John Currie
John Currie
Mary Jean (Currie) Hottman of Littleton, CO, the daughter of Neil Currie, identified her aunts and uncles as: BACK ROW, from left: Alex, Malcolm and Duncan. Middle Row: Mary (Mrs. Smith), Dugald, John, Donald and Jessie (Mrs.Houchins). FRONT ROW: Margaret (Mrs. Lake), John Currie and his wife Janet (Jeanette in this article), Neil and Jean (Mrs. John Carlson).
It is a fact indisputable that a man’s standing in the community is determined by two factors: the measure of personal good which he has accomplished in behalf of his fellow men and the degree in which he has achieved personal success and fortune in his own behalf. There are other conditions which have a decided bearing upon the opinion which his acquaintances and friends have concerning him as a part of the body politic, such as his faculty of making friends and his neighborliness, hi moral character, the weight of his personal influence when exerted for the right, and the care which he bestows upon his family. The man who measures fully up to these required standards is truly a man worth knowing, and of such is genuine history written which has a decided influence upon the rising generation. Tilling the soil gives but little opportunity for a man to become unduly famous or widely known, except within the borders of his own county, but of such men are the best communities created. The farmer measures up to the highest standards set for the gauging of manhood if he possesses to a certain extent the foregoing attribute. John Currie, farmer of Clinton Township, is a citizen whom it is a pleasure to know and who inspires respect on acquaintance and whose reputation is of the best. He is a pioneer settler of Sac County, one who commenced with little of this world’s goods at the beginning of his career, and who has amassed a comfortable competence through diligence, indefatigable effort and honest and straightforward dealing with his associates.
John Currie settled in Clinton township in the year 1874, on the northwest quarter of section 20. The country was at that time a wide sweep of unbroken prairie, with not even a wagon track to mar its even continuity of surface. The waving grass, growing to a height of three feet, covered the land like a vast inland sea of verdure. He was the third settler in this township. Two others had preceded him, H. J. Martin and Mr. Sherwood having previously settled in the township. Mr. Currie paid five dollars and sixty cents an acre for his land on a time contract. During his first year he was able to erect a very small house, twelve by twenty feet in dimension, and raise a fine crop of sod corn and potatoes. His corn yielded sixty bushels to the acre and he raised two hundred bushels of potatoes in this first season. He was enabled to dispose of the greater part of his corn and potatoes to good advantage. He traded some of the potatoes for two brood sows, which gave him his start in hog raising. He has ever been thankful for the smiles of Providence during this first year, as he had no money when he came to Sac County, and his good fortune came as a Godsend to him and his family. Mr. Currie recalls that money was a minus commodity for several years and there were times when the settlers became discouraged, he among them, for, in 1877, when the grasshoppers were devastating the land and driving the settlers eastward and westward by their ravages, even his optimistic attitude toward the world was changed, and, becoming thoroughly discouraged, he disposed of eighty acres of his land. Had a really good excuse been forthcoming at this time he would have left the county and remained away. Fortunately for him, there came a change in conditions, and prosperity gradually smiled once more on his efforts, and he was enabled to repurchase his former “eighty” in 1878. December 12, 1875, his son, Malcolm, the first white child born in Clinton township, first saw the light of day. In 1880 he bought eighty acres, containing improvements, for thirty dollars and acre. In 1883 he invested in one hundred acres and in 1886 he added sixty acres to his holdings. Since that time he has bought and sold several tracts of land. His home estate consists of four hundred acres of excellent land, on which is a good home, erected twenty-five years ago. He also owns one hundred acres in Wall Lake township. In 1912 he purchased six hundred and sixty-three acres of the Cook ranch, which is now in the possession of his sons, who are cultivating it.
Mr. Currie has long been a breeder of Aberdeen Angus cattle, and the size of his herd ranges from one hundred to three hundred head of this excellent stock. He is also a famous breeder of English Shire horses, and has twenty-five head of thoroughbred animals on the farm. He purchased his present home farm in 1892, at a cost of fifty dollars an acre, and has since resided thereon.
Biographically speaking, John Currie was born October 20, 1846, in Argyleshire (Argyllshire), Scotland, and is the son of Duncan and Mary (Smith) Currie, who emigrated to America in 1873 and settled in Clinton county, Iowa. John had preceded his parents to Clinton county by three years and had sent them such glowing accounts of the new country that they were induced to leave the home of their fathers and come to America. They were the parents of nine children, as follows: Neil, who resides in Scotland; John; Malcolm died in Schaller, Iowa; Mrs. Betsey Patton, of Wright county, Iowa; Mrs. Margaret Calhoun, who died in April, 1914, near Herring, Iowa; Hector, a farmer residing near Schaller; Duncan, formerly a farmer in Clinton township, now deceased; James, a citizen of Oregon; Mrs. Mary Fleming, deceased.
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The above photos are courtesy of Jay D. Currie. Click the photos to enlarge them.
When he had attained the age of twenty-four years, John Currie borrowed money from relatives in Scotland and set sail for America and arrived in the city of Quebec May 1, 1870. He managed to make his way southward to Whiteside county, Illinois, and obtained employment in the construction of a county drainage ditch at a wage of two dollars per day. In November of the same year he journeyed to Clinton county, Iowa, and worked in a sawmill, drawing wages of one dollar and seventy-five cents per day for his labor. He continued in this employment for three years, and at the time of his departure, in 1873, for Sac county, he was drawing two dollars and seventy-five cents per day. Being of a saving and thrifty disposition, he had managed to save one thousand dollars with which to begin his career in Sac county. Success has been his portion.
Politically, Mr. Currie is a progressive Republican, but he has never sought political preferment. However, he has lent his influence in behalf of good government and the selection of competent officials on every occasion where he could do so. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is fraternally affiliated with the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
Mr. Currie was married March 2, 1873, in Clinton county, Iowa, to Jeannette McGeachey, and on March 4th he and his bride started for their future home in Sac county. During this long period Mrs. Currie has been a true and faithful helpmeet and an excellent mother to her children. She is the daughter of Malcolm McGeachey, a native of Scotland, and was born February 14, 1849, in Scotland. This estimable couple have reared a family of eleven children, namely: Malcolm, county attorney, resides at Sac City, and of whom further mention is made in this volume; Duncan, a farmer in Richland township; Mrs. Mary Smith, also in Richland Township; John, a farmer in Cook township; Jean, at home; Neil, a farmer in Cook township; Alexander, owner of one hundred and sixty acres in Cook township; Mrs. Jessie Houchins, who resides in Wall Lake township; Margaret, a student a Ames College; Dugald and Donald, at home. (*see note below)
Mr. Currie is recognized as a man of sterling worth, whose life is closely interwoven with the history of the community which he has taken such an active part in building up, and his efforts have always been put forth in behalf of the advancement of the neighborhood. The well-regulated and industrious life which he has led entitles him to representation in this work thereby leaving an imperishable memoir for the future edification of his descendants and friends.
(*Note: A shortened form of this article appears in the Odebolt Centennial book. Additions to John and Janet Currie's children's information: Jean married John Carlson; Donald married Mary McGeachy; Duncan married Mary Stevenson McCulloch. A personal note - Mary (McCulloch) Currie was my father, Robert Girvan's, aunt. Because there were two Mary Curries in Odebolt, she was called "Mary Dunc" and the other was called "Mary Don.")
- Transcribed by B. Horak
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