Curtin Mansion

Curtin Mansion. . , 1764 Future Eagle Iron Works founder and Curtin Mansion builder Roland Curtin is born in Dysert, County Clare, Ireland, first of Austin and Mary (O'Loghlin) Curtin's nine children., 1795 After studying briefly for the priesthood at the Irish College in Paris, 31-year-old bachelor Roland sails to America to seek his fortune; settles initially in Philadelphia., 1797 Roland moves westward to central Pennsylvania's Bald Eagle Valley; manages a store in Milesburg for the Philips brothers, founders of Moshannon Town (present Philipsburg)., 1799 Roland becomes proprietor of the Philips' Milesburg store; in November he marries 19-year-old Margery Gregg of Carlisle, niece of U.S. Representative Andrew Gregg., 1800-1813 With the establishment of Centre County in 1800, and the placing of the County seat in Bellefonte, Roland and Margery move two miles to Bellefonte, where Roland operates a general store; from 1801 through 1810, Margery bears six sons, then dies in January 1813 while giving birth to a daughter, who also dies., 1810 Roland and business partner Moses Boggs establish Eagle Forge along Bald Eagle Creek, four miles northeast of Bellefonte, near the border of Boggs and Howard Townships., 1814 Roland marries second wife Jane Curtin, daughter of Andrew Gregg (now a U.S. Senator); on April 22, 1815, Jane delivers the couple's first child, Andrew Gregg Curtin, future Republican Governor of Pennsylvania., 1820s After building Eagle Furnace one mile south of Eagle Forge, Roland and Jane move with their first three children to a farmhouse near the furnace; Jane bears three more children over the course of the next decade., 1830-31 Roland oversees construction of a three-story ironmaster's residence 800 feet south of Eagle Forge; the Curtin family occupies its new home in mid-1831, a few months before Roland and Jane's seventh and final child, Julia, becomes the first person born in the Curtin Mansion., The Curtin Mansion embodies the highly symmetrical and relatively unadorned Federal style popular in America from the 1780s through the 1830s. The building's two-feet-thick exterior walls are composed of locally quarried limestone. All 15 rooms in the Mansion (five rooms on three floors, accessed by a wide central hallway) are 16 feet square (see First Floor Plan at right). Each room on the two lower floors is equipped with a central fireplace, with each fireplace featuring a unique wooden surround. Doorways and window openings are spaced for optimal control of interior and exterior airflow., 1844 Roland Curtin retires and moves with Jane and the couple's youngest children to Bellefonte., 1848 The Curtin Mansion is occupied by Roland's youngest son from his first marriage, John Curtin (b. 1810), married since 1837 to Milesburg native Julia Ann Barnhart, with whom he has children Margery Isabella (b. 1837), James Barnhart (1840), Francis P. (1843), and Sarah Catherine (1847)., 1850-52 Two more children are born to John and Julia Curtin, in the Mansion: Henry Roland (1850); John Gregg (1852)., 1854 Eleven-year-old Francis P. Curtin dies, leaving John and Julia Ann Curtin with five surviving children., 1855-76 John and Julia Ann continue to occupy the Curtin Mansion, as their children grow to adulthood; Margery Isabella marries John I. Curtin in 1873; Sarah Catherine marries Dr. Jeremiah F. Larimer in 1874; and Henry Roland ("H.R.” or "Harry") marries Lydia Eliza McMeen in 1875., 1877 John and Julia Ann Curtin retire to Bellefonte, leaving their 27-year-old son Harry (third-generation ironmaster) to occupy the Curtin Mansion with his wife Lydia ("Lyda") and their infant son Joseph McMeen ("Mac")., 1879-88 Lyda Curtin gives birth to three more children in the Mansion: John (1879), Hugh Laird (1882), and Katharine (1888)., 1890s During the Eagle Iron Works' decade-long dormancy, Harry Curtin engages in sawmilling; sells timber, hay, and defor- ested Curtin tracts; serves a term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1895-96); collects iron and steel industry data for the Eleventh U.S. Census., 1909 Harry Curtin dies at the age of 59; son Hugh Laird Curtin Sr. becomes Eagle Iron Works' fourth and final ironmaster; beginning in 1913, he and wife Thomazine Potter raise seven children in the Curtin Mansion: Mary (b. 1913), Eliza (1914), Hugh Laird Jr. ("Bud"; 1916), Nancy (1917), George (1918), Thomazine ("Thommy"; 1920), and James (1923)., 1951 Widow Thomazine Potter Curtin vacates the Curtin Mansion and moves to Bellefonte, ending the house's 120-year occupation by five generations of Curtins., 1966-1974 Curtin heirs convey the Curtin Mansion on one acre to the new Roland Curtin Foundation (RCF), which then (1968) conveys the property to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for use as a museum; the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission oversees restoration of the Mansion to mid-nineteenth-century conditions; in 1974 the Mansion is opened for public tours conducted by RCF guides., [Photo captions across top left read] , . Eagle Iron Works founder Roland Curtin Sr. (1764-1850) and second wife Jane Gregg Curtin (1791-1854) , Enhanced images from undated painted portraits, signed by "J.B. Nolan," hanging in the Curtin Mansion dining room, . LEFT: Ca.-1880 colorized portrait of the five children of John and Julia Ann Curtin who grew to adulthood. Sitting, from left: Sarah Catherine ("Sadie") Larimer; James Barnhart Curtin; Margery Isabella ("Belle") Curtin; Standing: John Gregg ("Jack") Curtin and Henry Roland ("Harry") Curtin . Kitchen, [Center photo captions, clockwise read] , . Around 1883, third-generation ironmaster H.R. ("Harry") Curtin (standing) poses on the Mansion's front porch with wife Lydia ("Lyda"), sons Joseph ("Mac"), John, and baby Hugh Laird, beside either second-generation ironmaster John Curtin or John's half-brother, ironmaster Constans Curtin., . Morning Room, . H.R. Curtin, PA House of Representatives, . Master Bedroom, . Dining Room, . Foyer, Hall, and Stairway, . Front Parlor, . Curtin Mansion First Floor Plan, [Photo captions across top right read] , . LEFT: Harry and Lyda Curtin (center) relax on the Mansion's front lawn with their four children, ca. 1893; the adult bicyclist is visiting relative Dr. Roland G. Curtin., . BELOW: Around 1913, Lyda Curtin's long-widowed mother and housemate Nancy Jane McMeen is surrounded by Curtin great-grandchildren (from left) Betty, Bill (seated), John, baby Mary, and Andrew., . Hugh Laird and Thomazine Curtin with their seven children, in 1925; representing the fifth generation of Curtins to occupy the Mansion, the children are (from left, front) George, Mary, Thommy, Jim, Nancy; (rear) Hugh Laird Jr. ("Bud") and Eliza.