Why are the Curran, Harper, and Payne families all included in this history ?

For many years, most members of the Curran, Harper, and Payne families lived within an area of about two square miles in Chicago. The close social relationships between the members of these three large families were similar to what we might have expected to find in a village in Ireland or Scotland a hundred years earlier. The big difference was that adults in the adjacent neighborhoods in Chicago spoke German, Czech, Yiddish, Italian, Spanish, and Lithuanian.

Three children of Daniel Curran [DS.4] and Elizabeth Payne married 3 siblings in the Harper family of 9 children. These three marriages led to numerous children and descendants.

My mother [DS.4.5.7] and her siblings, all of whom were grandchildren of Daniel Curran [DS.4], had at least 53 first cousins on the Curran side of the family. Of these cousins, 18 were named Harper, 32 were named Curran, and 3 were named McClevey. Furthermore, since two daughters and one son of Daniel [DS.4] had each married a Harper, the 18 children named Harper each had a mother whose maiden name was Curran. Combined with the 11 children of Tom Curran [DS.4.5], this meant that there was a group of 64 cousins, at least half of whom lived in a neighborhood of about one square mile while the others lived nearby.

The father of Elizabeth Payne married 3 times and had 24 children (of whom at least 17 lived to adulthood.

This large group of Currans, Harpers, and Paynes interacted like one large extended family from about 1880 to about 1930. An anecdote relating to any branch helps us to understand the entire clan. In addition, some of our oral history has not distinguished between members of the three families. For example, the letter written by Bess Regan [DS.4.1.2] concerning the Civil War must be understood to include stories that she had heard about Harpers and Paynes as well as stories that she had heard about Currans. My cousin, Ben Nicks [DS.4.2.1.2] has conducted extensive genealogical research concerning the Harper family (much more than is reported here). I obtained many of the dates of birth, death, and marriage from him.