Walter Currie: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 23:45, 9 March 2019

Walter Currie (22 August 1868 - March 1954) was a Scottish-Canadian-American who worked in the wool industry and had six daughters.

He spent his first 14 years in Scotland, lived in Canada until age 36, and lived the rest of his life in America until his death at age 85.

Namesake

In the Scottish census of 1851, a 13-year-old Walter Currie appears with his 5-year-old brother John Currie as living in a house headed by a 38-year-old Christina Currie. That would put this elder Walter as having been born in 1838. Therefore it appears that Walter Currie 1868, the subject of this article, was named after his uncle.

Early life

Currie was born 22 August 1868 in Scotland, to John Currie and Mary Riddell.

At 14, he, his parents, his brother and two sisters boarded the S.S. Corea in June 1883 to emigrate to Canada.

Marriage and children

On 3 Feb 1893 a Walter Currie appears in the Almonte Gazette as treasurer of the masonic lodge #79. He was 24 at the time.

At age 25, on 27 September 1893, he married 23-year-old Louisa Ward, who was born in England in 1869 or 1870 to parents Heneretta Berry and John Ward.

With Louisa he had six daughters:

Henriette Berry "Etta" Javery (1895 - 1967), moved to Florida
Mary Riddell Currie (10 February 1898 - 24 March 1976)
Ethel Louise Currie (11 October 1901 - 12 August 1974)
Grace Josephine McDonald (19 June 1907 - 10 February 1981)
Jean Dorothy Currie (1910 - 1 July 1993)
Ruth Leona Reeves (8 June 1912 - 12 January 1981), moved to Orlando, Orange, Florida, also, and died there.

It's likely their first two daughters were named after their maternal and paternal grandmothers, respectively.

According to the Canadian census of 1901 he was still living in Almonte, with a religion of Presbyterian, and his occupation as Warper Wheit.

Move to America

He emigrated to Worcester, Massechussetts, USA in 1905 with his wife and children, likely to take a job at a mill there.

By the time of the 1910 census he is an "overseer" in a woolen mill in Worcester. His 81-year-old father-in-law was living with them, and listed as blind and deaf/dumb.

He's listed in the 1920 American census his occupation is listed as Dressentinder, in the Woolen Mill industry, with a rented home, he had just moved into in 1920, on Colton Street, in Worcester Ward 5, Worcester, Massachusetts.

In 1930, he's living on Southbridge Street, Worcester, with his wife and Grace, Gene, and Ruth. He, his wife, and Gene are unemployed, but his daughter Grace is an assembler at a machine shop, and his daughter Ruth is a clerk at a telephone company. The woolen industry was evidently in severe decline by this point.

His wife died 28 September 1930, according to the Worchseter Directory, page 634.

On 17 July 1931, the Almonte Gazette reported that he returned to Almonte to visit his sisters Christena and Grace:

Mr. Walter Currie of Worcester, Mass., is visiting with his sisters, Mrs. Edward LeMaistre and Miss Grace Currie at present.

Relationship with extended family

My dad (Jack Currie) did refer to him as “Uncle Wattie” although I never did ask if he (Dad) had ever met him (Walter).
— Bill Currie, 29 May 2018

Death

He died in Worcester in March 1954.

Attestation

He appears in the Canadian census in 1901, and the American censuses of 1910, 1920, and 1930.

Sources

Almonte Gazette, 3 Feb 1893, Page 1 [1]

Almonte Gazette, 11 March 1954, Page 2 [2]

Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Death Index, 1901-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: Department of Public Health, Registry of Vital Records and Statistics. Massachusetts Vital Records Index to Deaths [1916–1970]. Volumes 66–145. Facsimile edition. Boston, MA: New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Massachusetts.

Ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library (Brampton, Ontario, Canada). Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1936 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928

Year: 1920; Census Place: Worcester Ward 5, Worcester, Massachusetts; Roll: T625_750; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 263 Source: Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).

Year: 1930; Census Place: Worcester, Worcester, Massachusetts; Page: 18A; Enumeration District: 0069 Source: Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.

U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, Worcester 1931, page 634.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-'''Walter Currie''' (? - 1954) was a Canadian-American who lived at the turn of the 20th century.
+[[File:Walter Currie family.PNG|thumb|Walter Currie and his family, circa 1908]]
-After marrying, he emigrated to Worcester, Massachussetts.
+'''Walter Currie''' (22 August 1868 - March 1954) was a Scottish-Canadian-American who worked in the wool industry and had six daughters.
-==Walter Currie 1838==
+He spent his first 14 years in Scotland, lived in Canada until age 36, and lived the rest of his life in America until his death at age 85.
-In the Scottish census of 1851, a 13-year-old Walter Currie appears with his 5-year-old brother John Currie as living in a house headed by a 38-year-old Christina Currie.  That would put him as born in 1838.
+==Namesake==
+In the Scottish census of 1851, a 13-year-old Walter Currie appears with his 5-year-old brother John Currie as living in a house headed by a 38-year-old Christina Currie.  That would put this elder Walter as having been born in 1838.  Therefore it appears that Walter Currie 1868, the subject of this article, was named after his uncle.
-==Walter Currie 1883==
+==Early life==
-He was born to [[John Currie]] and [[Mary Riddell]] in Scotland in 1883.  Later that same year, with his parents and two siblings, John and Christena, he emigrated from Scotland to Alamonte, Ontario.
+Currie was born 22 August 1868 in Scotland, to [[John Currie]] and [[Mary Riddell]].
+At 14, he, his parents, his brother and two sisters boarded the S.S. Corea in June 1883 to emigrate to Canada.
-==Walter Currie (21 August 1868 - 1954)==
+==Marriage and children==
-[[File:1893-02-03_-_The_Almonte_Gazette_-_Walter_Currie.PNG|thumb|Alamonte Gazette, 3 February 1893]]
+[[File:1893-02-03_-_The_Almonte_Gazette_-_Walter_Currie.PNG|thumb|The Almonte Gazette, 3 February 1893]]
-On 3 Feb 1893 a Walter Currie appears in the Alamonte Gazette treasurer of the masonic lodge #79.  He was 24 at the time.
+On 3 Feb 1893 a Walter Currie appears in the Almonte Gazette as treasurer of the masonic lodge #79.  He was 24 at the time.
 [[File:1893 - Walter Currie - Marriage.jpg|thumb|Marriage certificate, 1893]]
-At age 25, on 27 September 1893 he married 23-year-old [[Louisa Ward]], who was born in England in 1869 or 1870 to parents [[Heneretta Berry]] and [[John Ward]].
+At age 25, on 27 September 1893, he married 23-year-old [[Louisa Ward]], who was born in England in 1869 or 1870 to parents [[Heneretta Berry]] and [[John Ward]].
-According to the Canadian census of 1901 he was still living in Almonte, with a religion of Presbyterian, and his occupation as Warper Wheit.
+With Louisa he had six daughters:
-He emigrated to America in 1905 with his wife and children.
+* [[Etta Javery|Henriette Berry "Etta" Javery]] (1895 - 1967), moved to Florida
+* [[Mary Riddell Currie]] (10 February 1898 - 24 March 1976)
+* [[Ethel Currie|Ethel Louise Currie]] (11 October 1901 - 12 August 1974)
+* [[Grace McDonald|Grace Josephine McDonald]] (19 June 1907 - 10 February 1981)
+* [[Jean Dorothy Currie|Jean Dorothy Currie]] (1910 - 1 July 1993)
+* [[Ruth Reeves|Ruth Leona Reeves]] (8 June 1912 - 12 January 1981), moved to Orlando, Orange, Florida, also, and died there.
-By the time of the 1910 census his 81-year-old father-in-law was living with them, and listed as blind and deaf/dumb.  He is an overseerer in a woolen mill.
+It's likely their first two daughters were named after their maternal and paternal grandmothers, respectively.
-He's listed in the 1920 American census as immigrating in 1905, with his family.  At this point his occupation is listed as Dressentinder, in the Woolen Mill industry, with a rented home, he had just moved into in 1920, on Colton Street, in Worcester Ward 5, Worcester, Massachusetts.
+According to the Canadian census of 1901 he was still living in Almonte, with a religion of Presbyterian, and his occupation as Warper Wheit.
-In 1930, he's living on Southbridge Street, Worcester, with his wife and Grace, Gene, and Ruth.  He, his wife, and Gene are unemployed, but his daughter Grace is an assembler at a machine shop, and his daughter Ruth is a clerk at a telephone company.
+==Move to America==
-CHILDREN:
+He emigrated to Worcester, Massechussetts, USA in 1905 with his wife and children, likely to take a job at a mill there.
-* Henriette (1895)
+By the time of the 1910 census he is an &quot;overseer&quot; in a woolen mill in Worcester.  His 81-year-old father-in-law was living with them, and listed as blind and deaf/dumb.
-* Mary (1898)
-* Ethel (1902)
-* Grace (1908)
-* Gene (1910) (daughter on census)
-* Ruth (1912)
+He's listed in the 1920 American census his occupation is listed as Dressentinder, in the Woolen Mill industry, with a rented home, he had just moved into in 1920, on Colton Street, in Worcester Ward 5, Worcester, Massachusetts.
+In 1930, he's living on Southbridge Street, Worcester, with his wife and Grace, Gene, and Ruth.  He, his wife, and Gene are unemployed, but his daughter Grace is an assembler at a machine shop, and his daughter Ruth is a clerk at a telephone company. The woolen industry was evidently in severe decline by this point.
-He appears in the Canadian census in 1901, and the American censuses of 1910, 1920, and 1930.
+His wife died 28 September 1930, according to the Worchseter Directory, page 634.
+On 17 July 1931, the Almonte Gazette reported that he returned to Almonte to visit his sisters [[Christena LeMaistre|Christena]] and [[Grace Wilson|Grace]]:
-He married
+{{quote
+|text=Mr.  Walter  Currie  of  Worcester, Mass., is visiting with his sisters, Mrs. Edward LeMaistre and Miss Grace Currie at present.
+|author=
+}}
-He died there in 1954.
+==Relationship with extended family==
+{{quote
+|text=My dad ([[Jack Currie]]) did refer to him as “Uncle Wattie” although I never did ask if he (Dad) had ever met him (Walter).
+|author=[[Bill Currie]], 29 May 2018
+}}
-==Confusion==
+==Death==
-There is ANOTHER Walter Currie, who appears to be his uncle, who appears in the record.  It's not clear if this is a different person.
+He died in Worcester in March 1954.
+[[File:Walter Currie obituary.png|Almonte Gazette, 11 March 1954]]
-==Death==
+==Attestation==
-He died there in 1954.
+He appears in the Canadian census in 1901, and the American censuses of 1910, 1920, and 1930.
 ==Sources==
-Alamonte Gazette, 3 Feb 1893, Page 1 [http://mvtm.ca/gazette2017/display-pdf?ref=1893-02-03-01]
+Almonte Gazette, 3 Feb 1893, Page 1 [http://mvtm.ca/gazette2017/display-pdf?ref=1893-02-03-01]
+Almonte Gazette, 11 March 1954, Page 2 [http://mvtm.ca/gazette2017/display-pdf?ref=1954-03-11-02]
 Ancestry.com. Massachusetts, Death Index, 1901-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
@@ Line 73: / Line 89: @@
 Source: Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.
 Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.
+U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995, Worcester 1931, page 634.