William Street Currier

CURRIER

Posted By: Kate Jackson (email)
Date: 1/24/2004 at 15:19:36

Death has taken one of Mahaska county's most colorful pioneer citizens, William Street CURRIER, who died at his old home place on the Currier hill on the south Chiquaqua river, some six miles east of Oskaloosa on highway No. 92, at 9 o'clock Thursday night, July 11, 1940, after an extended illness at the age of 88 years. He was born November 26, 1852, in the old Currier homestead on the Currier hill near where his father, Charles CURRIER, built the Currier mill in 1849. He was named after William Street, an early resident here, and the home was near the site of the old Indian village of Kish-Ke-Kosh. As a boy he assembled one of the finest collections of Indian relics in this part of the country. As a miller he learned his trade from his father who not only cut his own lumber and stone for the mill but made his own grinding stones and supplied millers on the new territory with stones. Most of the machinery and tools were made by the Curriers. William built and operated the first automobile in this part of the Iowa in 1902, made the grandfather's clock shown in the picture above, was expert at all kinds of handiwork and found time to do some painting and crayon sketching. His wife died 13 years ago. Surviving are three sons, Harley of Oskaloosa, Ralph at the old home place, and Walter at Fremont, four grandsons and one great grandson. Funeral services at the Powers funeral home at 2:30 o'clock Sunday afternoon with Rev. Walter J. Stewart, former Oskaloosa United Presbyterian minister, in charge. Burial in the Old Rose Hill cemetery.

From Oskaloosa Herald, 1940, in Mrs. Will (Margaret) Jackson's scrapbook. I'm not related to anyone mention above and have no further information on them.