Through Ancestry hints, I recently became aware of the death certificate for Amanda Minerva Curry Thompson that lists her parents as Hiram M. Curry and Elizabeth Bales. According to the death certificate, Amanda died in 1900 at the age of 69 years, 10 months and 3 days in Dayton, Indiana. I used the Birthday Calculator to determine her birth date to be 15 Dec 1830. The information on the death certificate was reported by Wm J Thompson.
The 1900 census has an Amanda M. Thompson living in the household of William J Thompson. According to the census, this Amanda Thompson was born Dec 1830. Amanda and her husband, William J. Thompson were married 51 years in 1900. Based on this, they would have been married in 1849. The census also indicates that Amanda was the mother of 9 children with 7 surviving in 1900.
The 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 all have a family for William and Amanda Thompson living in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. There are 5 children listed in the 1860 census: Adeline, Laura, Everard, Josephine and Clara. The 1870 census lists 3 additional children: Bill, Warren and Alfred. An additional child, Courtland Thompson, is listed on the 1880 census.
I haven’t located an actual marriage licenses (yet), but Ancestry’s ‘Indiana, Marriage Index 1806-1861‘ indicates that Amanda M. Curry and William Thomason were married 31 Dec 1848 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana.
Since I have 4 generations of Hiram Currey’s and Currey families living in Montgomery, Carroll and Tippecanoe Counties in Indiana, my challenge is to figure out whether Amanda Minerva Curry fits into this family.
One possibility is that Amanda is the daughter of Hiram Mirick Currey and Elizabeth Lane Currey. Elizabeth and Hiram were married in 1821 in Franklin County, Ohio. There is an abundance of records for Hiram Mirick Currey in Ohio up to his marriage in 1821. After 1821, it is hard to find records that might match. There is a census record in 1830 in Tippecanoe County, Indiana that is likely this same Hiram Currey. The oldest male is of an appropriate age (70-80) for this Hiram. This 1830 census records shows a female under 5 in the household. Thus, this could be Hiram Mirick Currey, his wife Elizabeth Lane Currey and a daughter, Amanda Minerva Curry. Since this is a second marriage for Hiram Mirick Currey, it could also be a second marriage for Elizabeth Lane. If so, then the other 2 females in the household could be Elizabeth’s children by a previous marriage.
A second possibility for the father of Amanda would be Hiram M. Currey of Peoria, Illinois. The 1830 census for Hiram Currey in Peoria County, Illinois does include a female under 5. However, records place this Hiram in Illinois from 1825 to 1844. Unfortunately, Hiram Currey of Peoria disappears from the records prior to 1850. His son, Hiram M. Currey (b1835), is listed in the household of Jane Currey in Carroll County, Indiana. Jane’s husband, Thomas M. Currey, was likely a brother to Hiram M. Currey of Peoria and thus likely an uncle to Hiram M. Currey (b1835). With one child of Hiram Currey of Peoria living with family in Indiana in 1850, it is possible that a daughter could have also gone to Indiana to live and married prior to 1850. Thus, it would be possible for Amanda Minerva Currey to fit into this family.
There are other Hiram Curreys in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, but my database doesn’t contain one that would be of the right age to have been the father of Amanda Minerva Curry.
My next step is to review the records I have for Hiram Mirick Currey and Hiram M. Currey (of Peoria) to see if there is anything that might refer to Amanda Minerva Curry.
Heartland Genealogy 