(7 May 1834 – 25 May 1909)
CANADIAN BORN
Alanson A. Curtis is the eldest of the three children of Elias Baxter Curtis and Elizabeth H. Colton, both natives of Quebec. No birth or baptismal record has yet been found. The 1900 U.S. Census notes a birth date of May 1834, and 7 May 1834 is listed on his death certificate. Various records list his birthplace as Canada, East Canada, or Clarenceville, C.E. [Canada East]. He first appears in the 1851 Census of Canada East.
HE GOES TO BOSTON
He left Quebec while barely in his twenties. We don’t know his reason for leaving Canada, nor do we know if he traveled alone, with a family member, or friend. The first mention of Alanson in Boston is found in the 1856 city directory. Directories from 1856-1865 show that he lived in several boarding houses in the area now known as the North End and he earned a living as a teamster and porter.
Alanson and Mary Ellen Frances Chesley were married 4 May 1862, in the midst of the Civil War. His Civil War draft registration, dated 27 June 1863, notes an address of 13 Cooper Street. On the 14th of July, the Boston Draft Riot erupts, during which eight to fourteen people were killed at the Cooper Street Armory.
HE MIGRATES WEST
Letter of recommendation written 21 July 1865 by a representative of Anderson, Heath & Co.
Migrated to Illinois sometime after, arriving before the December birth of the Curtis’ second child. Location not known. Family in the McHenry County area
Iowa – homestead – grasshoppers
THE DAKOTA TERRITORY
Few years in Moorhead, MN, then to Durbin Twp, then Buffalo.
Around 1905, returned to Moorhead. Built house on one of two adjacent lots purchased 1904/5. Alanson Curtis died in 1909 of… and is buried in Buffalo Cemetery just east of the city of Buffalo.
Children of Alanson Curtis and Mary Ellen Frances Chesley
1. Ethel Maud Curtis (14 Dec 1863 – 7 Feb 1865) – A birth record for Ethel Maud states she was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Alanson Curtis, a shipper born in C.E. (Canada East), and Mary E.F. Curtis, born in Wolfboro, N.H. 26-month old Ethel died in Boston, of pneumonia. Her death record indicates she was buried in Alton, N.H., although the exact location has not yet been found. Both birth and death dates are noted in the Curtis Copy Book.
2. Ethel May Curtis (8 Dec 1865 – 19 Feb 1888) See separate page.
3. Maria Burt Curtis (6 Jan 1868 – 14 Dec 1915) See separate page.
4. Sarah Lenora Curtis (22 Feb 1870 – 18 Mar 1920) See separate page.
5. Marian Matilda Curtis (6 Aug 1872 – 2 Oct 1907) See separate page.
6. Melvin Jay Curtis (4 Sep 1874 – 12 Jun 1896) – Birth date as noted in the Curtis Copy Book. The first of only two sons, Melvin Jay was born in Palo Alto Co, Iowa. He is certainly the namesake of his paternal uncle, Melvin Jay Curtis (b. 1837.) He is enumerated in the 1880 U.S. Census as well as the 1885 Dakota Territory Census. His entry in an autograph album belonging to older sister Sadie, which, although undated, was probably written around February 1890. Here he signed his name “M Jay Curtis,” indicating he preferred the name Jay rather than Melvin. This is supported by a Reward of Merit card on which is written “Jay Curtis by K. Nodovsky, Teacher.” The only record of his death is found in the Curtis Copy Book. While cause of death isn’t known, it is stated on page 114 of Verda Stewart’s Curtis family history that “all the Curtis children had typhoid,” and possibly this is what he died of. Melvin Jay’s grave is located in Buffalo Cemetery, east of the town in Cass County, North Dakota. There is no headstone, but records provided by the Buffalo Cemetery Association note his burial in the Curtis family plot, block 2, plot 31, where stands a granite marker.
7. Amy Estelle Curtis (6 Jan 1877 – 6 Aug 1877) – The dates of Amy’s short life are found in the Curtis Copy book. Those same dates also mentioned in Verda Stewart’s Curtis family history were likely derived from the Copy Book. Amy certainly was born and died in Palo Alto County, Iowa. Her cause of death and burial location are unknown, although likely Palo Alto Co, Iowa.
8. Emma Lois Curtis (30 Aug 1878 – 5 Sep 1948) See separate page.
9. Ada Lucretia Curtis (28 Oct 1880 – 11 Feb 1920) See separate page.
10. Walter Rhett Curtis (29 Jun 1884 – 21 Feb 1949)