The Life of Herbert Miles Currey (1895–1971)

Early Life in Missouri and Kansas

Herbert Miles Currey was born on 3 April 1895 in Liberty, Clay County, Missouri, the son of Hiram Miles Currey and Winnie May Hutchinson【1–8】. His early years reflected the mobility of many Midwestern families at the turn of the twentieth century.

By June 1900, the Currey family had relocated to Delaware Township, Leavenworth County, Kansas. The census enumerator recorded “Herbert Carrey” as a five-year-old boy, born in Missouri in April 1895【9】. Five years later, the 1905 Kansas State Census placed him in Lansing, Leavenworth County, Kansas, where he was listed as a ten-year-old boy living in the household of H. M. Curry【10】.

The family moved again, this time to Rooks County, Kansas. In 1910, Herbert, then fifteen, appeared on the federal census as the son of Hiram M. Currey, again with Missouri recorded as his birthplace【11】. Like many Midwestern families, the Curreys were part of the larger migration across the plains, moving in pursuit of farmland, railroad opportunities, and new beginnings.

Marriage and Early Adulthood

On Christmas Eve, 24 December 1916, Herbert married Pearl Grace Stewart in Ogden, Weber County, Utah【12–22】. This union began during a period of national transition: the United States was preparing to enter the First World War, and young men across the country were being called into military service.

Herbert registered for the military draft on 5 June 1917 in Ogden. He listed his occupation as a chauffeur for the Consumer Gas Company【23】. Later that year, however, he encountered difficulties with his military obligations. On 20 September 1917, when local men were called up, Herbert failed to appear. The Ogden Standard-Examiner reported that his whereabouts were unknown and that he was considered a deserter by the draft board【24】.

Despite this episode, Herbert and Pearl began raising their family. Their first daughter, Dorothy M. Currey, was born on 8 July 1920 in Ogden, Utah【25–27】.

Homesteading in Idaho

Like many Americans of his generation, Herbert sought opportunity through land ownership. On 10 February 1925, he filed land entry papers for three parcels in Caribou County, Idaho: the north half of the southwest quarter of Section 9, Township 8 South, Range 40 East【28】; the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 8【29】; and the northwest quarter of Section 9【30】.

By 1930, the family was firmly established in Idaho. Living in Bancroft Village, Bannock County, Herbert appeared in the census as a 35-year-old railroad section foreman, supporting his wife and children【31】. His career with the Union Pacific Railroad reflected the importance of the rail industry in building communities across the Intermountain West.

Community and Church Life

Herbert was active in both church and community organizations. By the 1940s, he was a farmer in the Soda Springs area【33】. That same year, the federal census placed him in Davisville, Caribou County, Idaho, recorded as a 45-year-old Missouri-born head of household【34】.

During World War II, he again registered for the draft, this time in 1942 from Soda Springs【35】. He was by then too old for active duty, but like many men of his generation, he dutifully fulfilled his registration requirements.

Herbert became deeply involved in civic and fraternal life in Soda Springs. He was an elder in the Soda Springs Presbyterian Church for decades【32】. He was also a member of Caribou Masonic Lodge No. 84【39】 and served as worthy patron of the Golden Rod Chapter No. 64 of the Order of the Eastern Star【41】. Such affiliations reflected both his standing in the community and the importance of fraternal organizations in rural America during the mid-twentieth century.

Later Years

By the 1950s, Herbert was employed first by the Union Pacific Railroad【37】 and later by the Soil Conservation Service【38】, working to preserve and develop farmland during an era when federal conservation programs were reshaping American agriculture.

He remained active in family life as well, attending the Currey family reunion in Sedona, Arizona, on 16 August 1964【42】.

Tragedy struck in 1971 when Herbert was injured in a gas explosion that ripped through a trailer home in Payette, Idaho. He suffered shock and serious burns and was treated at Holy Rosary Hospital【43】.

Death and Legacy

Herbert Miles Currey died on 20 April 1971 in Ontario, Malheur County, Oregon, at the age of 76【8,44–52】. At the time, he and Pearl had been married for more than fifty years.

Obituaries published in Idaho and Utah newspapers emphasized his life as a farmer, railroad employee, Soil Conservation worker, elder of the Presbyterian Church, and respected Mason【13,21,48】. He was survived by his wife, one son, two daughters, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Funeral services were held at the Soda Springs Presbyterian Church on 23 April 1971, conducted by Rev. David L. Crawford【58–60】. Masonic graveside rites were given by Caribou Lodge No. 84 at Fairview Cemetery in Soda Springs, where he was buried【53–57】.

Herbert’s life story reflects both personal perseverance and broader historical themes: the migration of Midwestern families westward, the influence of railroads and federal land programs in shaping communities, and the importance of faith and fraternal orders in rural civic life.

Citations

1. Hiram Currey, Hiram Currey Family Bible (New York: American Bible Society, 1880); Marcia Philbrick, Seneca, KS, Family Record.
2. Funeral Card / Memorial Book, Funeral Card of Herbert Miles Currey; April 3, 1895 – April 20, 1971; Shaffer-Jensen Memory Chapel; Soda Springs, ID. (Doc. #: CURRY.NOTEBOOK).
3. Letter from [ ] to [ ], 1981; [ ], page 1,281, Currey, Herbert Miles b 3 Apr 1895 Clay, Liberty.
4. Tombstone, Fairview Cemetery, Soda Springs, Idaho; transcription by Marcia Philbrick, 1997, Fairview Cemetery (Doc. #: Curry.KS.059).
5. Find a Grave, database and images, Find a Grave (www.findagrave.com : viewed online September 2016), memorial for Herbert M. Currey (1895–1971), Memorial no. 26519376.
6. “World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918,” database, Ancestry (Ancestry.com : viewed online September 2016), Herbert Miles Currey.
7. “Herbert M. Currey,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 23 April 1971, page 28; digital images, Newspapers.com (www.newspapers.com : viewed online 10 July 2021).
8. Oregon, U.S., State Deaths, 1864–1971, Herbert Miles Currey, 20 April 1971; database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : viewed online 23 August 2025). Original source: Oregon State Archives.
9. 1900 U.S. Census, Leavenworth County, Kansas, Delaware Township, ED 83, sheet 20B, household 364, Hiram M. Carrey; digital image, Ancestry.com; NARA T623.
10. 1905 Kansas State Census, Leavenworth County, Lansing, page 2, household 11, H. M. Curry; digital image, Ancestry.com; Kansas State Historical Society.
11. 1910 U.S. Census, Rooks County, Kansas, Twin Mound Township, ED 168, sheet 11A, household 201, Currey Hiram M; digital images, Ancestry.com; NARA T6224.
12. Hiram Currey, Hiram Currey Family Bible.
13. “Herbert M. Currey,” Obituary, Idaho State Journal (Pocatello, Idaho), 23 April 1971; Newspapers.com.
14. Edmund West, comp., “Family Data Collection — Individual Records,” Ancestry.com.
15. “Utah Marriages, 1887–1966,” FamilySearch.
16. Utah, Weber County Marriages, 1887–1939, FamilySearch.
17. “Utah, Select Marriages, 1887–1966,” Ancestry.com.
18. “Utah, Select County Marriages, 1887–1937,” Ancestry.com.
19. Weber County, Utah, Marriage License, Herbert Miles Currey – Pearl Grace Stewart, 24 Dec 1916; Weber County Courthouse.
20. Idaho, Obituary Collection, 1868–2013, Pearl Grace Stewart; Ancestry.com.
21. “Herbert M. Currey,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 23 April 1971; Newspapers.com.
22. “Licensed to Marry,” Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 12 November 1916, page 19; Newspapers.com.
23. “World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917–1918,” Ancestry.com.
24. “Special Trains to Leave Ogden This Evening with Men for the New Army,” Ogden Standard-Examiner (Ogden, Utah), 20 September 1917, page 9; Newspapers.com.
25. 1930 U.S. Census, Bannock County, Idaho.
26. Find A Grave, memorial for Dorothy May Currey Gilbert (1920–2000), Memorial no. 17926959.
27. Utah, U.S., Birth Registers, 1892–1944, Dorothy May Currey, 8 July 1920; Ancestry.com.
28. U.S. General Land Office Records, 1776–2015, Herbert Miles Currey, 10 February 1925; Ancestry.com.
29. U.S. General Land Office Records, 1776–2015, Herbert Miles Currey; Ancestry.com.
30. U.S. General Land Office Records, 1776–2015, Herbert Miles Currey, 10 February 1925; Ancestry.com.
31. 1930 U.S. Census, Bannock County, Idaho, District 40, Bancroft, sheet 1A, household 12, Herbert M. Currey; Ancestry.com.
32. “Herbert M. Currey,” obituary sources.
33. Ibid.
34. 1940 U.S. Census, Caribou County, Idaho, Davisville, ED 15-3, sheet 1A, household 12, Herbert Currey; Ancestry.com; NARA T627.
35. “U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942,” NARA Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System; Ancestry.com.
36. “Hiram M. Currey,” Dodge City Daily Globe, 15 September 1943, p. 2, col. 3; Kansas State Historical Society.
37. “Herbert M. Currey,” obituary sources.
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid.
40. 1950 U.S. Census, Caribou County, Idaho, Soda Springs, ED 15-21, page 72, line 8, Herbert M. Currey; Ancestry.com.
41. “Herbert M. Currey,” obituary sources.
42. Taylor’s Host Family Reunion record, Sedona, Arizona, 16 Aug 1964; privately held by Marcia Philbrick.
43. “Explosion Rips Trailer Home,” Idaho Free Press (Nampa, Idaho), 5 February 1971; Newspapers.com.
44. Funeral Card / Memorial Book, Herbert Miles Currey; Shaffer-Jensen Memory Chapel.
45. Tombstone, Fairview Cemetery, Soda Springs, Idaho, read by Marcia Philbrick, 1997.
46. “Herbert M. Currey,” obituary sources.
47. U.S. Social Security Death Index, Herbert Currey, 540-30-0320; Ancestry.com.
48. “Herbert M. Currey,” Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 23 April 1971; Newspapers.com.
49. “Final Services for Herbert M. Currey,” Caribou County Sun (Soda Springs, ID), 29 April 1971; MyHeritage.
50. Find a Grave, memorial for Herbert M. Currey, no. 26519376.
51. Oregon, Death Index 1898–2008, Herbert M. Currey; Ancestry.com.
52. “Herbert M. Currey,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah), 23 April 1971; Newspapers.com.
53. Tombstone, Fairview Cemetery, Soda Springs, Idaho, transcription.
54. “Final Services for Herbert M. Currey,” Caribou County Sun.
55. Ibid.
56. Find a Grave, Herbert M. Currey memorial.
57. “Herbert M. Currey,” Deseret News, 23 April 1971.
58. “Final Services for Herbert M. Currey,” Caribou County Sun.
59. “Herbert M. Currey,” Deseret News, 23 April 1971.
60. Funeral Card / Memorial Book, Herbert Miles Currey.