133. THE AMERICAN GOVERNOR OF ISABELA

                                        THE AMERICAN GOVERNOR OF ISABELA
                                                            Dr. Troy Alexander Gozum Miano
                                                                                                03 April 2021

Exactly 160 years ago today, George Curry was born on April 3, 1861 at the Greenwood Plantation, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, United States. Curry is one of the two Americans who served as governor of the province of Isabela. The other was Don William H. Johnson (Johnston in some documents), a captain in the 16^th U.S. Infantry who served as the first governor during the American occupation (1901-1902). Last November 24, 2015, I scribbled a pamphlet entitled “Ang Amerikanong Gobernador ng Isabela” and disseminated copies to different schools and lovers of history. The pamphlet aims to inform the common Isabeleños that a foreigner served the province of Isabela as governor in the early years of the 20^th century.

George Curry was the third governor of Isabela since the establishment of the civil government by the Americans. Biographies of Curry by H.B. Hening (1958), Robert W. Larson (1970) and Wilfried E. Roeder and other documents related to Curry from the files of the Second Philippine Commission headed by Governor-General William Howard Taft (who would later become the 27^th President of the United States and 10^th Chief Justice) were compiled to immortalize this great American who served in the Philippines.

Curry was the eldest of four sons to George Alexander and Clara Madden Curry. Curry's mother was a graduate of Dublin University while his father was a mechanic who managed Greenwood Plantation who served as a captain in the Confederate Army and after the Civil War purchased Sevastopol Plantation. Curry's father was a parish leader of the local Ku Klux Klan, and in 1870 he was ambushed and killed. Three years later Curry's mother moved the family to Dodge City, Kansas where Curry got his first job at age 12 working as a messenger boy for a mercantile company. In 1879, following his mother's death, Curry moved to Lincoln County, New Mexico, where he worked on a cattle ranch until 1881. Curry held several jobs managing stores and hotels, acted as post trader at Fort Stanton and engaged in the mercantile and stock business until 1886.

In 1884, Curry became a member of Colfax County's delegation at the Democratic Territorial Convention in Albuquerque at the age of 23. In 1886, he was deputy treasurer of Lincoln County, New Mexico and in 1888 was elected county clerk. In the same year, he married Rebecca Hughes, the daughter of a rich ranch owner in Lincoln County. In 1890, he became county assessor and in 1892, a county sheriff. In 1894, he served as a member of the territorial senate and in 1896, served as president in his final year in the body.

During the Spanish–American War, Curry served in Theodore Roosevelt's Rough Riders. He did not see action in Cuba, but did participate in the fighting in the Philippines. After returning from the war, he became sheriff of Otero County, New Mexico. In 1899, he joined the 11^th Volunteer Cavalry stationed in the Philippines where he was appointed Governor of the Province of Ambos Camarines (now the provinces of Camarines Norte and Sur). In 1901, he served as chief of police of the city of Manila. The following year he resigned his post and established and led the Camarines Mercantile Company until he went back to the United States when he contacted cholera. In 1903, Curry became Governor of Isabela province and in 1905, he was reassigned as Governor of the island-province of Samar (now divided into three provinces).

In 1907, he went back to the United States and served as the 18^th Governor of New Mexico Territory up to 1910. In 1912, upon the admission of New Mexico as a State into the Union, Curry was elected as a Republican to the 62^nd Congress but declined to be a candidate for renomination after which he engaged in the hotel business in Socorro, New Mexico. In 1921, he was private secretary to U.S. Senator Holm O. Bursum and in 1922, was a member of the International Boundary Commission. In 1927, after retiring, he moved to a ranch near Cutter, and served as State Historian from 1945 until his death in Albuquerque on November 27, 1947. 

The governorship of George Curry in Isabela was centered on peace and order. After General Emilio Aguinaldo was captured in the remote coastal town of Palanan in Isabela on March 23, 1901, civil government was established in the province. Captain William H. Johnson of the U.S. 16^th Infantry was appointed 1^st governor. In 1902, Francisco Dichoso was the 1^st elected governor. The following year; however, Manuel Tomines of Naguilian town continued the revolution together with Major Maurice Sibley, a deserter of the U.S. 16^th Infantry, and Lieutenant Ambrocio Logan. With the unrest, expanding from Naguilian up to the southern town of Echague (the area is now part of Jones town), the central American government decided to replace Governor Dichoso with a military man of their own. Rough Rider George Curry was appointed and was able to curve the American labelled “insurrection” of Tomines and Sibley. Governor Curry also kept an eye on the slavery issue of the province which involved no less than Governor Dichoso who had slaves as household help. On the first quarter of 1905, Curry was replaced by Blas Villamor of Abra. Curry was reassigned to Samar province to quell the same kind of unrest and this time by the Pulahanes.

The summary of the accomplishment of Governor Curry was preserved in the Philippine Commission Sixth Annual Report on pages 265 to 269. Dated April 5, 1905, Curry reported a detailed status of the province on its municipalities, public instruction, constabulary, health, finances, roads and bridges, mail service, telegraph and telephone, agriculture and wild tribes. He also made his recommendations on public buildings, roads, forestry law and most especially in the election of a new governor since he believed that law and order already exist in the province. In the same annual report, the Secretaries of Commerce & Police and War and the Chief of the Philippine Constabulary, mentioned nice words and praises on the performance of Curry as a governor. Governor Curry was honored by a county named after him in New Mexico in the U.S. A barangay in the municipality of Pili in Camarines Sur province was also christened as “Curry”. It was in this village where the Mercantile Company he headed in 1902 was located.

Almost all Isabeleños are unaware who George Curry was. I believe, since I consider myself a local historian, that I should share my researches not only to the young but also to general populace and the netizens for them to emulate good public service and leadership. The Province of Isabela is honored in having the Honorable George Curry in the roster of Provincial Governors of Isabela.

Allow me to quote a segment of the report of the Chief of the Philippine Constabulary in 1905: “Governor Curry gave the people of the province a great deal of encouragement during his regime… His tact judgment has left a lasting impression on the province for good …”