Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
Mertz Genealogy - Person Sheet
NameMrs John Curry 
Census History notes for John (Spouse 1)
1790. John Curry lives in Harford County with a large family.
1800. John Curry age 45+ lives in Harford County, MD with 6 sons spanning all age brackets so may well include one named Arthur. A neighbor is Patrick Cain.
1830. Mary Curry lives near Arthur in Harford County. She is 50-60. Could she be the widow of John or is she too young?
1800. John Curry age 45+ lives in Harford County, MD with 6 sons spanning all age brackets so may well include one named Arthur. A neighbor is Patrick Cain.
1830. Mary Curry lives near Arthur in Harford County. She is 50-60. Could she be the widow of John or is she too young?
Research notes for John (Spouse 1)
William H Curry believes that Kean may have been named O’Currie at birth in Ireland, and possibly changed his name to Curry when he emigrated. I have seen speculation on the Internet (by sources linked to William H Curry, I believe) that the name Kean came from Kean Mahony in the Kilarney area and that Mahony may have been Patrick Kean’s mother’s maiden name. “Kean is a unique name in the Curry Family but it is relatively common in the Mahony Family. It comes from the line of King Olioll Olum of Munster, Ireland in the 3rd century AD. Keen Mahony is a relatively common name in SW Ireland. Patrick Kean Curry may have been named from his mother’s Kean Mahony family line. But this idea needs to be confirmed by facts to be accepted.”
To try to see if this Internet version of things made any sense, I have verified that a list of property owners in Ireland in the 1848-1864 period did include 3 Keane Mahony’s, all in County Cork, Mourneabbey Parish. It could be the same man with 3 properties but in any event the fact there were such people really proves nothing about Kean’s origins. I believe the person proposing this connection has simply got carried away with the observation that the name Kean exists in Ireland and has created a whole myth to make it a part of Kean Curry's heritage -- with no basis in fact whatsoever to support this theory.
There are several mentions of John Curry in the pre-1800 period. There are births in the 1790s for several children of John and wife Mary recorded by Peden in Harford County and two marriages for John Curry in Baltimore County -- one to Elizabeth Wilson 4 Nov 1775 and the other to Mary Sneak 12 Aug 1786. Had these been Harford County marriages, it would be of greater interest to me, but neither can be ruled out simply because it was Baltimore County.
John Curry took the Loyalty Oath in 1778.
To try to see if this Internet version of things made any sense, I have verified that a list of property owners in Ireland in the 1848-1864 period did include 3 Keane Mahony’s, all in County Cork, Mourneabbey Parish. It could be the same man with 3 properties but in any event the fact there were such people really proves nothing about Kean’s origins. I believe the person proposing this connection has simply got carried away with the observation that the name Kean exists in Ireland and has created a whole myth to make it a part of Kean Curry's heritage -- with no basis in fact whatsoever to support this theory.
There are several mentions of John Curry in the pre-1800 period. There are births in the 1790s for several children of John and wife Mary recorded by Peden in Harford County and two marriages for John Curry in Baltimore County -- one to Elizabeth Wilson 4 Nov 1775 and the other to Mary Sneak 12 Aug 1786. Had these been Harford County marriages, it would be of greater interest to me, but neither can be ruled out simply because it was Baltimore County.
John Curry took the Loyalty Oath in 1778.
My Comments notes for John (Spouse 1)
I start this chapter with John Curry. I know such a man existed and lived in Harford County in 1800 and was of an age to be a candidate to be Arthur Curry’s father and Kean Curry’s grandfather. But listing John Curry as our ancestor is totally speculative.
I'm not really sure that John was the father of Arthur Curry, but more importantly it is also unproven that Arthur was the father of Kean Curry. Regarding those two possibilities, I would be more willing to wager that Arthur was Kean’s father -- the evidence and/or logic will be discussed more fully elsewhere, but it starts with the coincidence and uniqueness of Kean’s name:
Kean is an unusual name, apparently his middle name, and often a man’s unusual middle name was also the maiden name of his mother.
So it is interesting to observe that Arthur Curry married Sarah Cain 26 Mar 1805 in Harford County and that Kean was born 16 Dec 1806. The coincidence of the dates and names proves nothing, but it has to be considered.
Moreover, on four separate occasions, Kean declared himself to have been born in Maryland and, separately, I can point to about 22 instances where one of his adult children confirmed a U.S. birthplace (mostly Maryland or once or twice Pennsylvania) for their father. There are no instances where either Kean or one of his children claimed Ireland as his birthplace.
So my best guess is that Kean’s father was Arthur Curry. I have less concrete evidence to support my theory that John was Arthur’s father. That idea starts with the observation that John was present in Harford County, MD in the 1800 Census and had sons in both of the age brackets (10-15 and 16-25) where we might possibly find a young man soon to marry Sarah Cain in 1805.
And I also observe, using the same kind of Census age bracket analysis, that the 1800 Harford County household of Patrick Cain included a young daughter of the right age to be Sarah. Family tradition is that Kean’s full name was Patrick Kean Curry. I have never found the document that states his full name -- he always went by Kean -- but if true then that fact is also compelling to the case I am laying out.
Because....Patrick Cain and John Curry were neighbors in 1800!
Regardless of who his father was, the question of whether Kean was born in America or was the immigrant Curry is a HUGE mystery. If he was the immigrant, then he was our only immigrant ancestor who came to America after the Revolutionary War. So I would really like to know what the truth of the matter is and I have worked hard to find any evidence of either scenario. But so far, all I have is circumstantial evidence with no real proof.
William H Curry was incredibly thorough in search of proof of the “Irish birth” version of Kean’s origins, including having traveled there in pursuit of that theory. He searched for him under the name O’Currie as well as Curry. He identified a person in the right timeframe named Kean Mahony of the Killarney area and pondered if Mahony may have been Kean’s mother’s maiden name. “Kean is a unique name in the Curry family but it is relatively common in the Mahony family.” But even he says: “this idea needs to be confirmed by facts to be accepted.”
I believe there is no basis for the idea that Kean’s mother was a Mahony other than the observation that the name Kean Mahony existed in Ireland. The alternative view, that Kean was born here to American parents, possibly to a woman whose maiden name was Cain, is the more probable story. I believe there is more evidence in support of the latter theory than of the Irish birth theory. But it is also unproven.
I'm not really sure that John was the father of Arthur Curry, but more importantly it is also unproven that Arthur was the father of Kean Curry. Regarding those two possibilities, I would be more willing to wager that Arthur was Kean’s father -- the evidence and/or logic will be discussed more fully elsewhere, but it starts with the coincidence and uniqueness of Kean’s name:
Kean is an unusual name, apparently his middle name, and often a man’s unusual middle name was also the maiden name of his mother.
So it is interesting to observe that Arthur Curry married Sarah Cain 26 Mar 1805 in Harford County and that Kean was born 16 Dec 1806. The coincidence of the dates and names proves nothing, but it has to be considered.
Moreover, on four separate occasions, Kean declared himself to have been born in Maryland and, separately, I can point to about 22 instances where one of his adult children confirmed a U.S. birthplace (mostly Maryland or once or twice Pennsylvania) for their father. There are no instances where either Kean or one of his children claimed Ireland as his birthplace.
So my best guess is that Kean’s father was Arthur Curry. I have less concrete evidence to support my theory that John was Arthur’s father. That idea starts with the observation that John was present in Harford County, MD in the 1800 Census and had sons in both of the age brackets (10-15 and 16-25) where we might possibly find a young man soon to marry Sarah Cain in 1805.
And I also observe, using the same kind of Census age bracket analysis, that the 1800 Harford County household of Patrick Cain included a young daughter of the right age to be Sarah. Family tradition is that Kean’s full name was Patrick Kean Curry. I have never found the document that states his full name -- he always went by Kean -- but if true then that fact is also compelling to the case I am laying out.
Because....Patrick Cain and John Curry were neighbors in 1800!
Regardless of who his father was, the question of whether Kean was born in America or was the immigrant Curry is a HUGE mystery. If he was the immigrant, then he was our only immigrant ancestor who came to America after the Revolutionary War. So I would really like to know what the truth of the matter is and I have worked hard to find any evidence of either scenario. But so far, all I have is circumstantial evidence with no real proof.
William H Curry was incredibly thorough in search of proof of the “Irish birth” version of Kean’s origins, including having traveled there in pursuit of that theory. He searched for him under the name O’Currie as well as Curry. He identified a person in the right timeframe named Kean Mahony of the Killarney area and pondered if Mahony may have been Kean’s mother’s maiden name. “Kean is a unique name in the Curry family but it is relatively common in the Mahony family.” But even he says: “this idea needs to be confirmed by facts to be accepted.”
I believe there is no basis for the idea that Kean’s mother was a Mahony other than the observation that the name Kean Mahony existed in Ireland. The alternative view, that Kean was born here to American parents, possibly to a woman whose maiden name was Cain, is the more probable story. I believe there is more evidence in support of the latter theory than of the Irish birth theory. But it is also unproven.