Elizabeth (Unknown) Curtiss (1587 - 1658)

Born 1587 in Nazeing, Essex, England

Descendants

Died 4 Jun 1658 at about age 71 in Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut

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

Disputed Origins

It has been widely accepted that the widow Elizabeth Curtis of Stratford, mother of John, William and Thomas, was

Elizabeth Hutchins who married John Curtyce 19 April 1610 in the parish of Nazeing, England^[1] with children baptized there:

John Curtis baptized 26 Feb 1614/15^[1]

William Curtis baptized 21 June 1618^[1]

Thomas Curtis baptized 12 March 1619/20^[1]

John Curtis, her husband, is in records in Nazing 1632-1638

1632 "by the hands of John Curtys and Richard Campe, customary tenants"^[2]

1637 Taxed in Nazing six shillings in 1637, in the tax known as “Ship Money” ^[3]

1637 Several persons having refused to serve on a jury, others including John Curtis were to be assigned.^[2]

12 Jan 1637/8 on a list of coppieholders and freeholders^[2]

1637/8 on a list of tenants of the manor of Nazeing.^[2]

A John Curteis was in of Roxbury, Massachusetts, June 1639, registered with 15 acres and 5 persons in his household. There are no other references to this John in Roxbury.^[4] Note: William Curtis (1592 - 1672) a nephew of John Curtis had been living in Roxbury, since 1632.^[5]

A John Curtis (presumably the son) was of Wethersfield 1639.^[6][7]

Widow Elizabeth in Stratford: Subject of this biography

A 2015 Article by Barry E Hinman. "Widow Elizabeth Curtis of Stratford, Connecticut," TAG Vol. 87, No. 4 (published December 2015), 299ff, points out that there is no absolute proof that the widow Elizabeth Curtis, was ever from Nazeing, that:

The Nazing baptism and marriage records name no parents.

Some of these baptismal records were assigned by Anderson (Great Migration) as children of William of Roxbury. See Footnote Discussion^[8]

There is nothing to prove that the John and Elizabeth who married in Nazeing were the immigrants to Massachusetts.

There is in Hotten's list a reference to Jo: Curtis, age 21, transported to Virginia, on the "Safety" 10 Aug 1635.^[9] It gets mentioned, but should probably be ignored totally as it neither supports or disproves any scenario of this family. If it was John of Nazeing, he had plenty of time to return to England to join the family later in New England.

From the 1953 Supplement to A genealogy of the Curtiss-Curtis family of Stratford, Connecticut.

"Miss Curtis says: (Anyone can do that, but there is no actual proof).

Mr. Hoppin says: (I, the within named, Charles Arthur Hoppin maintain that the mere fact of the names John and Elizabeth, as parents of the three known sons, John, William, and Thomas, and the corresponding agreement of American records of names and ages of the said sons, with their baptismal records at Nazing, England, and the 1635 embarkation record of his son John, John's agreement with the Nazing John's baptism and the recorded presence of all five persons In New England, promptly following the complete disappearance of them all in the records of Essex England, constitute, in themselves, and without mentioning other evidences of a significant character confirmatory thereto, sufficient warrant for my affidavit, as above, which affidavit, in its entirety I hereby reaffirm this 28 day December 16, 1935"^[3]

Biography

The Widow Curtiss first appears in a list of Stratford property owners (c1650), with her two sons, John and William Curtiss. In 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.^[10]

The births of her grandchildren were being recorded as early as 1642 in Stratford.^[11]

Her lot was near or adjoining that of Rev. Adams Blakeman, who is believed to have come there from Wethersfield.

In her will, (see below), proved 4 Nov 1658 at Fairfield, CT, she mentions her three sons, John, William and Thomas. The mention of these three sons is the strongest evidence that the Widow Curtiss is the same woman who had sons John, William and Thomas baptized in Nazeing in the decade after 1610.

Death

Died: 4 June 1658 in Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut. ^[12]

"1658 June 4, Elizabeth Curtiss dyed"

Burial: Stratford, Fairfield County, Connecticut, USA.

Will:^[13]

Summary: Not dated; proved on November 4, 1658.

In it, Elizabeth mentions:

sons: John and William

grandchildren John, Israel, Jonathan, Sarah (children of John and William); grandchild Mary Curtiss, daughter of son Thomas

executors: sons John and William

overseers: John Burdseye, Henry Wakelyn, Jsseph Hawly

The witnesses were John Brimsmaid and John Washborn.

The last will and testament of Elizabeth Curtiss

"In the Name of God, Amen, I Elizabeth Curtiss to make publick my last will and testament...being weak yet of perfect in my minde...

"Inp^rmis unto my Sonns John Curtiss and William doe give my Mare and Coalt.

"Item, unto John Curtiss and Jonathan Curtiss y^e Sonnes of my Sonnes John and William, my Grandchildren I doe give the coalt that my young mare hath: and after the sayd young mare hath up her first coalt, Then I doe give y^e sayd young mare to the Rest of my Grandchildren, Sonns and Daughters of my aforsd Sonns John and William:

"Item, I doe give one house and Lott to my grandchildren, John Curtiss, Israel, Jonathan, and Sarah Curtiss y^e children of y^e said John and William: and they to enjoy it when they become to y^e age of twenty:

"Item, I doe give unto my Grandchilde Mary Curtiss y^e Daughter of Thomas Curtiss forty shillings and to bee paid unto her by my sonns John and William within a yeare after my desesase:

"Item, I doe give my grandchilde Mary Curtiss y^e daughter of Thomas Curtiss, deceased forty shillings and to bee paid unto her by my sonns John and William Curtiss within a yeare after my decease:

"Item, I doe give unto my sonns John and William Curtiss my two cowss, one hiefer, one bullock and a calf after my deceas: provided y^e if my say^d young mare before given to my grandchildren should miscarry. Then my Will is if my two sonns John and William Curtiss should give foure pounds each of them to there children y^e have no share in my house and Lott to be paid att y^e Age of twentie:

"Item, I doe give my Bible to John Curtiss my Grandchilde the Sonn of John Curtiss allso my desire is y^e there be so much of my corn sould as may buy a bible for Jonathan Curtiss y^e Sonn of my Sonn William and given to him:

"The rest of my goods Wthin y^e house that are moveable goods I doe give to my sonns John and William Curtiss to be equally divided betwixt them:

"My two Sonns John Curtiss and William Curtiss I doe make executors: my will is y^eJohn Birdseye, Henry Wakelyn and Joseph Hawly shall bee overseers of this my Last Will and Testament.

"In y^e prsence of John Brimsmaid John Washborn

Elizabeth Curtiss (Seal)

"This will was proved by John Curtiss and William Curtiss to bee y^e last will and testant of Elizabeth Curtiss of Stratford: and y^e court approvs of it; it being attested to: 4th: 4th: '58 John Minor"

Sources

Footnotes and citations:

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Winters, William. Memorials of the Pilgrim Fathers: John Eliot and His Friends, of Nazing and Waltham Abbey. Waltham Abbey, Essex: 1882 p. 46 from the Nazing registers
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Winters: Memorials. "From Original MSS. Relating to Nazing Court Leet. pp 70-71
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} 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
4. ↑ “A Note of the estates and persons of the Inhabitants of Rocksbury” – Report of the Record Commissioners, containing the Roxbury Land and Church Records. Second Edition. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1884. p. 4
5. ↑ Report of the Record Commissioners, containing the Roxbury Land and Church Records. Second Edition. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, 1884. p. 75
6. ↑ Stiles, Henry Reed. Families of Ancient Wethersfield Connecticut; Consisting of the History of Ancient Wethersfield, Comprising the Present Towns of Wethersfield, Rocky Hill, and Newington; and of Glastonbury Prior to Its Incorporation in 1693, from Date of Earliest Settlement Until the Present Time, with Extensive Genealogies and Genealogical Notes on Their Families. Vol II. 1904.At HathiTrust p. 262
7. ↑ 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. 264
8. ↑ One of the points that Hinman makes is that Anderson has used the same baptisms to support children of William of Roxbury children.

   ie. William bpt 21 Jun 1618; d. Roxbury late 1634. A William definitely existed in Roxbury. Anderson also says “The child William has presented a problem to those who have treated the Curtis family in the past. He clearly existed, .... But the date of marriage of the immigrant to Sarah Eliot, the baptism of son Thomas nineteen months later, and the regular arrival of children after that leave no place for William. ... so there remains a possibility that this William belongs in another family. There is, however, no baptism for another William anywhere near the right time.....

   Thomas: There were two Thomas bpt., one 12 Mar 1619/20 and one 19 Jan 1622/3. Anderson has assigned both to William of Roxbury. Of course there is no way without parents names in the registers to prove that the first was the son of John but neither can one prove he was the son of William.

9. ↑ 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
10. ↑ Wilcoxson, William H. History of Stratford Connecticut 1639-1939. (Stratford: 1939) p. 72
11. ↑ Connecticut Vital Records to 1850 (Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2011.) From original typescripts, Lucius Barnes Barbour Collection, 1928.
12. ↑ Stratford, Fairfield Co CT Town Records
13. ↑ #S93 Page 1, citing Fairfield Probate Records, Vol. 1648-56, Page 17.

Source list:

• Curtiss, Frederic Haines. A Genealogy of the Curtiss Family (Rockwell & Churchill, Boston, 1903-1953). open library link.
• Donald Lines Jacobus. History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfield (1930-1932, reprint 2000): vol 1, p 169.
• Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, 3 vols. (Boston, 1995), 499-501.
• Barry E Hinman, "Widow Elizabeth Curtis of Stratford, Connecticut," in The American Genealogist, vol. 87, no. 4 (published December 2015):299-306.
• Notes. The Curtiss Family of Stratford, Conn. New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 43:321. Link at American Ancestors (1889). First article to make connections between the widow Curtis and Nazeing.