Schneider Family Tree - Jacob Oakley Curry

Notes for Jacob Oakley Curry:
He was 70 years 10 months and 26 days old. He is number 515 in the Currey book.
He was 5th of 7 children of Thomas & Hannah Currey.
For a number of years he engaged in farming and in grain and elevator business in small towns, Hinckley being one, finally coming to Aurora where he lived on south Lake St. near Prairie St.
He continued in the grain and elevator business with associates, having moved to the corner of Downers Place and View St., the home having been purchased for $5000 from William Lawrence who had a dry goods store.
Through the dishonesty of one of his associates he suffered a serious financial loss making it necessary to sell his home and to move to a farm about two miles southwest of Aurora of Jericho Road which was purchased from Potter. There he raised fine blooded stock, Hereford cattle which he went to England to purchase. One of the animals which he bought there was a bull for which he was later offered $5000 but did not accept. This was unfortunate as very soon afterward the animal died.
Meantime Aurora had grown to the extent that public transportion seemed a necessity and a mule car system was established. In order to get up the Main street hill an extra team of mules was kept to help make the grade. He was always looking around for opportunities and he saw a chance in the idea of improved transportaion for the city so he traded the farm to the owner of the mule system who nearly laghed too soon. Jacob went to New York and interested some financiers in the idea of an electric car system which when established served Aurora many years. It was his daughter Jane's great joy to be amember of the group to ride in the first car that went over the line.
One of the other opportunities which he envisioned at this time was the purchase of a part of the Theron Lake farm adjoining the west end of Aurora which was then HiglandAve. but called at the time West St. He formed a syndicate of alert businessmen for the purpose of selling residential lots, each member agreeing to erict a home. This occurred during the period of industrial boom in Aruora when the Rathbone Stove Works and Hercules Iron Works located there along with other industries.
This became the first Corona Place addition extending as far north as Galena St., south to Garfield Ave. and west as far as Lancaster. He also organized the Merchants National Bank and was its first president. While he was serving his second year sone bankers in Chicago who werw interested in a bank there that needed rejuvenation induced Curry to take over as its president.
The family then moved to Chicago, during the World's Fair of 1892-1893. During his presidency of the bank there he organized a branch of it on the World's grounds which proved to be useful an successful.

More About Jacob Oakley Curry and Clara Betsy Eglington:
Marriage: January 04, 1865, Aurora, Il.