I’m 74 and living in Brooklyn. My father, Philip, was 40 when I was born in Queens in 1948. His father, James, was 50 when Philip was born in Manhattan in 1908. My grandfather James died in 1928, 20 years before I arrived.
My grandfather James was born in New York around the same year, 1858, as Theodore Roosevelt. James’ parents had arrived in New York from Ireland in July 3, 1850 on a ship called Excelsior, with three of James’ older siblings, Cornelius, Hannah and Elizabeth.
James’ parents came from a town land in County Cork called Ballyhindon. William Curtin married Catherine Keating in the parish of Fermoy, the large town just south of their homes, in 1840.
My Grandfather James was a small child during the Civil War, but his brother Cornelius was old enough to serve as a drummer boy in the Union Army. Cornelius lived to a great age and died in 1935.
My cousin Helen told me how her father Al (my dad’s brother) took her across Manhattan as a small child to visit Uncle Connie and to make sure she remembered having shaken the hand of a Civil War veteran.
My grandfather James married my grandmother, 18-year-old Agnes (Annie) O’Connell in 1890. Late that year their first of 12 children, William, was born in New York. My father, Philip James, born 18 years later, was number 11.
In the late 1800s, Grandpa James was a founder of the Cherokee Democratic Club, located on the corner of 79th Street and First Avenue, which eventually became NYC’s largest (by membership) local chapter of Tammany Hall. He managed the club, for which he was provided with a home next to the clubhouse, where he and Annie raised their family.
On January 1, 1898, the historic day that NYC merged with Brooklyn and expanded to the five boroughs that formed Greater New York, James was appointed as the first Clerk of the City of New York. From his office in the basement of City Hall, he served eight mayors until he died in 1928, still in office during the administration of Jimmy Walker.
James and Annie’s children (my aunts and uncles and father):
William: b. 1890. Army in WW1. Civilian Conservation Corps. “Hero Milkman,” having foiled a pre-dawn robbery with a well-wielded milk bottle. Lifelong bachelor and electrician in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. d. 1962.
Eustace: died as a child.
Regina: b. 1892. Served as a YMCA recreation officer in the American Expeditionary Force in France after WW1. Died in childbirth soon after. Military Funeral from the Bronx Kingsbridge Armory. d. 1923.
Madeleine: Died as a child.
Louise: b. 1894. Married a farmer in the Catskills, where all the cousins came each summer to work and play. One daughter. d. 1964.
James Arthur: 1896. WW1. NY Police Dept Sergeant. d. 1955.
Alfred: 1899. Construction entrepreneur and steam equipment operator. One daughter. d. 1974.
Miriam: 1901. Married, no children. Entire career in NYC Municipal Building as clerk in the Manhattan Borough President’s office. d. 1978.
Edward: 1903. Married, one son. Veteran. d. 1957.
Cornelius: 1906. Died as a young man from peritonitis.
Philip (my father): 1908. Two sons and two daughters. NYPD 1931-1960. First Grade Detective, 28 squad, Harlem. Died while on duty 1960.
Raymond: 1910. Three daughters. Wounded in the WW2 Battle of the Bulge. Manhattan bus driver. d. 1975.
My father Philip’s and Mother Estelle (Donohue)’s children are all still alive and flourishing, ages 89, 86, 83 and 74 this year (2022).
Philip, Jr. 1933. One son, two daughters. Five grandchildren. All in the NYC area. Fordham U, U.S. Army, Columbia Law. Maritime lawyer. Lives Manhattan and Florida.
Eileen 1936. One son, three daughters. Queens College Master of Library science. Family leader. 12 grandchildren 1 ggc. Lives Long Island and Maine.
Judith: 1939. One son, one daughter. MS University Nebraska. Special Education supervisor. Three granddaughters. Lives Montgomery County, PA.
Kenneth (me): 1948. Young anti-Vietnam war activist. 42 years of US and international disaster relief. Three sons. All in Brooklyn, of course.
The younger generation includes mothers, fathers, nurses, lawyers and various other vocations and specialties.
All are flourishing with bright futures.
America, especially New York, has been very, very good to the Curtins.
If this story has touched you or stirred memories of your own family’s struggles to come to America that you’d like to share, contact Jeremiah Horrigan (jeremiahhorrigan@gmail.com) with a brief summary of your story and contact information. He’ll get back to you.
Join the family! 
