory. But it remains only a theory.

An 1883 Baltimore directory lists Elizabeth Curry widow of Arthur living at 39 S Ann and Frank B Curry, a carpenter, lives at the same address.

Arthur’s second marriage to Elizabeth Connelly was documented. I found a message board post saying this marriage took place in the Catholic Church. There is a strong family tradition, of course, that Kean was Catholic. So Arthur’s second marriage may be some confirmation of this idea.

If Kean was an Irish immigrant, he surely was Catholic upon his arrival in America. The tradition is that he converted to Methodist upon his marriage to Eliza Koller. And they certainly were Methodist eventually. But the idea of his initial conversion is a little curious because the Kollers attended Fissel’s Church -- then called a Union Church (Lutheran and Reformed?) -- now called a United Church of Christ. I’m not sure, in either case, where the Methodist came from. I don’t think it was Eliza’s religion.

Information I found at the Maryland Historical Society, which may or may not be accurate, says that Elizabeth was the widow of John Connolly and was born Elizabeth Slade, daughter of Dixon. Also, Arthur and Elizabeth had a son born 11 Dec 1832 named Andrew Jackson Curry and another son named Benjamin Franklin Curry. [Per census, they may also have had several daughters.]