Leo Carroll MCCURDY

Leo Carroll McCurdy was born in Dansville, Livingston County, New York on 2 April 1882. He was run over by a car and died on 23 December 1959.

He had an electrical business in Los Angeles, which was lost during the depression.

He was an avid and accomplished golfer.

From the Letter written by Bernice Holland in 1962:

The others were Leo Carroll, or Carroll (our direct ancestor) who went to work at the Dansville Sanitarium as a young lad. They became so fond of him that they sent him to business school where he was taught bookkeeping and then returned to work for the Sanitarium.

Carroll came home to stay while they were there, as Mary needed him. He worked in a large dry good store (office). They put on a guessing contest of some sort that Mary entered and won $100 which seemed a lot of money in those days. She took that money and bought tickets for California for herself and the three youngest children (Lawrence, Bernice and Howard). California was a new country with many opportunities for a growing family.

Carroll and Henry stayed on in Buffalo at their jobs so as to help Mary get started out in California.

Then Carroll came out and became bookkeeper at Webster's Electrical Fixtures in Pasadena. He later became manager of the store. Electrical fixtures became his life's work. (He had his own store on Colorado Blvd). He designed many of them and manufactured them at his own plant. He had lovely showrooms in Los Angeles. He later sold it, but he never left the fixture business. In 1913 Carroll married Wilhlemina Polk (Poke) and they had two sons, John and Carroll Jr. (Our ancestors).

Lawrence worked up to being a linotypist in the printing trade. Due to poor conditions under which he worked his lungs became coated with lead dust. He got a heavy cold, which turned into tuberculosis, and he died at the age of 22, in 1910. This was an awful blow to the whole family. He was very musical and played the piano well. Carroll played the guitar, Wilfred the violin, Howard the mandolin, and evenings were a heart-warming time at home with music of some sort going on. Bernice also learned to play the piano and loved it.

Title: World War I Draft Registration Cards 1917 -1918Abbrev: World War I Draft Registration Cards 1917 -1918Page: Leo Carroll McCurdy Jr.Text: Name: Leo Carroll Mccurdy City: Pasadena County: Los Angeles State: California Birth Date: 2 Apr 1882 Race: White Roll: 1531273 DraftBoard: 2 Next of kin: Wilhemina Polk McCurdy, wifeQuality: 3

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