jake curry, jr.
1901-1968
Life Story
From Mississippi’s Piney Woods to the Port City of Mobile
Early Life and Family Roots
Jake Curry, Jr. was born on February 17, 1901, in the Lawrence community of Newton County, Mississippi, to Jake Curry, Sr., and Sarah Windham Curry. He grew up in one of the area’s large farming families, where hard work, cooperation, and faith shaped everyday life.
The 1910 census records nine-year-old Jake living in Beat 4 with his parents and numerous brothers and sisters. Like many children raised on rural farms in the early twentieth century, he began contributing to the family’s livelihood at a young age. Census records identify him as a farm laborer while also attending school, where he learned to read and write despite the limited educational opportunities available to African American children in Jim Crow Mississippi.
By 1920, Jake remained at home with his parents, working as a general laborer and helping support the family as his father grew older. These years prepared him for a lifetime of physically demanding work.
Marriage and Life in the Turpentine Country
Around 1924, Jake married Rosie B., and together they began building a family of their own.
By 1930, they had relocated to Beat 1 of neighboring Smith County, Mississippi, where they were living in a company-operated turpentine camp with their young daughter, Arweta.
The turpentine industry was one of the South’s most demanding occupations. Workers harvested resin from longleaf pine trees to produce naval stores such as turpentine and rosin, materials essential for shipbuilding, paints, varnishes, and numerous industrial products. Laborers often lived in isolated company camps where work was physically exhausting and conditions were difficult.
Jake found employment as a laborer associated with the railroad section serving the camp. Rail transportation was critical to the turpentine industry, carrying timber and naval stores from the pine forests to markets throughout the South.
A New Beginning in Mobile
Sometime during the 1930s, Jake left rural Mississippi and relocated to Mobile, Alabama.
Like many African Americans of his generation, he sought the greater employment opportunities offered by an expanding industrial city. Mobile’s shipyards, lumber operations, railroads, and port facilities attracted workers from across the Gulf South, particularly as the nation prepared for World War II.
By 1940, Jake had established himself on Locust Street in Mobile.
He had remarried and was living with his wife, Beatrice. As they established themselves in the city, the couple rented a room in the household of George and Lilly Nance. Census records show Jake employed year-round as a laborer, working fifty-two weeks during the previous year and earning $572—steady employment during an era when many families still struggled to recover from the Great Depression.
The War Years
On February 14, 1942, Jake registered for the World War II draft in Mobile.
His draft registration card provides a detailed physical description, recording him as five feet eight inches tall, weighing 198 pounds, with a dark brown complexion, black hair, and brown eyes.
At the time of registration, he was employed by S. B. Adams, a prominent lumber company in Mobile, reflecting his continued connection to the region’s timber and industrial economy.
His nearest relative was listed as his sister, Sallie Evans, demonstrating that despite relocating to Alabama, he maintained close ties with his family in Mississippi.
Later records indicate that Jake’s Social Security account was issued through the Railroad Retirement Board, suggesting that railroad employment formed an important part of his working career.
Building a Life in Mobile
By 1950, Jake and Beatrice had achieved a measure of stability.
The couple owned or occupied their own residence at 6 Williams Street, located near the railroad corridors that had shaped much of Jake’s working life. From the family farm in Newton County to the rail lines and industries of Mobile, Jake spent decades performing the physically demanding labor that helped build the modern South.
His life reflected the experiences of thousands of African American workers who left rural agriculture for industrial employment while remaining within the South.
Death and Legacy
Jake Curry, Jr. passed away on June 2, 1968, in Mobile, Alabama, at the age of sixty-seven.
His journey carried him from the cotton fields of Newton County to the turpentine camps of Smith County and ultimately to the industrial neighborhoods of Mobile. Along the way, he experienced the transformation of the South from an agricultural economy to one increasingly driven by industry, transportation, and wartime production.
Though he never achieved public prominence, Jake’s life tells the story of a generation whose labor built railroads, harvested timber, supported industry, and strengthened the communities they called home.
Today, he is remembered as a devoted son, husband, father, and hardworking laborer whose perseverance connected the rural traditions of Mississippi with the expanding opportunities of the Gulf Coast.
Resting Place
Unknown
Photos/Albums
Sources
- Mississippi birth records, World War II draft registration records, and Social Security records identify Jake Curry, Jr., as having been born on February 17, 1901, in Newton County, Mississippi, to Jake Curry, Sr., and Sarah Windham Curry.
- 1910 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, household of Jake Curry; documenting nine-year-old Jake Curry, Jr., living with his parents and numerous siblings in the Lawrence community.
- 1910 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi; recording Jake Curry, Jr., as both attending school and working as a farm laborer on the family farm.
- 1920 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, household of Jake Curry; documenting Jake Curry, Jr., as a young adult working as a general laborer while residing with his parents.
- Census records and family records indicate that Jake Curry, Jr., married Rosie B. around 1924.
- 1930 U.S. Census, Smith County, Mississippi, Beat 1; documenting Jake Curry, Jr., and his wife Rosie residing in a turpentine camp with their daughter, Arweta
- The naval stores (turpentine) industry was a major employer throughout Mississippi’s Piney Woods during the early twentieth century. Workers harvested pine resin used in the manufacture of turpentine, rosin, paints, varnishes, and other industrial products.
- 1930 U.S. Census, Smith County, Mississippi; identifying Jake Curry, Jr., as a laborer associated with the railroad section serving the turpentine operation.
- 1940 U.S. Census, Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama; documenting Jake Curry, Jr., residing on Locust Street with his wife, Beatrice, in the household of George and Lilly Nance.
- 1940 U.S. Census, Mobile, Alabama; recording Jake Curry, Jr., as employed year-round as a laborer, working fifty-two weeks during the previous year and earning an annual income of $572.
- U.S. World War II Draft Registration Card, Jake Curry, Jr., February 14, 1942, Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama.
- Jake Curry, Jr.’s World War II draft registration card describes him as five feet eight inches tall, weighing 198 pounds, with a dark brown complexion, black hair, and brown eyes.
- U.S. World War II Draft Registration Card, Jake Curry, Jr.; identifying his employer as S. B. Adams Lumber Company in Mobile, Alabama.
- U.S. World War II Draft Registration Card, Jake Curry, Jr.; identifying his sister, Sallie Evans, as his nearest relative, illustrating his continued ties to his family in Mississippi.
- Mobile’s economy expanded dramatically during the late 1930s and World War II through shipbuilding, lumber production, rail transportation, and port operations, attracting workers from across the Gulf South.
- 1950 U.S. Census, Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama; documenting Jake Curry, Jr., and his wife, Beatrice, residing at 6 Williams Street in Mobile.
- Social Security Administration records indicate that Jake Curry, Jr.’s Social Security account was issued through the Railroad Retirement Board, suggesting that railroad employment formed a significant part of his working career. However, surviving records do not presently document the specific railroad or duration of that employment.
- Alabama death records document the death of Jake Curry, Jr., on June 2, 1968, in Mobile, Alabama, at the age of sixty-seven.
- Family records, census records, draft registration records, Social Security records, public records, and genealogical research collectively document Jake Curry, Jr.’s life as a farmer’s son, railroad and industrial laborer, husband, father, and longtime resident of Mobile, Alabama.
Sources Consulted
1910–1950 U.S. Federal Census Records; U.S. World War II Draft Registration Card for Jake Curry, Jr. (1942); Social Security Applications and Claims Records; Railroad Retirement Board Records; Alabama Death Records; Family Genealogical Research Files; Newton County Historical Records; Mobile City Public Records.
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