BIOGRAPHY: James Henry McCURDY, Mifflin County, PA

Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by P. S. Barr 

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The Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of the Juniata Valley, Comprising 
the Counties of Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry, Pennsylvania.
Chambersburg, Pa.: J. M. Runk & Co., 1897, Volume I, pages 474-475.

  JAMES HENRY MCCURDY, deceased, was born in Lewistown, Mifflin county, Pa., 
March 5, 1832, son of John* and Eliza (Bernheisel) McCurdy.  On the paternal 
side Mr. McCurdy was of Irish lineage.  His mother's family was of German 
origin, she being a daughter of Henry and Christina Bernheisel.  Her father came 
from Germany and settled in Lewistown, where he conducted a tannery during the 
rest of his life;  his family consisted of four daughters and a son.  Mr. 
Bernheisel was born February 26, 1761, and died December 25, 1829;  his wife was 
born December 2, 1761, and died March 27, 1829.  Among their daughters was 
Eliza, who married John Beck;  of this marriage there were two children:  
Christina, who married Jonathan Swan;  and Mary (Mrs. Campbell Wilson).  Mr. 
Beck died, and his widow was married to James McCurdy;  their children are:  
James Henry;  Robert, married Jane Spaulding, of Lewistown, has six children;  
Agnes Ann, died in childhood;  Eliza Jane (Mrs. Jefferson King), resides in 
Ohio.  Mr. James* McCurdy died August 16, 1868;  his wife died December 7, 1877.
  The education of James Henry McCurdy was begun in the common schools, and 
completed in the academy of Lewistown.  Under his father's instructions, he 
learned the trade of tanning, and continued working for him for some years.  He 
then removed to Salem, Columbiana county, O., where he worked for twenty years 
as an iron moulder.  In 1880 he returned to Pennsylvania, and resided at 
McClure, Snyder county, until his final return to Lewistown, where he occupied 
the homestead where Mrs. McCurdy now resides.  From the year 1882 he was unable, 
on account of impaired health, to pursue any vocation;  and his death occurred 
December 27, 1891.  He was devoted and affectionate towards his family and 
friends, kind and affable in general intercourse, and a good citizen.  His 
departure was widely regretted.
  James Henry McCurdy was married, September 13, 1853, to Ellen E., daughter of 
Leonard and Mary (Shenkel) Briner.  Their children are:  John L., who died in 
childhood;  Howard Wells, married Hannah May Blackburn, has one child, Leda Fay;  
and Emma Nettie (Mrs. Joseph L. Strunk), has children, Ralph, Carl, Leroy, 
Howard, Clarkson, who died young, and Wanda Ethel.  Mrs. McCurdy, as has been 
said, resides in the homestead;  she is a member of the Presbyterian church, and 
attends at Lewistown.  Her son, Howard W. McCurdy, is a printer and stationer, 
at Salem, O.     

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* Transcribers' Note: in this biography,  in one place it says the father of 
James Henry was John McCurdy, yet in another it says his father was James 
McCurdy.  I checked the 1850 Lewistown census, and James McCurdy, with wife 
Eliza, and children James H., Robert, and Eliza J. are there, so it appears that 
"John McCurdy" is a typo and really should be as it appears elsewhere in the 
bio, "James McCurdy"