William was the son of William H. Curry* of Maryland and Rebecca Ann "Annie" Clark of Ohio. A reputed veteran of Spanish-American War (reported memorial wall, Tampa Florida) and documented World War One service. The family legend existed of him being a fun father, prolific drinker, and "pistolero" according to his son, Charles, who claims to have seen him produce a pistol so fast in a bar brawl, the move itself brought everyone to their senses.
He was a one-time circus entertainer who constructed a clothes-drying line in his yard, and immediately walked the wire to prove its strength to Leota and the children. There were also tales of movie stars knowing him on a first-name basis. In 1930, he worked as a boilermaker. He was a telephone lineman until a rotten pole broke and gave him possible life-ending internal injuries. Oly passed away at 62 years of age in the West Los Angeles Veterans Medical Center
He first appears in the 1900 U.S. Census in Manhattan, New York, New York. He is enumerated as a bricklayer like his father. He had a step-brother Sylvester Wayne Dodge, and sister Elizabeth Maud (Curry) Johnston.

An obituary in the The Telephone Register, McMinnville, Oregon, Thursday, November 26, 1942 recorded his death and arrangements. His birth date, and the spelling of his middle name as "Oley" is resolved from a family bible, marriage license, and his very legible World War Two draft registration. Only a single reference showed the middle name "Oliver," now relegated here as a footnote. There is also a possibility of U.S. Navy military service, but that appears to likely be the story of his father with identical first and surnames.
* Or, signed William H. Curry "alias William Johnson"; May 1904 US Military Pension statement. Also: born August 1843, Maryland, wed about 1875 to Annie R. Clark, born January 1847, Ohio.