By By Lydia Grimes Feature Reporter
I told you a little bit about the Mayo family and now I will tell you some of the information about the McCurdy family. You may or may not remember that Mercie Jane Mayo married Francis Marion McCurdy.
Elijah McCurdy was one of four or five brothers who came from Scotland. The other brothers may have been named Daniel, Mark, Bruce and maybe William. They went their separate ways, but Elijah came to Santa Rosa County, Fla., and married three times.  His third wife's name was Sunday.
One of his sons was Francis Marion McCurdy (15 may 1841-11 Nov 1897), who married Mercie Jane Mayo (23 Jan 1848-12 Dec 1932), the sister of Mark Mayo.
Francis Marion McCurdy and Mark Mayo were in the logging business. Francis originally owned seven sections of land which is now called Cora.
Apparently, he was in several business ventures including having an apple farm. They lived between Flomaton, Ala., and what is now Century, Fla. The old home place is referred to as the "Old Gay" place. I believe this is the house that was located south of the road to Jay at the north end Century. Across the road, he built a schoolhouse which was painted red and is still there although it has been modified to serve as a dwelling place.
During the Civil War the Union Army came through this area, and all of the people went to stay in Pollard at the schoolhouse. It was at this location that their first child, William Marion McCurdy, was born in 1865. Several people later remembered Mrs. McCurdy telling the story of a Union soldier roughly examining the mattress which had been used to cushion the new baby. Mercie Jane Mayo McCurdy was a red-headed Irish woman and she did not take kindly to this, so she unleashed a verbal attack on the soldier.
I have a list of 11 children for this family. They were William Marion McCurdy (1865-1937), who married first, Annie Laura Simmons (1871-1899) and second, Sallie Pritchett (1882-1967); Elijah McCurdy (27 Apr 1867-4 Feb 1958), who married Ethel Mitchell; James Daniel McCurdy, who married Georgia Ash; Florence McCurdy (1876-1940), who married Jim Thornton; Alonzo McCurdy (1876-1879), who is buried at Century; Mark McCurdy (???-1918); Egbert Riley McCurdy (1879-1963), who never married; Flora Jane McCurdy (1881-1882), who is buried at Century; Elizabeth McCurdy (1883-1969), who married Hillary Hubbard (1879-1928); Ida Belle McCurdy, who married Arch Simmons; and Annie Laura (25 Oct 1890-7 Feb 1935), who never married.  She is buried at Century, Fla.
William McCurdy and his wife Sallie Pritchett had the following children: Cameron Mervin McCurdy (1901), who married Hazel Lynch; Harold Hays McCurdy (1904), who married Eva Mae Edwards, Edith Harriett McCurdy (1908), who married Cecil Clarke; Robert Edwin McCurdy (1911), who married Gladys Edwards; and Dorothy Sue McCurdy (1919), who married Edward Lamb. This will be the last column for this year. I hope each and every one of you are heading for a happy and blessed new year.