OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS - Huron County, Ohio - publ. 1879 History of Firelands

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Huron County, Ohio
History & Genealogy

BIOGRAPHIES

Source:
1808
HISTORY
of
THE FIRE LANDS
comprising
HURON and ERIE COUNTIES, OHIO
with
ILLUSTRATIONS and BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
of
SOME OF THE PROMINENT MEN and PIONEERS
by W. W. Williams
1879

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RICHARD LORD McCURDY.     The excellent lady, who is the widow of the subject of this notice, permitted the writer to see an interesting genealogical record, that shows the descent of the McCurdys through the wife of Rev. Stephen Johnson, to be direct from the learned divine and famous writer, Rev. John Diodati who was from the Italian nobility, and who lived at Geneva in the time of John of Barnerveld. The ancestral families which this tree of genealogy exibits to the observer are very numerous, and includes many worthy and distinguished people. Among these, in addition to the Diodatis, may be mentioned the Griswolds, the Willoughbys, the Digbys, the Pitkins, the Wolcotts, the Ogdens and the Mitchells.
     The McCurdy homestead, in Lyme, Connecticut, is described in the following words, by an able writer in Harper's Monthly, of February, 1876:
     "Side by side with if (the Mather homestead)" stands the oldest house in Lyme - a landmark which has been protected with generous care. Like Sydney Smith's ancient green chariot, with its new wheels and new springs, it seems to grow younger each year. It is the residence of Hon. Charles Johnson McCurdy, LL. D., an eminent jurist, who was for many years in the Connecticut legislature, was speaker of the house, lieutenant governor of the State, United States minister to Austria, and for a long period judge of the supreme court. It was he who, when lieutenant governor of Connecticut, in 1848, originated and carried into effect, through the legislature, that great change in the common law, by which parties may become witnesses in their own cases, a change which has since been adopted throughout this country and in England.
     "This antique dwelling has the low ceilings and the bare polished beams of the early part of the last century Its doors and walls are elaborately carved and paneled. In the south parlor is a curious buffet, built with the house, containing a rare collection of china from ancestral families. Between the front windows stands an elegant round table which descended from Governor Matthew and Ursula Wolcott Griswold, and around which have sat from time to time the six governors of the family. The whole house is a museum of souveneirs of preceding generations. In the north chamber is a rich and unique chest of drawers, which belonged to the Diodati wife of Rev. Stephen Johnson; also mirrors, tables, pictures and other relics of great antiquity. This apartment was occupied by LaFayette at two distinct eras in our national history - for several days during the revolution, when he was entertained by John McCurdy, while resting his troops in the vicinity; and in 1825, as the guest of Richard McCurdy and his daughter Sarah, while on his memorable journey to Boston."
     This interesting dwelling descended from John McCurdy, the grandfather, to Richard McCurdy, the father of the subject of this sketch, and within its time honored precincts was born Richard Lord McCurdy, on the 27th day of May, 1802. His mother was Ursula (Griswold) McCurdy, the Griswold family of which she was a member having furnished to the State two governors. He was christened Richard in honor of his father, and Lord in honor of his grandmother, Mrs. John McCurdy, who was a daughter of Judge Lord, one of the supreme judges of the State. An interesting story is told by Mrs. McCurdy, of Lyme, concerning the marriage of her husband's grandfather with the daughter of Judge Lord. The Lords were very wealthy, of ancestral lineage, and at the time among the most consequential of the Connecticut families. The daughter was very beautiful.
     The Lyme church owes its existence mainly to Mr. McCurdy's efforts and generous liberality. He donated the land upon which the church and cemetery are located, consisting of four acres, and in time and money contributed the principal part of the cost of the first Lyme church edifice, which was scarcely completed before it was burned to the ground. Disheartening as this disaster was, Mr. McCurdy was undaunted, and proposed to his neighbors if they chose to assist in the erection of another building, he would contribute the same amount as before. This generous offer was accepted, and in less than a year from the time the first building was burned, the second was ready for occupancy.
     Mr. McCurdy died very suddenly at his residence, Aug. 28, 1869. On Friday he was in Bellevue, with a load of grain, and returned home in the evening, with a telegram and letter from New York friends, announcing the pleasing fact that they would arrive here for a short visit, on the Monday following. On Saturday, following his trip to Bellevue, and before his relatives had arrived, he died. His friends came, not with glad hearts to enjoy a pleasant visit in his delightful home, as they had intended, but with sad and stricken hearts to follow his remains to the quiet churchyard.
Source: 1808 History of the Firelands comprising Huron and Erie Counties, Ohio - Publ. 1879 - Page 410

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