Ethel Stanwood Bolton 1886 Gem Tintype Photo Album


Prev - Large - Next
Sebastian Bennett Curry, 1886
1874 - 1951; married Maria Schilling; parents: Cadwallader Curry and Mary Abby Lane; lived at 100 High St. at Cumberland Ave.

He was born in Brookline and lived at 100 High St. His father was in the wool business and served as a banking commissioner in Massachusetts. His mother was a music teacher. In 1890, she moved to Europe with 3 of her 5 sons (Waldemar, Robert, and Sebastian). Another son, Charles, was already in Europe studying in Göttingen. The oldest son, Harry, opted to remain in the States along with their father who visited the family in Europe often and for months at a time. The 100 High Street house was rented to BSO conductor Arthur Nikisch and Cadwallader Curry moved to Sharon.

Sebastian lived at various times in Switzerland, Italy, and Austria, but primarily in the town of Riederau-on-the-Ammersee, Germany, near Munich, where his vocation was that of a farmer or, more accurately according to the family, that of a gentleman farmer who directed the work of others. Here is how he described his path to Riederau (in an affidavit accompanying his 1915 U.S. passport application): "Went to Europe in order to take up the study of chemistry & languages, but, on account of hard work my health broke down and, on the physicians’ advice, I went into farming in order to have my health restored. Subsequently my mother bought a farm which I have been running ever since 1906. My health has greatly improved but not yet sufficiently to permit a change of climate and surroundings. "

His father died in 1918 and his mother in 1931, both in Munich. It is reported that his mother had rejected all of Sebastian's prospective mates while she was alive. In the year following her death, Sebastian married Maria Schilling, thirty-two years his junior. They had met while Maria served as a nurse to Sebastian's mother beginning in 1924. Sebastian died in 1951 in Kufstein, Austria where he is buried. He was still an American citizen. His occupation was listed on the death certificate as "farmer".

[Updated 2020 with information from his grandson]
incl. People