- The bodies removed by Mrs. Hain are all of people prominent in their day and generation, several of whom figured conspicuously in Indian warfare and the struggle for American Independence. Included in the number is Lieutenant Robert Curry, who was killed by the Indians near Chulaskey in 1780. His body, along with that of his wife, was removed from the old Presbyterian cemetery on Bloom Street last week, and was made the subject of a sketch in the Morning News at the time.
Lieutenant Robert Curry and his heroic wife, who—as an Indian captive—made her escape at night, are the great‑grandparents of Mrs. Hain. Jane, the daughter of Lieutenant Robert Curry, who was the first white child born in the forks of the Susquehanna, became the wife of Robert McWilliams, whose father, Lieutenant Hugh McWilliams, fell in battle near Nanticoke on Christmas 1775. Robert McWilliams and his wife were Mrs. Hain’s paternal grandparents, and their bodies she also had removed from the old graveyard to the new plot in Fairview Cemetery, along with one of their children, a small child named William.
The old cemetery for many years was a popular burial ground and indeed the principal one in this locality. Among those buried there were James Lemon and his wife Rachel Flemming Lemon, maternal grandparents of Mrs. Hain, whose remains she also has removed to the new plot in Fairview Cemetery.
The great‑grandparents of Mrs. Hain on her mother’s side were Thomas Lemon and Margaret Slough Lemon, whose old homestead still stands about half‑way between this place and Northumberland and is known as the Parks place. Thomas Lemon, who died in 1775, was prominent in affairs during Colonial times. In 1772 he was appointed Judge of Northumberland County by King George III. Along with his wife, he was buried in a private burial ground on the estate. The bones of the venerable couple reposed on the spot until a few days ago, when Mrs. Hain caused the remains to be removed to the ancestral plot in Fairview Cemetery.
(Danville Morning News-Aug 12 1903)
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- Robert Curry served as Lieutenant, 1776, in Col. Samuel Hunter's Northumberland County, Pennsylvania regiment. He was scalped by the Indians near Fort Mead, on the north branch of the Susquehanna. "Two years previously, in May, 1780, Robert CURRY and his wife, traveling on horseback from Northumberland, on the way to their little farm on the Mahoning, when about midway between the two places, were attacked by the savages. He was killed and scalped and his skull broken to fragments with their tomahawks. She was taken prisoner. Her hair was long and jet black, which they greatly admired. They told her she was 'a much pretty squaw,' and would not hurt her. They traveled until night when they encamped. They then tied her hands and feet with hickory bark. Soon they were in a profound sleep, when she cut the bark from her wrists and ankles. She had concealed a pair of scissors about her person which, fortunately for her, escaped their vigilant search when she was first made captive. She fled from their camp as fast as possible, but they soon missed her and, lighting torches, pursued her in all directions. She concealed herself in the top of a fallen tree. They passed over the trunk of the tree and, as they did so, cried out: 'Come out, squaw, we see you. Come out, pretty squaw,we see you.' After some time spent in fruitless search they abandoned it, broke up their camp before daylight and pursued their journey. She then returned to the remains of her murdered husband and gathering up the pieces of his skull in her apron, took them to her house which she reached the next day. The agony and deep distress of this poor woman may be conceived, but the pen utterly fails to describe them." ROBERT CURRY (deceased) is numbered among the earliest settlers of this part of Pennsylvania. He was born in the North of Ireland, June 9, 1741; educated in the schools of his native country, where his father was a well-to-do linen manufacturer. He immigrated to America in 1772, settling on Mahoning Creek, in what is now Valley Township, Montour Co., Penn., and there followed farming. He was killed and scalped by the Indians June 9, 1780. He was a Presbyterian in religious belief and was one of the first to give his money and influence toward the propagation of the gospel in these parts and was also trustee of his church. He married Miss Jane McWILLIAMS in Belfast, Ireland, and four children were born to them: James, who was born in Ireland, grew to manhood and settled in Ohio; Robert, who settled on the north branch of the Susquehanna River; William, who settled on the home place in Valley Township, Columbia Co., Penn., and Jane, the first white child born between the north and west branches of the Susquehanna River, married to Robert McWILLIAMS. The sons were well-to-do farmers, noted for their honesty and integrity.
(History of Columbia and Montour Counties Pennsylvania, Battle, 1887, Danville, pg. 148)
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1741 - 1780 (39 years)
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