Frank Currie


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		*Whitney Reflections*
	A tribute to the early settlers of a western Nebraska village

*Currie represented 53rd District in Lincoln*

We have long known about Alfred V. Cunningham’s service in the Nebraska legislature in the early days of the 20th century -- but that was on behalf of his constituents in Hamilton county in south-central Nebraska. It was Alfred’s son, Rayburn Cunningham, who would later move his family to Dawes County and become long-time citizens of Whitney.

But it was another man, Frank Currie, who was likely the first -- and as far as we know, the only -- Whitney resident to serve in the legislature, and it was a time of significant change for the state. After the wretched period of the 1890s, which included a devastating drought and enormous grasshopper infestations, the state was emerging from one of its most challenging eras. The number of farms and the population of western Nebraska had declined in the 1890s, but new agricultural techniques and the introduction of irrigation promised change. It was a time of optimism for Nebraskans, still basking in the glow of a successful Omaha Trans-Mississippi Exposition in 1898. It was a good time to serve in the legislature.


	Here are the biographical notes about Currie, as found in legislative documents:

	Frank Currie, Representative from the Fifty-third District, composed of Dawes, Sioux, Box Butte and Sheridan counties, was born at Detroit, Michigan, January 15, 1855. He has been a resident of Nebraska since 1876, most of which time he has been engaged in the mercantile and live stock business, and is a ranchman, grower and shipper of stock. Mr. Currie has never before held other than local office. He has always taken an active part in politics in behalf of the Republican party, of which he has been a steadfast adherent, but has never had the distinction of being classed as a politician or an office-seeker. He has been successful in his chosen occupation. He has been active in furthering the live stock interests of northwestern Nebraska.


	Mr. Currie is a married man, his wife, in maidenhood, being Miss Minnie Richards, and his family consists of one son and two daughters. His post-office address is Whitney, Nebraska.