John (Curtis) Curtiss Jr. (abt. 1615 - 1707)

Born about 26 Feb 1615 in Nazeing, Essex, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 6 Dec 1707 at about age 92 in Stratford, Fairfield, Connecticut

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John (Curtis) Curtiss Jr. migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Disputed / Uncertain Ancestry

It has long been accepted^[1][2] that the parents of John, William, and Thomas Curtis, of Stratford, Connecticut, were John Curtis and Elizabeth Hutchins, who were married 19 April 1610 in Nazeing, England.^[3]

Three children (no parents listed) but of the same three names and aproximate ages as the children of Widow Elizabeth Curtis were baptized at All Saints in Nazeing, in the next decade.

John Curtis baptized 26 Feb 1614/15^[3]

William Curtis baptized 21 June 1618^[3]

Thomas Curtis baptized 12 March 1619/20^[3]

Barry E Hinman, in a recent article "Widow Elizabeth Curtis of Stratford, Connecticut," TAG Vol. 87, No. 4 (published December 2015), 299ff, pointed out what we already knew, that there really isn't any absolute proof.

Disputed Spouse

His wife was not a Welles.

Several secondary sources list the wife of John Curtiss (c 1611- 1707) as Elizabeth Welles sister of Gov. Thomas Welles of Connecticut.

• "He married Elizabeth Welles (supposed to have been the sister of Gov. Thomas Welles.)^[4]
• "married Elizabeth, who seems to have been a Welles, (for a grandson of Gov. Thomas Welles calls John Curtis 'Uncle')^[5]

However, Donald Lines Jacobus, points out.

• “Statements to the effect that Elizabeth was a Welles are based on a misinterpretation of a deed at Stratford; he was called uncle by John Welles [son of Hugh] who m. his niece Sarah Curtis.”^[6]
  • William, John's brother, had a daughter Sarah Curtis. Sarah Curtis m. John Welles.

Biography

The Safety ?
A Jo: Curtis, age 21, transported to Virginia, on the "Safety" 10 Aug 1635.^[7] This is frequently mentioned in conjunction with this John, however, it is probably nothing but a coincidence of name and age.

Marriage:
Elizabeth, wife of John Curtis Sr.,died March 9, 1681/2^[8][9]

John Jr. married Elizabeth ------ in Stratford, Connecticut "by 1642".^[10]

Wethersfield:
A John Curtis, before 1640, had a home lot on the east side of High St., opposite the Common and next north of Robert Bates. He was probably the Stratford settler prior to 1652. He married Elizabeth...Welles, about 1647. He died 1707 ae 96. Stiles calls him the brother of Thomas the Settler of Wethersfield. But the Thomas Curtis (died 1681) who stayed in Wethersfield, was not the Thomas (died 1648), son of the widow Elizabeth Curtis.^[11][12]

Stratford:
Both John and William were having children recorded in Stratford in 1642.^[8][9] Trumbull in his Memorial History of Hartford County places this move at an even earlier date. "To Cupheag (Stratford), in 1639-40, went Robert Coe, Jr., John Curtis, Thomas Sherwood, and John Thomson.^[13] Trumbull also states: "Mr John and Mr. William Curtice, and Mr. Samuel Hawley, were from Roxbury...^[14] but Savage believes that most of the statements made by Trumbull in this instance are incorrect.^[15]

He was a prominent citizen of Stratford but not as extensively involved as his brother William.^[4] In 1650, he and his mother were on a list of "Every man's fence in the old field with what numbers and the several rods." The Widow Curtiss had 2 rods 10 feet 2 inches of fence. John Curtise had 4 rods 10 feet. ^[16]

John was made a freeman at the Connecticut Colony Court 20 May 1658.^[17] In 1664, he and Mr. Fayrchild were chosen Townsmen.^[18] On 29 Dec 1675, Sgt. John Curtis was elected townsman and town treasurer.^[19]

He served as a soldier in King Philip’s War and attained the rank of Ensign.^[4]

He and his brother William served on a committee to build a new meeting house, in 1678.^[4]

John Curtiss, died ae 96, 2 Dec 1707, in Stratford.^[9][8] It is assumed he was buried at the Old Congregational Burying Ground in Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, although no gravestone can be found today.^[20]

John's age at death in Dec. 1707 has been variously reported as "about 96"^[21] and "in his 94th year".^[22]. If born in Feb. 1614/15 he died at 92, in his 93rd year.

Children:

1. John, s of John, was b. 14 Oct 1642;^[8][9] died at Newark, New Jersey 17 Sep 1704;^[23] m. Hannah, widow of Abraham Kimberly.^[23]
2. Israel, s of John, was b. 3 April 1644^[8][9] died 28 Oct 1704 at Woodbury, Connecticut;^[23] m. Rebecca.^[23]
3. Elizabeth, d. of John, was born 2 May 1647^[8][9]
4. Thomas, son of John, was born 14 July 1648,^[8] 14 Jan 1648^[9], 14 Jan 1648/9;^[23] He died at Wallingford in 1736; a deputy for Wallingford in 1689 ,1717 and 1718; Ensign of the Wallingford trainband October 1704; married in Wallingford nine June 1674 Mary Merriman, daughter of Capt. Daniel. She was born 12 July 1757 in New Haven, Connecticut. They had 12 children.^[23]
5. Joseph, son of John, was born 12 Nov 1650;^[8][9] died at Stratford in 1742; Married at Stratford 9 November 1676, Bethia Booth. he was the judge of the Fairfield County Court and held many other offices.^[23]
6. Benjamin 30 Sep 1652;^[8][9] m. Esther Judson 23 March 1680/1;^[8][9] Mrs Bathsheba Stiles 1 Dec 1714.^[8][9]. He died in Stratford 1733; He was a Deputy from Stratford on several occasions and was a naval officer at the Port of Stratford May 1714.^[23]
7. Hannah b. 2 Feb 1654;^[8][9]died 21 October 1728; married Benjamin Lewis.^[23]

Research Note

No probate record at Ancestry.

Sources

1. ↑ Curtis, Harlow Dunham. A genealogy of the Curtiss-Curtis family of Stratford, Connecticut : a supplement to the 1903 edition. Curtiss-Curtis Society, 1953. Nazing Records p. x cites “State Papers volume 16 # 358 p. 4 Hoppin statement p. xiii
2. ↑ Jacobus, Donald Lines, MA (compiler, editor.) History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. Fairfield, Conn.: The Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1930. p. 169
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Winters, William. Memorials of the Pilgrim Fathers: John Eliot and His Friends, of Nazing and Waltham Abbey. Waltham Abbey, Essex: 1882 pp. 46, 47 from the Nazing registers
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3} Curtiss, Frederic Haines. A genealogy of the Curtiss family. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill Press, 1903. Elizabeth’s will cites Fairfield Probate Records, Vol. 1648-56, Page 17 [1] p. 2 claims the relationship to Gov. Welles
5. ↑ Cothren, William. History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut, from the first Indian deed in 1659 ... including the present towns of Washington, Southbury, Bethlem, Roxbury, and a part of Oxford and Middlebury. By William Cothren. Vol II Woodbury, Conn.: Publ by William Cothren 1872. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hxtdf8;view=1up;seq=694 p. 1488
6. ↑ Jacobus, Donald Lines, MA (compiler, editor.) History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. Fairfield, Conn.: The Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1930.
7. ↑ Hotten, John Camden (editor). The Original Lists of Persons of Quality: Emigrants, Religious Exiles, Political Rebels, Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years, Apprentices, Children Stolen, Maidens Pressed, and Others, who Went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700. London: John Camden Hotten, 1874 p. 123 https://archive.org/stream/originallistsofp00hottuoft#page/122/mode/2up
8. ↑ ^{8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11} Cothren, William. History of Woodbury Vol III History of Ancient Woodbury, Connecticut From the First Indian Deed in 1659 to 1879. Woodbury, Conn.: Publ by William Cothren, 1879. Deaths pp 689/90 Children’s births p. 658
9. ↑ ^{9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 9.11} White, Lorraine Cook, ed. The Barbour Collection of Connecticut Town Vital Records. Vol. 1-55. Stratford. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1994-2002.
10. ↑ Clarence A. Torrey, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011), v. 1, p. 407, AmericanAncestors.org.
11. ↑ Stiles, Henry Reed. and Sherman W. Adams. The History of Ancient Wethersfield Connecticut... Vol I – History, Part 1. New York: The Grafton Press., 1903. p. 263
12. ↑ Note: Volume II of Stiles: Families of Ancient Wethersfield, contains no information about John.
13. ↑ Trumbull, J. Hammond. The memorial history of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1633-1884. Vol. II Town Histories. Boston: E. L. Osgood, 1886. Vol II p. 438
14. ↑ Trumbull, Benjamin. A Complete History of Connecticut: Civil and Ecclesiastical, from the Emigration of Its First Planters, from England, in the Year 1630, to the Year 1764 ; and to the Close of the Indian Wars, Volume 1. New Haven: Maltby, Goldsmith and Company and Samuel Wadsworth, 1797. p. 105 link at Archive of 1797 edition p. 109 1818 edition
15. ↑ Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England Showing Three Generations of Those Who Came Before May, 1692. Vol. I-IV. Boston, MA, USA: 1860-1862
16. ↑ Wilcoxson, William H. History of Stratford Connecticut 1639-1939. (Stratford: 1939) p. 72 p. 72
17. ↑ Trumbull, J. Hammond. (transcriber). The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut Prior to the Union with New Haven Colony May 1665. Hartford: Brown and Parsons, 1850. AKA Colonial Records of Connecticut. Volume I. 1636-1665. p. 315 p. 315
18. ↑ Town of Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut Deed Book, Volume 1 (1650-1684), page 43. Note: Not sure exactly what this is. There were no Connecticut counties in 1664
19. ↑ Orcutt, Samuel. A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport ..., Part 1 Fairfield County Historical Society 1886. p. 290
20. ↑ Find A Grave Memorial# 28428916
21. ↑ Donald Lines Jacobus, ed., Ancestry of Lorenzo Ackley and His Wife Emma Arabella Bosworth (Woodstock, VT, 1960), p. 205.
22. ↑ Harlow Dunham Curtis, Genealogy of the Curtiss - Curtis family of Stratford, Connecticut (Stratford, CT: Curtiss-Curtis Society, 1953), p. xi Archive.org.>
23. ↑ ^{23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 23.7 23.8} Jacobus, Donald Lines, MA (compiler, editor.) History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield. Fairfield, Conn.: The Eunice Dennie Burr Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution, 1930. p. 169

See Also:

• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 25 June 2012, 19:57), entry for John Curtise(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:9V7J-R92); contributed by various users.
• Volume: 47; SAR Membership Number: 9291. Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls. - States his wife was Elizabeth Welles
• Connecticut 1635-1807 Misc. Records. Jackson, Ronald V., Accelerated Indexing Systems, comp.. Connecticut Census, 1790-1890. Living in Stratford by 1650.
• Frederic Haines Curtiss. A genealogy of the Curtiss family: being a record of the descendants of widow Elizabeth Curtiss who settled in Stratford. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill Press, 1903. pp. 285. Internet Archive
• Torrey, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004. Calls her Elizabeth _____
• Hardin Clay Roots #1 - http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=norvan&id=I202157
• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 29 December 2017, 03:32), entry for John Curtis(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:L5P2-PDN); contributed by various users.