Several years later it was these same stories of adventure, gallant battles and of brave men, which caused a lad named James to run away to sea and come to America in search of adventure and thrills. When he left England, he never returned.
Upon landing in America young James fought in the Civil War, where fighting blood ran fast and free. Here was what he had been searching for and at last he had found it. Years later that man became the father of Jim Curwood.
The little house in which Jimmie Curwood first saw the light of day no longer stands. Some time ago the two-story frame building was razed and so far no other construction has been erected in its place. However, a marker has been placed there, showing that it was on this particular lot that James Oliver Curwood had been born many years ago.
As time went on the two youngsters, Jimmie and Charlie, still persisted in getting into more and more mischief. People were beginning to shake their heads in disapproval and consequently Mr. and Mrs. Curwood began wondering what they should do to curb their son’s mischievous habits. For hardly without fail when anyone saw Jimmie, son of a shoe repair man, and Charlie, son of a saloon keeper, he was almost always sure to see something happen.
Both boys always ran about barefooted (something which you seldom see today), with dirty faces, hands and clothing, with no crowns in their hats whatsoever. It is little wonder that Jimmie’s hair became bleached by the sun and his face gathered a harvest of freckles.
As youngsters most children have peculiar ambitions, but those of Jimmie Curwood’s as a lad of seven were outstanding among childhood desires. It seems that his ambitions were just one or two paces behind his vivid imagination. For some day he hoped that he might be wealthy enough to buy an entire stock of bananas at one time. Then and only then would he be fully able to get his complete fill of the fruit he loved so well. His second ambition was to ride astride the large bustle worn by Kate Russell to Sunday church. Miss Russell was a cook at the combination saloon-hotel which was operated and owned by Charlie Miller’s father.
Despite all the obstacles that confronted them, Mr. and Mrs. Curwood were perhaps two of the happiest people in all of Owosso. They had a fine family and Mr. Curwood was making a fairly comfortable living with his shoe-cobbling shop. They had no luxuries, for they could not afford them, but they did have all the necessities that made for a comfortable happy life.
Regardless of how honored and respected Mr. and Mrs. Curwood were in their home town, the townspeople still continued to frown upon the antics of the Curwood and Miller children. Was there ever to be an end to all of this childhood devilment? This was the thought that plagued the minds of the citizens of Owosso when the great change came about.
Business began to grow bad for Mr. Curwood at his cobbling shop and after long deliberation he decided to sell out and purchase a farm somewhere. He received many offers for his shop “as it stood,” and so after a great deal of bickering he at last managed to get a fairly decent price and it was announced to Owosso that it would soon be rid of one of her two “Tom Sawyers.”
Although he had kept it from his family all along, Mr. Curwood at last told them one night in the dead of winter. He had made the down payment on a farm down in Ohio, located near the villages of Vermillion, Joppa and Florence in Erie County.