Charles J McCurdy

Charles Johnson McCurdy (1797–1891) was a Connecticut lawyer, legislator, jurist, and diplomat whose ninety-three-year life spanned nearly the entire arc of the American republic's first century. A scion of one of Connecticut's most politically connected families — descended from multiple governors and from a patriot grandfather who helped ignite the American Revolution — McCurdy rose through the state legislature to become Speaker of the House and Lieutenant Governor before representing the United States at the Austrian imperial court, where he personally intervened to save Charles Loring Brace from execution in a Habsburg dungeon. His subsequent career on the Connecticut Superior Court and Supreme Court of Errors, his pioneering legal reform allowing interested parties to testify as witnesses, and his service at the Peace Conference of 1861 mark him as a figure whose influence touched law, diplomacy, and the institutional networks that shaped nineteenth-century America.

Definitions

Chargé d'Affaires — A diplomat who heads a diplomatic mission in the absence of an ambassador; in McCurdy's case, the highest-ranking U.S. representative to the Austrian Empire.

Supreme Court of Errors — The highest appellate court in the State of Connecticut (now called the Connecticut Supreme Court), responsible for reviewing decisions of the Superior Court.

Speaker of the House — The presiding officer of the Connecticut House of Representatives, responsible for directing legislative proceedings.

Lieutenant Governor — The second-highest executive officer in Connecticut, also serving as President of the State Senate.

Peace Conference of 1861 — A meeting convened at Willard's Hotel in Washington, D.C., in February 1861, attended by delegates from twenty-one states in a last-ditch effort to avert the Civil War.

Prince Schwarzenberg — Felix, Prince of Schwarzenberg (1800–1852), Minister-President of the Austrian Empire during the post-revolutionary period; the official with whom McCurdy conducted his "spirited correspondence" to secure Brace's release.

Historical Timeline

1797, December 7 — Charles Johnson McCurdy is born in Lyme, Connecticut, to Richard McCurdy (1769–1857), a Yale-educated lawyer, and Ursula Wolcott Griswold (1775–1811), whose lineage connected him to Governors Matthew Griswold, Roger Wolcott, Oliver Wolcott, Oliver Wolcott Jr., and Roger Griswold.

Source: Connecticut Reports, Vol. 60, "Obituary Sketch of Charles J. McCurdy," pp. 593–602 (Connecticut State Library)

Quote: "His mother was Ursula Wolcott Griswold… granddaughter on her father's side of Governor Matthew Griswold, whose wife Ursula was the daughter of governor Roger Wolcott."

c. 1810–1813 — McCurdy attends the Bacon Academy in Colchester, Connecticut.

Source: Find a Grave Memorial, "Judge Charles Johnson McCurdy (1797–1891)"

1813 — Enters Yale College at age fifteen.

Source: Connecticut Reports, Vol. 60, pp. 593–602

1817 — Graduates from Yale College with high honors.

Source: Connecticut Reports, Vol. 60, pp. 593–602

Quote: "McCurdy entered Yale College in 1813, and was graduated in 1817 with high honors."

1817–1819 — Studies law under Chief Justice Zephaniah Swift of Windham, Connecticut.

Source: Connecticut Reports, Vol. 60, pp. 593–602

1819 — Admitted to the Connecticut bar and begins practice.

Source: Connecticut Reports, Vol. 60, pp. 593–602

1822 — Marries Sarah Ann Lord (1800–1835), his second cousin and daughter of Richard and Anne (née Mitchell) Lord.

Source: Salisbury, Edward Elbridge & Evelyn McCurdy, Family Histories and Genealogies (1892)

1823 — Daughter Evelyn McCurdy (1823–1917) is born; she will later marry Edward Elbridge Salisbury (1814–1901) and become an author and genealogist.

Source: Salisbury & Salisbury, Family Histories and Genealogies (1892)

1827–1844 — Serves in the Connecticut General Assembly for ten years across this period, first in the House of Representatives and then in the State Senate.

Source: Connecticut General Assembly, Speakers of the House records

Quote: "Judge McCurdy served in the CT Legislature for 10 years between 1827 and 1844 and was Speaker of the House for 3 years." — Find a Grave Memorial

1832 — Serves as a member of the Connecticut State Senate.

Source: Connecticut General Assembly records

1835 — Wife Sarah Ann Lord McCurdy dies. McCurdy does not remarry and devotes himself to the education of his daughter Evelyn.

Source: Connecticut Reports, Vol. 60, pp. 593–602

Quote: "The education of this daughter became one of his greatest pleasures, and as she developed and matured into womanhood it was his delight to make her his confidential friend and familiarize her mind with his legal and business affairs."

1840–1841, 1844 — Serves as Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives.

Source: Connecticut General Assembly, Speakers of the House records

1847–1849 — Elected 40th Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut and President of the Senate, serving under Governor Clark Bissell.

Source: Connecticut General Assembly records; Connecticut Reports, Vol. 60, pp. 593–602

1848 — Originates, with assistance from Hon. Charles Chapman, the legal reform allowing parties to and others with an interest in a suit to testify as witnesses — a change subsequently adopted in both the United States and England.

Source: Find a Grave Memorial, "Judge Charles Johnson McCurdy (1797–1891)"

Quote: "He originated and, with the assistance of Hon. Charles Chapman, was primarily responsible in 1848 for that change in common law which allowed parties to and others with an interest in a suit to be witnesses. This change was adopted both in the United States and England."

• 1850, September 27 — Appointed U.S. Chargé d'Affaires to the Austrian Empire by President Millard Fillmore, commissioned by Secretary of State Daniel Webster.
  • Source: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian — http://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/mccurdy-charles-johnson

1851, March 14 — Presents credentials at the Austrian imperial court.

Source: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian

1851 — Intervenes to rescue Charles Loring Brace from an Austrian dungeon. Brace, traveling in Austria during a period of Hungarian unrest, had been arrested and accused of carrying treasonable papers from Hungarian fugitives. McCurdy initiates a "spirited correspondence" directly with Prince Schwarzenberg, ultimately saving Brace's life.

Source: Find a Grave Memorial; workspace page — A Debt is now Owed​

Quote: "He would probably have been executed for treason but for the intervention of Mr. McCurdy. Mr. McCurdy, having become aware of the situation, promptly initiated a 'spirited' correspondence directly with Prince Schwarzenburg. The Reverend Mr. Brace was finally rescued and his life saved." — Find a Grave Memorial

c. 1851 — McCurdy, Charles Loring Brace, and John Addison Porter are all present in Berlin, Germany at the same time, meeting at a Mr. Barnard's house — a convergence revealed only in official government correspondence.

Source: Workspace page — A Debt is now Owed​

c. 1851–1852 — Assists Scottish missionaries and their families in safely returning to England from Austria, personally providing them with money for the journey. Receives the formal thanks of the Free Church of Scotland and commendation from the British Parliament.

Source: Find a Grave Memorial, "Judge Charles Johnson McCurdy (1797–1891)"

Quote: "Mr. McCurdy was also instrumental in helping Scottish missionaries, along with their wives and young children, get safely back to England, personally providing them with money for the trip. For this action Mr. McCurdy received the thanks of the Free Church of Scotland and was commended by the British Parliament."

1852, October 12 — Concludes service as Chargé d'Affaires to Austria; succeeded by Thomas M. Foote.

Source: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian

1855 (June) — Appointed Judge of the Connecticut Superior Court.

Source: The New York Times, June 28, 1855, "Connecticut Legislature"

1861 — Serves as an active member of the Peace Conference of 1861, held at Willard's Hotel in Washington, D.C., in an effort to avert the Civil War.

Source: Connecticut Reports, Vol. 60, pp. 593–602

1863–1867 — Serves as Judge of the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors.

Source: Connecticut Reports, Vol. 60, pp. 593–602

1867 — Retires from the bench at age seventy, as required by constitutional age limitation.

Source: The New York Times, December 14, 1867, "Connecticut Supreme Court — Retirement of Judge McCurdy"

1868 — Receives the degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) from Yale College. Begins lecturing on law at Yale Law School.

Source: The Biographical Dictionary of America, Vol. 7, p. 140

Quote: "He received the degree LL.D. from Yale in 1868 and was a lecturer there on life insurance, 1873–75."

1888 — Publishes a pamphlet on the "origin of the change in the law by which the last 40 years witnesses have been allowed to testify in court when having an interest in the decision of the suit."

Source: The New York Times, February 12, 1888, "Allowing the Accused to Testify"

1891, June 8 — Dies at his home in Lyme, Connecticut, aged ninety-three. At the time of his death, he is the oldest Yale graduate in the state.

Source: Connecticut Reports, Vol. 60, pp. 593–602

Quote: "In the death of the Hon. Charles Johnson McCurdy of Lyme, the New London County bar has lost its oldest and one of its ablest members. He was a man of character, an able lawyer, a safe counsellor, an upright and patriotic citizen, energetic, of strong will but always open and manly. He scorned mean deeds and mean men." — Resolutions of the New London County Bar Association, presented by Jeremiah Halsey, Esq.