The Curps

The first Curp in America (as far as we know) was Frederick, born in 1771. Some people think Frederick came to this country from Germany. I suppose that is a reasonable assumption—Curp does sound like a good German name. However, I haven’t been able to find any proof of this claim. Frederick was ordained as a deacon in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1795. We find him working with the church in the small rural Ohio community of Hillsborough and the surrounding area. Apparently, he served more than one congregation because he is referred to as a “circuit rider”. Land for a small cemetery was donated by Frederick and his wife Abigail to the Methodist Meeting House in Carmel, Ohio. Frederick and Abigail’s children as well as the next generation were born in Highland County, Ohio. Since Frederick, Abigail, and most of their children are buried in the Curp Cemetery, I assume the family liked the area and its people and served the community well for their entire lives.

Originally a Methodist church, now a community building.

Currently, the Church of God

At some point between 1795 when Frederick was ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church and the end of the century the family changed denominations. Gene’s grandfather, Mahlon Obert Curp (the fourth generation from Frederick) was a circuit preacher for the Primitive Baptist Church. His circuit included the Pataskala area which is in Licking County. Mahlon was born in Fayette County, Ohio, just the next county north of Highland and married Cora Dennewitz (now that’s a good German name) of Chillicothe. Cora and Mahlon’s children were born in Licking County, so they must have moved there soon after marrying. That is how Gene’s father happened to be born in Licking County. Mahlon along with most of his children are buried in Wilson Cemetery in Newark. Like their ancestors before them, they were well established in the community for a lifetime.

Gene’s father, Charles, worked for Owens Glass in Newark until 1958 when he moved to Nashville to take a job at Ferro Fiberglass. Gene, like the rest of the family, was born in Licking County, but moved to Nashville at the age of 8 and never left. You set those Curps down some place and they don’t ever leave. I suppose you should be careful about inviting them over for dinner.

Location of the Curp Cemetery

Today, our journey took us to Highland County in search for the Curp Cemetery. From a Google Map we thought we knew exactly where to go. After stopping at 2 old churches in the tiny community of Carmel in the hope that one of them might be the meeting house where Frederick had preached, we set out to find the cemetery. We drove back and forth several times swiveling our necks back and forth trying to find tombstones. We were looking, not for something as large as Frazeysburg, but at least on the lines of what we found at Broomstick. We saw nothing. Up and down again to no avail. We took a lunch break at the Rocky Fork Truck Stop and asked several older gentlemen there if they knew anything about an old cemetery. We got a lead from one old man. He tried to describe where he thought the cemetery was and if we didn’t find it there, he gave us a person to ask. Back down the road again to where he suggested and nothing. So Gene knocked on the door of the 3rd house on the left. Mrs. Betty, “who has lived in the area forever”, pointed right to the cemetery. Well, she actually pointed right to a clump of trees and underbrush. We had driven by so many times and never seen it. I had to get out of the truck and walk right into the trees before I could see what was left of the Curp Cemetery. Long neglected, the few stones that are left were push over and damaged to the point of being illegible. Gene took a stick and literally stirred the leaves and brush around to uncover stones. We were unable to find the one we were most interest in—Frederick Curp, the family patriarch, but we did find two of his daughters and a grandson. Enough to know we were in the right place.

Searching for tombstones

Grandson of Frederick Curp

We were disappointed not to find what we wanted, but glad to have found something. Unless we stumble across more information in the next couple days that is about all we can do with the Curps. Gene’s grandfather, Mahlon Obert, married a lady from Chillicothe named Cora Dennewitz. She is not buried with Mahlon at Wilson Cemetery in Newark. She has some relatives buried in Chillicothe. If we can find that cemetery, perhaps we can find here grave as well. If not, we are going to give Gene’s ancestors a rest for a while and turn our attention to the Lancasters and Harpers, my mother’s people.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings.