James Francis Curran [DS.4.7]

(3 Dec 1875 — 17 Apr 1949)

This photo on the left was taken circa 1893.  The photo on the right was taken on 25 July 1897. At that time, Jim was employed as a sawyer by a box-making company. He had already married Malinda Harper.

BIRTH
Jim's daughter, Grace Curran Sweeney, told me that Jim was born 3 Dec 1875.  Since this was after the Great Chicago Fire, there is probably a birth record that will resolve the contradiction in the record of baptism. I have found no record of when Jim added the middle name "Francis".

Box Maker and Union Organizer
Jim Curran [DS.4.7] was by trade a box maker. Sometime before 1914, he became a union organizer. He used to travel "all over the country" organizing for the International Union of Box Makers. Grace [DS.4.7.6] still has a postcard written by Jim [DS.4.7] in that era. The card is addressed to:

Mrs. Minnie Curran
Wooster Lake
Ingelside, Illinois

Noble Farm

The message is simply: "Will be home Thursday."

Eventually, Jim [DS.4.7] started his own box-making business. It was called Curran and Company. According to Grace and Marty Sweeney, Jim [DS.4.7] remained true to his principles. He ran the only union box shop in the City of Chicago. He [DS.4.7] paid his employees 50 cents per hour during the Depression while his competitors were paying only 5 or 10 cents per hour.

Grace [DS.4.7.6] was intrigued by the safe at Curran and Co. It was so big it could not be moved. When the building was torn down for a garage to be erected on the site, the safe had to be blasted apart.

Another newspaper clipping:

"No time for political fences. Met James Curran, former State Representative, with his nephew former Judge George Curran the other day. Jim isn't thinking of politics. He is busy in his box factory and he pays 50 cents an hour in bright contrast to much lower scales that have prevailed in certain similar concerns on the West Side."

Grace [DS.4.7.6] commented, "Yeah, 5 and 10 cents an hour; but he had a union box shop. And the only one in the City of Chicago."

BRIDEWELL

In 1927 (probably in April), Jim Curran [DS.4.7] was appointed Superintendent of "The House of Correction, City of Chicago". In the 1920's, this jail was always called "The Bridewell".

The name "Bridewell" originally belonged to a well dedicated to Saint Bride and located between Fleet street and the Thames River in London, England. The name was later given to a palace built on the same site by Henry VIII in 1522. In 1553, the palace was converted into a workhouse for the poor and a "house of correction for the idle and vicious".  From this originated the generic term "a bridewell" meaning "a house of correction". In 1555, the Bridewell in London became a place of punishment. It continued as such until its destruction in 1864.

The Bridewell in Chicago was located on California Avenue near 26th Street and next to the County Jail. Jim [DS.4.7] and his family lived there from April 1927 until Cermak became Mayor of Chicago in April 1931. One of the first things Cermak did after he was inaugurated was relieve Jim [DS.4.7] of his duties. This was probably necessary since Cermak started immediately to use the Bridewell for personal services. He sent his family laundry to the Bridewell laundry; he sent his personal car to the Bridewell to be washed and serviced; etc.

Grace Curran (Sweeney) [DS.4.7.6] lived with her parents at the Bridewell from 2 months before her 13th birthday until 2 months before her 17th birthday.

Jim's son, Ed Curran [DS.4.7.2] was a guard at the Bridewell and, later, was in charge of the Bridewell farm. The farm is in Willow Springs, Illinois, at 66th Street and County Line Road.

During Jim's superintendence at the Bridewell, a cellhouse was built on the Bridewell farm. The internal bricks along the stairway leading down to the solitary confinement area are marked JAMES CURRAN, SUPERINTENDENT. The Bridewell farm was sold in late 1979 to a developer for housing. Grace [DS.4.7.6] told me that she would like to get some of those bricks.

Marty Sweeney [DS.4.7.6S] (25 Feb 1910--25 Jan 1988) said that the cellhouse on the farm also contained a bronze plaque (about 3 ft x 2 ft) with raised letters that said JAMES CURRAN, SUPERINTENDENT, WILLIAM HALE THOMPSON, MAYOR, etc.

POLITICIAN

It appears that Jim Curran [DS.4.7] first became active in politics about the time that his brother Tom [DS.4.5] was first elected as State Representative in 1906. This activity continued at least until 1932 when Judge Barrett (sp?) defeated Jim [DS.4.7] for the post of Republican committeeman of the 21st Ward.

After the death of his brother Tom [DS.4.5], Jim Curran [DS.4.5] was appointed State Representative to fill the unexpired term of office.

Undated clipping from a Chicago newspaper:

"Currans Rally for Mayor"

"Representative James Curran brother of the late Thomas Curran, for many years chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the lower house at Springfield, will hold a family party at the Bal Tavarin at the Hotel Sherman in the interest of Mayor William Hale Thompson. There will be 300 Currans and Curran relatives around the banquet tables representing three generations. Originally there were six brothers and three sisters in the Curran family. All married and have sizable families. Representative Curran said, 'With these 300 Currans and Curran kinfolk, we can reach 2500 voters who are married into the Curran family. They will vote for Thompson.' All guests at the union will be 21 years of age or older...all voters..."

I asked Jim's daughter, Grace [DS.4.7.6], about the significance of the event. She replied, "I think my father [DS.4.7] just wanted a party."

My favorite picture of Jim Curran [DS.4.7] was taken during the 1920's. He is sitting at an open, roll-top desk that is filled with papers and is obviously much used. He is wearing a dark suit with vest. The suit has wide lapels, and pin stripes about a half inch apart. He is wearing a wide-brimmed fedora over his bald head and has the ever-present cigar in his left hand. Jim [DS.4.7] had red hair in his youth.

Noble Farm
According to Grace [DS.4.7.6], Jim Curran [DS.4.7] always rented the Noble Farm on Wooster Lake for the entire Summer. The farm was owned by a nearby hotel. Grace [DS.4.7] said that the farm was "right down the road" from the house that Tom Curran [DS.4.5] later owned. The last Summer that Jim [DS.4.7] and Minnie [DS.4.7S] rented the cottage at Noble Farm was in 1914, the year that Grace [DS.4.7.6] was born. I have seen a photograph of Grace [DS.4.7.6] and her mother [DS.4.7S] taken that Summer on the Noble Farm. Grace [DS.4.7.6] was about one month old: Minnie [DS.4.7S] was about 35 years of age. Minnie [DS.4.7S] was standing next to an automobile with a 1914-plate on the front.

Living on the farm meant extra work for Malinda [DS.4.7S]. Finally, in 1914, she said, "No more of this 'all Summer'". They never again spent a Summer at Nobel Farm.

When Jim [DS.4.7] and Minnie [DS.4.7S] were at Noble Farm, they were frequently visited by other members of the Curran and Harper families. This is indicated by two group photographs shown to me by Grace Curran (Sweeney) [DS.4.7.6]. Both were taken circa 1910.

The first photograph shows

• My uncle George Curran [DS.4.5.2], son of Tom Curran [DS.4.5].
• Alice McClevey [DS.4.1.3]
• Bess McClevey (Regan) [DS.4.1.2]
• Joe Regan [DS.4.1.2S], husband of Bess [DS.4.1.2]
• Euducide Hebert (Harper) (called Grandma Harper by everybody, including Nellie Cahill). She was the mother of Malinda [DS.4.7S].
• Sarah Curran (McClevey) [DS.4.1]
• Malinda Harper (Curran) [DS.4.7S]
• Matie [DS.4.7.1], Grace's oldest sister.
• Jen [DS.4.7.3], Grace's sister.
• Bob Curran [DS.4.7.4], Grace's brother.
• Olive Harper, daughter of John Harper.
  Malinda was probably the godmother of Olive. Olive seems to be in many pictures at the Farm. Olive was about the same age as grace's brother, Walter Curran [DS.4.7.5].
• Walter Curran [DS.4.7.5]. He wore a dress in the picture. Grace [DS.4.7.6] said the boys all wore dresses when they were little. Marty [DS.4.7.6S] indicated that this custom resulted from a shortage of money. "We didn't have any money. All we had was kids."
• Ed [DS.4.7.2], brother of Grace [DS.4.7.6].
• Edmund Harper [DS.4.2.4], son of Will Harper [DS.4.2S].
• Malinda's gofer

The second photograph shows

• Jim Curran [DS.4.7]
• John Harper, a brother of Malinda [DS.4.7S].
• Minnie's gofer
• J. Oliver Johnson [EE.9S₁], first husband of Jennie Arpin [EE.9].
• George Curran [DS.4.5.2], my uncle.
• Malinda [DS.4.7S]
• Grace's Aunt Eugenie, a sister of Malinda [DS.4.7S].
• A fireman "who used to hang around".
• Suzy Harper
• Three sons of Jim [DS.4.7] and Minnie [DS.4.7S]:
  Ed [DS.4.7.2]
  Walter [DS.4.7.5[
  Rob [DS.4.7.4]

KIDNAPPING
Jim Curran [DS.4.7] was kidnapped in September 1931. Following are selections from related newspaper clippings. One of the clippings was dated 29 September 1931. One of the newspapers was the Chicago American.

"State Representative James F. Curran, West Side Republican leader and former Superintendent of the Bridewell reported to the police at Springfield last night that he had been held prisoner for 5 hours by kidnappers who seized him as he was motoring to Springfield to keep an appointment with Governor Emerson. The men, three in number and armed with three machine guns, four revolvers..."

"They robbed him of $28. in cash".

"One of the men kept talking about shooting me but they had gone through my pockets and found papers that identified me as a State Representative. The other two argued that if I were killed the resources of the state might be used to run down the men."

The car was stopped by a state highway policeman named Mester. Jim realized that they were prepared to shoot the policeman so he identified himself and they were allowed to proceed. Jim was released at the State Fairgrounds in Springfield and was told that he would find his car in a few days in Chicago.

"Curran said that he had been instrumental in obtaining the release of West Side Jack Lynch, wealthy gambler who was kidnapped last month and held for a ransom of $50,000."

Grace [DS.4.7.6] commented, "And my father always had a roll on him. Pa always carried a lot of money. But this time he had only $28."

The kidnappers were caught and sent to jail. Grace [DS.4.7.6] said they were drug addicts. Two of the kidnappers were John Buster Miles and Harold McCarthy (who was a Bridewell prisoner when Jim was Superintendent). Every time the prisoners came up for parole, their attorneys came to see Jim Curran [DS.4.7] to get his approval of a parole. Jim [DS.4.7] said, "Why should I let them out? I put them in jail; why should I let them out?"

ANNIVERSARY PARTY
Jim [DS.4.7] and Minnie [DS.4.7S] had a 50th Wedding Anniversary party in 1946, probably at the Morrison Hotel in Chicago. They had been married on 4 July 1896 but had the party on Grace's wedding anniversary, 30 June 1946, which was a Sunday evening. That was the 12th anniversary for Grace [DS.4.7.6] and Marty Sweeney [DS.4.7.6S].  Among the few people outside the family invited to the party were Tom Gordon and Frank Sloan.  Dr. Yurka, Jim's family doctor in the 1920's, had probably died by then.

The Frank Sloan at the party was probably the Alderman Frank Sloan who was in the first car to arrive at the scene of the accident in which Jim's brother, Tom Curran [DS.4.5] was killed.

The photo above shows Jim [DS.4.7] and Malinda [DS.4.7S] at the anniversary party with seven of their eight children.  Oliver [DS.4.7.7] had died about four years earlier.  Standing (from left to right) are Robert [DS.4.7], Edward [DS.4.7.2], and Walter [DS.4.7.5].  Seated (from left to right) are Jeanette [DS.4.7.3], Grace [DS.4.7.6], Jim [DS.4.7], Malinda [DS.4.7S], Matie [DS.4.7.1], and Alice [DS.4.7.8].

The photo below, also taken at the anniversary party, is the clearest image that I have of the faces of Jim and Malinda in 1946.

To see a photo of all 30 family members at the party,
click here.

DEATH

Tom Gordon was the undertaker for the Currans. His place of business was at 19th and Halsted Streets. That part of 19th Street is now called 17th Place. According to my father, Tom Gordon used to say that , when a Curran died, he always ordered a tent because he knew it would rain. I heard from my sister Veronica [DS.4.5.7.6] that "when a Curran dies, the heavens cry". She acquired this bit of wisdom from our mother.  Tom Gordon was for many years a close friend of Jim Curran [DS.4.7] and died "not long before" Jim [DS.4.7] died. Grace said, "I can still see my father walking up and down. He said [slowly] 'Where do you go when your undertaker dies?" Grace [DS.4.7.6] said, "Pa, you don't have a worry in the world. We'll find somebody."

Grace Curran (Sweeney) [DS.4.7.6] said that her father, Jim Curran [DS.4.7], "died on Easter Sunday. The McGraths and the Regans, the McCleveys, everybody said you go direct to heaven when you die on Easter Sunday. So I never worried about my father [DS.4.7]."

The following information is from Jim’s death certificate:
Died in Chicago at 8:38 A.M. 17 April 1949
Age 73 years 4 months 14 days.
Cause of Death: Carcinoma of the bladder, Carcinoma of the bowel, Peritonitis.