His father, Richard McCurdy (1769–1857), was a graduate of Yale and a lawyer by profession, but devoted himself to agricultural pursuits and the care of his estate.

[1] He was of Scotch Irish descent on his paternal side; as early as 1503, King James VI leased the vast majority of the Isle of Bute to the MacKurerdy family (later McCurdy).

After his service, he was relieved by former doctor and newspaper editor Thomas M. Foote[6] In 1861, he was an active member of the Peace Conference of 1861, a meeting held at Willard's Hotel in Washington, DC in an effort to avoid the U.S. Civil War.

In 1888, McCurdy issued a pamphlet discussing the "origin of the change in the law by which the last 40 years witnesses have been allowed to testify in court when having an interest in the decision of the suit.

[1] Before her early death in 1835, they were the parents of one child:[1] He did not remarry after his wife's death, instead "the education of this daughter became one of his greatest pleasures, and as she developed and matured into womanhood it was his delight to make her his confidential friend and familiarize her mind with his legal and business affairs, and share with her his political, intellectual, and social interests.