Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/53

Rh CURRIE, James George, Canadian statesman, b. in Toronto, 34 Nov., 1827. He was educated at Niagara, Ontario, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He was speaker of the Onta- rio assembly from 21 Dec, 1871, till 30 March, 1873, when he resigned and represented Niagara in the legislative council of Canada from 1862 till August, 1866. In 1875 he introduced measures in the Ontario legislature in favor of manhood suffrage in local parliamentary elections, for the establishment of cumulative voting in municipali- ties, and for the abolition -of grand juries.

CURRY, Daniel, clergyman, b. near Peekskill, N. Y., 26 Nov., 1809 ; d. in New York city, 17 Aug., 1887. He was graduated at Wesleyan in 1837, and in the same year became principal of Troy conference academy. He was called to a profes- sorship in the female college at Macon, Ga., in 1839, and in 1841 entered the Georgia conference of the Methodist Episco- pal church, holding pastorates at Ath- ens, Savannah, and Columbus. When the church sepa- rated into a north- ern and a southern liranch, Mr. Curry joined the New York conference, and filled impor- tant stations in New Haven, Brook- lyn, New York, and Hartford. Wesley- an imiversity gave him the degree of D. D. in 1852, and from 1854 till 1857 he was presi- dent of Indiana Asbury university, at Greencastle, Ind. He then resumed pastoral work till 1864, when he was chosen to the editorship of the New York '* Christian Advocate," retaining it till 1876. He edited the " National Repository " in 1876-'80, and resumed his ministerial duties till 1884, when he became chief editor of the " Methodist Review," having been an associate editor since 1881. Syra- cuse university gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1878. Besides about sixty articles in periodicals, Dr. Curry has published " New York : a Histori- cal Sketch " (New York, 1853) ; " Life-Story of Bishop D. W. Clark" (1873); "Fragments, Re- ligious and Theological " (1880) ; and " Platform Papers " (1880). He has also edited Southey's " Life of John Wesley " (1847).

CURRY, George Law, governor of Oregon, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 2 June, 1820 ; d. in Portland, Oregon, 28 July, 1878. His grandfather was a na- tive of England, and his father, George Curry, commanded the Philadelphia " Washington Blues " as first lieutenant in the battle of Bladen sburg in 1812. Young Curry removed with his family to Caracas, Venezuela, in 1824, but soon returned, re- siding near Holmesburg, Pa., till his father's death in 1829. From 1831 till 1840 he lived with his uncle in Boston, where he was apprenticed to a jeweller. In 1838 he was president of the Mechanic apprentices' library, and delivered several addresses and poems before the association. He went to St. Louis in 1843 and connected himself with Joseph M. Field in the publication of the " Reveille." He removed to Oregon City, Oregon, in 1846, took charge of the " Oregon Spectator," the first news- paper published on the Pacific coast, and in 1848 founded tlie " Oregon Free Press." He was ap- pointed secretary of the territory in 1853, and, after twice acting as governor for short periods, was ap- pointed to that office in 1854, and held it till the admission of Oregon into the Union in 1859. His administration was marked by the rapid develop- ment of the territory and by several Indian wars, one of which — in 1855 — was the most bloody in the history of the northwest coast. Besides U. S. troops, about 2,500 volunteers were kept in the field for several months, and Gov. Curry distin- guished himself by his services in conquering a peace. He was afterward thanked by the legisla- tures of Oregon and Washington territories. In 1860 he came within one vote of an election to the U. S. senate. In 1866 he worked earnestly in be- half of the Northern Pacific railroad, which he had first advocated in St. Louis in 1845. He afterward retired to his farm on Willamette river. He was subsequently state land commissioner.

CURRY, Jabez Lamar Monroe, educator, b. in Lincoln county, Ga., 5 June, 1825 He re- moved with his father to Talladega county, Ala., in 1838, was graduated at the University of Georgia in 1843, and at Harvard law-school in 1845. After entering on the practice of his pro- fession in Talladega county, he served in the Mexi- can war as a private of Texas rangers in 1846, but resigned on account of his health. He was chosen to the Alabama legislature in 1847, 1853, and 1855, and in 1856 was an elector on the democratic ticket. He was then elected to congress without opposition, as a state-rights democrat, and served from 7 Dec, 1857, till 21 Jan., 1861, when he re- signed, having previously joined with the other Alabama representatives at Washington in advis- ing the immediate secession of the state. He was a deputy from Alabama to the provisional Confed- erate congress, a representative in the first Con- federate congress, and in 1864-'5 served in the Confederate army, under Gen. Joseph E. John- ston, as lieutenant-colonel of cavalry. At the close of the war he was ordained as a Baptist clergyman, was president of Howard college, Ala., in 1866-8, and professor of English, philosophy, and constitutional law in Richmond college, Va., in 1868-'81. He was president of the foreign mis- sion board of the southern Baptist convention in 1874-85, and of the trustees of Richmond college in 1882-'5. In 1881-'5 Dr. Curry was general agent of the Peabody educational fund, and he has " labored in behalf of public-school education, higher, normal, and industrial, for all the people of both races." Dr. Curry is one of the most effective platform speakers in the country, and has declined numerous invitations to become a pastor, preferring to preach occasionally. An address made by him before the Evangelical alliance, urg- ing the complete separation of church and state, was reprinted and distributed in England by the disestablishment party. In the spring of 1885 Dr. Curry was appointed U. S. minister to Spain, and in that capacity he has settled several important questions that have been pending for years. Mer- cer university, Georgia, gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1867, and Rochester university that of D. D. in 1871. He is a contributor to the religious press, and has published speeches and pamphlets.

CURRY, Otway, journalist, b. in Greenfield, Ohio, 26 March, 1804; d. in Marysville, 17 Feb., 1855. He removed with his father to Pleasant Valley, Ohio, in 1811, and his early education was interrupted by the war. He went to Lebanon in 1823, learned the carpenter's trade, and worked at it in various towns till 1829, at the same time