Daniel A. Currie (October 10, 1842 – February 28, 1911) was a physician and mayor of Englewood, New Jersey. He has been credited with serving as the first mayor of the city (starting in 1896), but that was later declared to be prior to the proper incorporation of the town; Englewood was the first incorporated town in Bergen County.Buescher, Kristin (19 March 2019). BACK IN TIME: After Failed Attempt and Legal Battle, Englewood Became Bergen’s First City, North Valley Press Currie also served as mayor in 1901 to 1903.
Biography Currie was born in Scarsdale, New York, in 1842, to emigrants from Scotland. The youngest of ten children, he attended college at the University of Buffalo and obtained a medical degree in 1863. He practiced at first in Sullivan County, New York, and then studied for two and half years at Edinburgh University under James Young Simpson and James Syme. He returned to the United States in 1867, and first practiced in Middletown, New York, and then moved to Englewood in 1872, helping to found the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in the 1880s. He was considered one of the prominent physicians of northern New Jersey.
In 1896, Englewood attempted to break off from Englewood Township and incorporate. A referendum passed in March 1896, and Currie was chosen as the first mayor. But the incorporation vote was voided by the New Jersey Supreme Court as based on an unconstitutional law. Englewood was not able to legally incorporate until 1899, by a special act of the state legislature. Elbert Adrain Brinckerhoff was then elected as the first official mayor. Currie served from 1901 to 1903 as mayor.(7 September 1902). Englewood in Lists, New York Tribune
Currie also served for many years in the New Jersey National Guard, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in that organization.(11 March 1911). Housekeeper Gets Legacy From Doctor, The New York TimesA history of the Second Regiment, N.G.N.J., pp. 318, 365 (1908)Obituary, Journal of the Medical Society of New Jersey, p. 596 (April 1911)(2 March 1904). Lieut-Col. Currie Resigns, Paterson Daily Press(1 March 1911). Dr. Daniel A. Currie Dead, Washington HeraldMedical Society of New Jersey, American Medicine, p. 13 (July 6, 1901) (summary of a paper by Currie on treatment of gonorrhea) He also served in the Spanish-American War.Bouton-Goldberg, Bobbie. Englewood and Englewood Cliffs, p. 62 (1998)(6 December 1901). Give Skin for Comrade, New York Tribune
As a physician, Currie was a primary expert witness in an 1899 inquiry into the safety of Army beef rations.(12 April 1899). Another Day in The Beef Court, Evening Times(6 April 1899). Chemicals in Beef, Portland Daily Press(19 April 1899). Probable verdict of the Beef Court, The Times(6 April 1899). The Army Beef inquiry, The New York Times
In early 1909, Currie slipped on a sidewalk causing an injury to his spine which left him ill for several months. As a representative on the town government, Currie was unable to attend any of the meetings, and over time the injury was deemed to be "fatal". Later deemed to be cancer, Currie died at his home in Englewood on February 28, 1911, following an operation to treat the disease he had been battling for over two years.(4 March 1911). Obituary: Dr. Daniel A. Currie, Englewood Press His funeral procession was deemed to be the largest ever in the county, with over 1,500 people following the remains to the cemetery.
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