George Curtis (February 23, 1796 – January 9, 1856), was an American banker and politician who served as Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1837 to 1839.

Early life

Curtis was born in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

on February 23, 1796. He was the eldest son of David Curtis and Susannah ( Stone) Curtis. His paternal grandparents were Elizabeth ( Heywood) Curtis and John Curtis of Worcester, a direct descendant of soldier and politician Ephraim Curtis (himself a nephew of Ephraim Curtis, the prominent colonial soldier who fought in

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...

). His maternal grandparents were Dorothy ( Fletcher) Stone and Lt. Samuel Stone of Rutland, Massachusetts.

Career

Curtis began his banking career with J.B. Wood in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

before becoming cashier of the Exchange Bank of Providence at the age of twenty-three. In 1835, he became treasurer of the Providence and New York Transportation Company, the first steamship and railroad transport company operating between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Political career

While in Providence, he served as a member of the Providence school committee from 1828 to 1837, Warden of the Second Ward of Providence; President of the Common Council from 1834 to 1837,

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics *Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people *House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities *Legislator, someon ...

from Providence to the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

from May 1832 to October 1832 and, again, in August 1835, serving through January 1839. In October 1837, he was chosen

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

of the Assembly and served in that role until January 1839 when he moved to New York. From June 1836 to May 1837, he was also a bank commissioner.

Career in New York City

Upon the formation of the Bank of Commerce of New York in 1839, he moved to New York City and became cashier of the Bank, holding that position until 1852 when he resigned to become the senior partner of the private banking house of Curtis, Beals & Fearing. In 1854, upon the formation of the

Continental Bank of New York The Continental Bank and Trust Company of New York was a financial institution based in New York City, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 as the German-American Bank, which became the Continental Bank of New York. Originally in th ...

, he was became president of the bank, holding that position until his death in 1856. In 1841, he was elected a member of the

New York Chamber of Commerce The New York Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1768 by twenty New York City merchants. As the first such commercial organization in the United States, it attracted the participation of a number of New York's most influential business leaders, in ...

of which he served as First Vice-president from 1854 until his death. He was heavily involved in the establishment of the New York Clearing House Association in 1853, of which he drafted the constitution, which was adopted in 1854. In that organization, he served as chairman of various committees. He was a trustee of several public and private trusts in New York and served as a member of the finance committee and vice-president of the New England Society of New York for a number of years.

Personal life

On March 6, 1821, Curtis was first married to Mary Elizabeth Burrill (1798–1826), a daughter of

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

James Burrill Jr. James Burrill Jr. (April 25, 1772 – December 25, 1820) was a Federalist-party United States senator representing the state of Rhode Island. He served in the senate from 1817 until 1820. He graduated from the College of Rhode Island and Provi ...

and Sally ( Arnold) Burrill. Before her death in July 1826, they were the parents of: * James Burrill Curtis (1821–1895),

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Camb ...

who married Mary Tytler, a daughter of

James Fraser Tytler James Fraser Tytler of Woodhouselee WS FRSE (1780–1862) was a 19th-century Scottish lawyer and Depute to the Lord Lyon, dealing with heraldic matters. Life He was born in or near Edinburgh on 9 October 1780, the son of the eminent judge, ...

, Esq. (son of

Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee Alexander Fraser Tytler, Lord Woodhouselee FRSE (15 October 17475 January 1813) was a Scottish advocate, judge, writer and historian who was a Professor of Universal History, and Greek and Roman Antiquities at the University of Edinburgh. Lif ...

), in 1853. *

George William Curtis George William Curtis (February 24, 1824 – August 31, 1892) was an American writer and public speaker born in Providence, Rhode Island. An early Republican, he spoke in favor of African-American equality and civil rights both before and after ...

(1824–1892), editor of '' Harper's Weekly'' who was one of the founders of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

; he married Anna Shaw, a daughter of abolitionists Francis George Shaw (brother of Quincy Adams Shaw) and Sarah Blake (née Sturgis) Shaw (sister of merchant Russell Sturgis) and sister to Col.

Robert Gould Shaw Robert Gould Shaw (October 10, 1837 – July 18, 1863) was an American officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Born into a prominent Boston Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist family, he accepted command of the firs ...

and Josephine Shaw Lowell, in 1856. On April 3, 1834, he remarried to Julia Bowen Bridgham (1810–1874), the daughter of Elizabeth ( Paine) Bridgham and Samuel W. Bridgham, the first mayor of Providence, Rhode Island who had previously served as Attorney General of Rhode Island (succeeding

), and chancellor of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. Before his death, they were the parents of: * Samuel Bridgham Curtis (1834–1887), a banker who married Louise Kreider Fuller, daughter of Pliny B. Fuller of Providence, in 1867. * Joseph Bridgham Curtis (1836–1862), a Lt.-Col. of the 4th Rhode Island Infantry Regiment, who was killed at the

Battle of Fredericksburg The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. The combat, between the Union Army of the Potomac commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnsi ...

during the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. * Edward Curtis (1838–1912), a physician who performed the autopsy on the body of President

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

with Assistant Surgeon J. J. Woodward; he married Augusta Lawler Stacey, daughter of Davis Bevan Stacey, in 1864. *

John Green Curtis John Green Curtis (October 29, 1844 – September 21, 1913) was an American physiologist who spent most of his career at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Curtis was one of the founding members of the American Physiolo ...

(1844–1913), a

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical a ...

who was one of the founding members of the American Physiological Society, he married Martha ( McCook) Davis, widow of Dupont Alexander Davis and daughter of Maj.

Daniel McCook Daniel McCook (June 20, 1798 – July 21, 1863) was an attorney and an officer in the Union army during the American Civil War. He was one of two Ohio brothers who, along with 13 of their sons, became widely known as the “Fighting McCooks ...

, of Ohio. After her death in 1897, he married Netta Easter Blackwood, daughter of Henry James Blackwood, of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

, in 1902. Curtis died in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, where he had gone with his wife and youngest son to restore his health, on January 9, 1856. His body was returned to Providence where he was buried in the

North Burial Ground The North Burial Ground is a cemetery in Providence, Rhode Island dating to 1700, the first public cemetery in Providence. It is located north of downtown Providence, bounded by North Main Street, Branch Avenue, the Moshassuck River, and Ceme ...

there. His widow died in New York City in December 1874.

Descendants

Through his son Edward, he was a grandfather of artist Constance Curtis, and authors George De Clyver Curtis, and

Natalie Curtis Natalie Curtis, later Natalie Curtis Burlin (26 April 1875 – 23 October 1921) was an American ethnomusicologist. Curtis, along with Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Frances Densmore, was one of a small group of women doing important ethnological s ...

, a prominent

ethnomusicologist Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

(who married artist Paul Burlin).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, George 1796 births 1856 deaths Businesspeople from Worcester, Massachusetts 19th-century American politicians Politicians from Providence, Rhode Island Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Speakers of the Rhode Island House of Representatives American bankers Burials at North Burying Ground (Providence)