Alexander H. Currie biography

His life record began in Alabama on the 29th of October, 1837, his parents being Daniel D. and Mary A. (Goodwin) Currie. The father was a native of North Carolina and in the paternal line came of Scotch ancestry. In the year 1849 Daniel D. Currie, accompanied by his family, removed from Alabama to the Lone Star state, settling first in Rusk county, but after a brief period removed to Smith county, where he cast in his lot with the early settlers. Pioneer conditions were to he met there, bringing with them many of the hardships and trials incident to frontier life, but the family preserved in their attempt to make a home there and did not a little toward improving the county and promoting its substantial development. Both the father and mother died there, the father dying in 1851, while the mother died about 1875.

Alexander H. Currie was reared upon the old homestead farm in Smith county, having been a youth of about twelve years when brought to Texas. His education was acquired in the subscription schools, supplemented by knowledge gained through practical experience in after life, and although he is a self-educated man he is also one who keeps well informed on matters of general interest. Seeking a companion and helpmate for life’s journey, he was married in Smith county on the 22nd of November, 1865, to Miss Jane C. Stephenson, a native of Blount county, Alabama, born on the 21st of December, 1838, and a daughter of James and Nancy C. (Nation) Stephenson. In 1846, during the early girlhood of Mrs. Currie, her parents came to Texas and resided for a number of years in Harrison county, but subsequently removed to Smith county, where she formed the acquaintance of Alexander H. Currie, to whom she gave her hand in marriage. This union was blessed with eight children: Debbie A., the wife of Robert Tolliver, who resides near Fort Worth; James D., living at Dallas, this state, married Miss Belle Blockwell; John E. M., whose home is in Rusk county, married Miss Fannie Hopplenwhite and all live near home; Mary N., the wife of Elmer Utter, of Fort Worth; Effie A., living in Fort Worth; Robert M., who resides near Smithfield and is the present carrier on the rural free delivery route, No. 2; Celia O., at home; and Frances E., who is living at Fort Worth.

At the time of the Civil war Mr. Currie responded to the call of the Confederate and enlisted in Company E, Fourteenth Regiment of Texas Infantry. He participated in the battles of Mansfield, Louisiana, and in the engagements at Spring Hill, Louisiana, and Saline, Arkansas, together with others of minor importance. He enlisted in Smith county and when the war was over he returned to that county, where he resided until 1880, when he took up his abode near the city of Smithfield in Tarrant county. Here he has now made his home for twenty-three years and is the owner of a good farm of eighty-six acres, the land, which is rich and arable, returning to him satisfactory harvests as a reward for the care and labor he bestows upon the fields. He and his wife are devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, at Smithfield and for many years he served in official capacities in the church. He now belongs to the Farmers’ Union. During the years of his residence in the county he has been recognized as a man of genuine worth, free from ostentation and display, but possessing those sterling traits of character that in every land and clime command respect and confidence.

Source: B. B. Paddock, History and Biographical Record of North and West Texas (Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1906), Vol. II, pp. 130-131.

Facebook Comments