Letter to Susan Louise Darnell.
From Patrick Metzger on 8 May 2020
Curran Family
Hi Susan!
Hope all is well. My name is Patrick Metzger and I came across your profile when browsing my great grandmother's family (Mary Alice Curran). Here's a little background on Mary Alice/my family (you might have some of this in your notes but just thought I'd share):
Mary Alice was born in Covington in Aug 1910. She apparently was a housemaid for the my great grandfather's family (Harry Collins) at their home in Cincinnati when she was about 18 years old. Harry was born in Russia and his family was Jewish. They soon were married and only had my grandfather (John Joseph Collins) in Chicago in 1929 (they had him out of wedlock so this was apparently the custom back then). Apparently Harry's family did not approve of their marriage because she was Irish-Catholic and they felt strong ties to their Jewish faith.
Harry died in 1945 when my grandpa was only 15. Mary Alice moved from Middletown, Ohio where they lived to Fort Mitchell to live with her brother Charlie Curran. She re-married Frank Osten and lived in California where she died. My mom and her siblings moved in the late 1960's to San Diego to be near their grandma then to Las Vegas where my grandpa died in 1978 from a sudden heart attack. My grandma moved my mom & her siblings back to Kentucky in 1979 after my mom finished her senior year of high school.
Do you have any information on the Curran family? I have been trying to find a link to where they came from in Ireland. Also, do you have any pictures? I noticed you have one of William Curran, would love to see any if you are ok to share.
Look forward to hearing from you!
Thanks,
Patrick
I wonder if Mary and Harry had my Uncle and since they had on kid out of wedlock, could have happened around 1919 the approx date Uncle Len was born. They were all in the same geography. At least I'd say Vivian visited that area frequently even though she might have been married around 1917 or so. It's in her record. But anyway, Mary, being so young, maybe she had one kid and Vivian took it for her. Vivian already had "Marie", a daughter but Marie was not her biological daughter either. So Vivians first two kids were acquired. I say acquired because no one ever say paper work on these kids. I know these stories as Vivian only bore one biological child and that was my dad. So I was in Vivian and Leonards life a lot. We'd drive to Fort Mitchell every year or to...from my time in the fifties and sixties. 1950-1970