James Joseph Curran (Curreen) : Short Biography

James Curran was the son of Catherine Tobin (of Curradarra, parish of Aglish, Co. Waterford), and William Curran (of Ballycullane, parish of Dungarvan, Co. Waterford) - who were married in Aglish, County Waterford, Ireland in 2 Feb. 1842. He was the grandson of Patrick Curreen and Catherine Murphy.

He was born and baptized in Ballycullane, Dungarvan, County Waterford. The birth date listed is the baptism date. The sponsors of his baptism were Phillip Foley and Ellen Mitchell. James had two brothers; Thomas born 1843 and Michael, born 1844 (also  born in Dungarvan). There were three more siblings born in Yonkers; they all died before 1860 - Mary born 1849, Catherine born 1852, and John born 1853.

He and his family immigrated to Yonkers NY in 1847 onboard the ship "Fidelia".  His father William died in Yonkers in the later part of 1853 and in 2 Jul 1854, his mother Catherine, married Patrick Flynn, a family friend. James had 5 half siblings from this second marriage: Mary (1858), Catherine (1860), Patrick (1856), John (1862), and Joseph (1865).

On 29 Jul 1864, James enlisted in the Navy, serving during the Civil War. According to his enlistment papers, James was 5' 3-3/4" tall, had gray eyes, brown hair and was of fair complexion. He served for three years and after discharge moved to Chicago, Cook County IL. On 4 Jan 1874 he married Margaret Gettens in a Catholic ceremony at the Holy Family Catholic Church. Officiating the ceremony was Father F. L. Sellers and the witnesses of the marriage were Michael Durran (this was probably Curran and may have been a relative of James) and Julia Piselle.

James and Margaret had 8 children. William (5 APR 1875), Michael (SEP 1876), Mary Anne (13 APR 1878),  Catherine (8 MAR 1880), Margaret (8 SEP 1882), James Joseph (4 FEB 1885),  and Mary Agnes, (12 APR 1887). There was one other child (possibly Thomas).  Michael, William, James, and Maggie, were the only children living by the 1900 census. His son Michael died in 1909 and his son James died in 1915.

James worked for the Chicago St Paul Freight House and was a foreman. The family was living at 512 Huron St. at the time of his death. James died of Gangrene of the Lungs at the age of  41.